16-12-24

# NES updates

– The ceasefire negotiations between SDF and Turkey failed. There are significant military buildups of SNA forces around Kobane, that may indicate an imminent attack. SDF is ensuring commitment to defend the region, having positions around Qereqozah bridge.

– Ambulances and other vehicles that went to evacuate people in Manbij had been prevented to access the city by SNA groups.

– In Tal Rifat, SNA groups called for all men between 18 to 60 years old to leave the city in the next 48 hours. Many people rejected that call and allegedly riots broke out. SNA imposed a curfew, not allowing anyone to leave their homes

– A big demonstration on Kobane against the threat of Turkish invasion happen today. Protests against SNA groups looting and killing also continued in Manbij.

– Turkey continues the bombings of critical infrastructure all around NES. The power station of Til Temir has been attacked again, cutting electricity in all the city.

– Lekolin.org, a research institution of the self-administration, published a file identifying 415 ISIS fighters operating within the ranks of the SNA. Allegedly, it was found in a SNA fighter memory card with instructions for the ISIS fighters to advance to Kobani after capturing Qereqozah bridge.

# Syria political transition

– Ahmed Al-Sharaa (a.k.a. Abu Mohamed al-Jolani) met with Geir Pedersen, special envoy from the UN, discussing about the ongoing process of political transition in Syria. An statement emphasized they work for “inclusive and credible political transition, led and owned by Syria, based on the principles outlined in Security Council Resolution 2254”, and also “the UN’s intention to provide all forms of assistance to the Syrian people”.

– A top diplomat from the EU confirms that sanctions will remain in place for now, due to ongoing concerns over Syria’s political landscape and opposition dynamics.

– Convoys of the Military Operation Administration (linked to the HTS military operation) arrived and deployed in Deir Ezzor city.

– US announced several strikes against ISIS, stating 12 fighters killed and no civilian casualties.

– Israeli warplanes have carried out intense airstrikes targeting multiple sites in the rural areas of Tartus and Latakia, including warehouses and air defense bases.

– Explosions heard in Albukamal area, near the border with Iraq, when an unidentified drone was flying over that region.

# Civil protests and International Solidarity

– Activists of women organizations and other kurdish political organizations are organizing protest camps in both sides of the Syria-Turkey border in the cities of Qamishlo-Nusaybin.

– Activists in Germany have occupied a former turkish embassy building and the famous Brandenburger Tor in Berlin, hanging banners in solidarity with Rojava and lighting fireworks.

– Activists in Vienna installed a “security zone for democracy” in front of the turkish embassy, declaring Turkey responsible for the ongoing escalation in NES and demanding a political solution.

# Analysis

Not much time for sharing analysis on the last days, but we have to remark once again that the risk of an attack on Kobane is very hight. We will follow the situation but internet cuts can also be common if the conflict escalates. Keep updated and #DefendRojava

Revolutionary greetings!

 

—————- Separate update —————–

10 point diplomacy proposal of NES

The Autonomous Administration of NES has proposed 10 points to start a political dialogue with the provisional goverment.

“Cooperation between the governments of NES and Damascus would be to the advantage of everyone in Syria and could help overcome the current difficulties.”

1. First of all, it is important to maintain the unity and sovereignty of the Syrian state and to protect the country from attacks by the Turkish state and its supporters.

2. Military operations on the entire Syrian territory should be ended to start a comprehensive and constructive national dialogue.

3. We appeal to all sides, to refrain from rhetoric of hatred and betrayal to pave the way for a constructive dialogue. Syria is a country that is rich in many ways. This wealth must be preserved, based on justice and democracy.

4. We suggest an early meeting of the Syrian political actor: inside in Damascus to standardize the visions for the transition phase.

5. We would like to work for women to participate even more in the political process than before.

6. We emphasize that resources and economic wealth should be distributed fairly between all Syrian regions, since they belong to all citizens of the Syria.

7. We would like to work to ensure that the original and violently displaced population can return to their areas. It is important to us to preserve their cultural heritage and to end the policies of demographic change.

8. In view of the developments in Syria, we reaffirm our commitment in the fight against terrorism to prevent the return of IS terrorists, through the joint cooperation between SDF and the international anti-IS coalition.

9. We are of the firm believe that the occupation must be ended. The Syrian people must be given the opportunity to determine their future and use the principle of the good neighborhood.

