Since the beginning of January 2026, armed groups linked to the Syrian Transitional Government (STG) started a massive offensive against positions of North-East Syria (NES), also known as Rojava.
What is happening?
In the streets of Rojava, life and resistance are two flowers that bloom together. As we write these lines, half of our friends are in the front lines, the other half in the cities, building barricades and getting ready for what is coming. It is cold, but in every corner there is a steaming tea pot with black leaves of ҫai and tons of sugar, ready to warm up your hands and your soul. The general mood is of high readiness, with young comrades patrolling the streets while their older brothers and sisters hold the lines in the front. Friends are openly talking and discussing about the ongoing developments next to the diesel heaters or improvised street camp-fires, walking everywhere with their gear and their weapons ready. It’s been low morale among people last days, but now it’s going up and people are hyped to face the invaders. The enemy is coming, but everyone knows what to do. We’ve been getting ready for it for a long time.
So yes, war is looming once more in Syria. And yes, for the Kurdish people it is once again a war for existence. Those that are attacking the revolution today are wearing new uniforms and fight under different flags, but they represent the same ideas that ISIS already tried to impose 10 years ago. They will be met by the same spirit of resistance that already liberated Kobane, that already defeated the caliphate of ISIS, that already liberated every inch of land they tried to conquer. And at the end, we will dance.
We are aware that the world is not the same that it was ten years ago. The response we can give will also not be the same. We have to lament that war is becoming a reality for more people every year, and that the war in Syria does not have the attention it had before. Still, that can’t be a reason not to fight for what’s right. Rojava is showing that another world is possible, that another way of organizing society can develop even from the ruins of the darkest times. Now, more than ever, we have to defend it.
What did happen?
The agreements for a peaceful transition signed by Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazlum Abdi on March 2025, just after the collapse of the al-Assad regime, did not result in practical solutions for a democratic Syria. Today tensions are higher than ever, a new war is being waged to annihilate the revolution. The STG, with full support of the Turkish State and their mercenaries, is launching a brutal assault on the self-administration of NES.
On the first days of January, the historic Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo were the first ones to suffer the attacks of the jihadist forces that now rule Damascus. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), working for a negotiated solution to avoid a massive bloodshed, agreed to a ceasefire and withdraw from Aleppo and other near areas. There was still hope that negotiations may stop a return to war, but STG forces continued their attacks, ambushing the withdrawing SDF forces and attacking beyond the lines agreed on the ceasefire.
On January 19th Mazlum Abdi, commander in chief of SDF, held a meeting with Ahmed al-Sharaa and other representatives of the STG. Emboldened by the partial withdraw of SDF and the advances of government aligned forces, they demanded a complete surrender of SDF. Mazlum Abdi declared that such demands are unacceptable, that SDF won’t give up to the advances of the Revolution and won’t forget the enormous sacrifices already made to reach this point. This revolution was built on the resistance against oppression, building a free life not only for the Kurdish people but for people of all Syria and all Middle East. Peoples of NES want peace and democracy, but are always ready to stand up and fight against oppression.
What will happen?
In a world slowly sliding into the madness of despair, descending every year towards what seems an inevitable third world war of unseen dimensions, it is the responsibility of every revolutionary to defend the achievements and lessons of Rojava. The Kurdish Liberation Movement proved itself able to build a future where armed struggle and revolutionary people’s war grows hand in hand with women’s liberation and ecological values. Communes, cooperatives and academies are the backbone of such a revolution, escaping the logic of centralization and monopoly of capitalism and nation-state.
Rojava will fight. The revolution will do everything it can to defend itself. The struggle will continue. The battles of today will be the ground where the revolutions of tomorrow blossom. The comrades that fall in those battle will be the inspiration for new generations of revolutionaries. There is no end of history, because history is what we do with every decision we take, every action we do, every step we make. Because victory or defeat is never the end of anything, there is always an after. What matters is how much we can learn from it, how much we can improve and continue growing.
We, as anarchists, as internationalists who have been fighting alongside our Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian and Armenian comrades for all these years, will continue taking our place in the barricades of Rojava. We belong to this revolution as this revolution belongs to us, because international solidarity and mutual aid is not only a slogan here, it is an every day practice. We call on all revolutionary forces to also take their place in the resistance, to defend this revolution, to continue fighting to build the world we want to live in. Because revolution is not an event, it’s a process. And we have to fight for it.
Berxwedan jiyane e! – Resistance is life!
Biji Soresa Rojava! – Long live Rojava Revolution!
Têkoşîna Anarşîst
January 2026