10. We welcome the constructive role of the Arab states, the United Nations, the International Anti-IS coalition and all active international actors and ask everyone to take on a positive and effective role in the advice and support of the Syrian people. And to facilitate the communication between the different population groups in order to ensure stability and security and stop foreign interventions. “

15-12-24

# Political transition in Syria

– Declarations of Ahmed al-Sharaa (aka al-Jolani):
All factions will be dissolved and there will be no weapons except in the hands of the state.
The first priorities are to rebuild the destroyed homes and return all displaced until the last tent.
There will be no more compulsory military service.
Very important economic decisions will be taken.

# NES updates

– YPJ anounced that will soon publish a report on the attacks. Since 27.11 SDF is counting 112 shehids from SDF, Asayish, Komandos, YPG, YPJ, Syriac military council, HRE and HPC

– American military convoy arrived in kobane and raised a US flag in the main administration center, stating their intention to remain in the city to deter a Turkish attack.

– Protests continue in Manbij after the occupation of SNA, with multiple tribes expressing their support for SDF. A general strike was called to start today, with many shops and workshops closing down in protest for the crimes of SNA.

# ISIS resurgence

– Iraqi security officials warn of a looming ISIS plot to target prisons in Syria controlled by the
SDF, potentially leading to a mass escape of terrorists.

– Humanitarian NGO working in Hol camp, that hosts more than 40.000 women and children of ISIS fighters, suspended it’s work due to fear of a possible rebellion and attacks.

# International solidarity

– In the global Day of action, December 14th 2024, many protests and actions in Defense of Rojava took place in many different cities. To find more about it follow the campaign RiseuUp4Rojava

Revolutionary greetings!

Updates 14-12-24

# Political transition

– Al Julani made a several statements to consolidate his position as ‘de facto’ head of Syrian state, using a moderate and conciliatory tone, claiming no conflict with Israel or Iran, will to stop captaon production in Syria (a drug that the regime was producing)

– The Aacqba arab conference concluded with a statement supporting the current Syria transition and condemning Israel expansion of the “security zone”.

– Turkey has been the first state to open embassy on Damascus, after more than 12 years since they close their embassy in the Syrian capital.

– 150 mass graves containing what is estimated to be 75,000 bodies are being digged in Al-Hussainiya area in the Damascus countryside, behind the Conference Palace.

# Eufrates Region

– Bodies of SDF fighters are being buried, mostly in Kobane but also in other places where those fighters came from.

– SNA is looting and destroying several locations in Manbij. They burned an important library, they killed a restaurant owner while looting his place and many more crimes are being reported.

– SDF command decleared that the ceasfire on the Tishrin dam has not been implemented and that is therefore not effective. SNA is now mobilizing big numbers of soldiers towards the Qereqozah bridge in the kobane region border. Allegedly, turkey is also rallying forces on the Turkey-Syria border around Kobane. Supply of water and electricity from Tishrin to Kobane region dam has also been cut.

# ISIS resurge

– The Palmyra region and the Hamad Syrian desert are witnessing continuous raids of ISIS. The number of ISIS attacks since toppling Bashar al-Assad on December 8 is now 6, resulting in the deaths of 70 people, including civilians and soldiers.

# Context on the ceasefire disagreements –

The tomb of Suleyman Shah, short explanation Written by YPG/YPJ International

Part of the negotiated ceasefire between #SDF and #Turkey was connected to the location of the tomb of Suleyman Shah and its military implications. Let’s dive into this a little deeper to understand what this is all about:

Suleyman Shah lived in 13th century and, according to Ottoman legacy, is the grandfather of Osman I, who founded the Ottoman Empire. Because todays #Turkey likes to see itself as successor of the Ottoman Empire, the tomb and remains are important for them.

The tomb of Suleyman Shah was Turkey’s only foreign enclave, located more or less 30km from the Turkish border close to Qere Qozaq, on the river banks of Euphrates. In 2014 the tomb and its 38 Turkish guards, were completely surrounded by #ISIS.

So the tomb was brought to Ashme village, between #Kobane and Euphrates river, a site closer to the Turkish border, where it was easier and less risky to protect, but still on Syrian (and #SDF) territory. Turkey stressed that the relocation would only be temporarily.

While now negotiating the ceasefire, it was offered to help transfer the tomb again, but #Turkey instead requested that it will be given 1km of land in this area, where they intend to deploy heavy weapons and build a military base. Thus no agreement could be reached.

 

Revolutionary greetings!

13-12-24

# Syria political transition

– Turkey declares they will open their embassy in damascus tomorrow saturday to support the transitional government

– The EU is promising 4M€ for a new Humanitarian Air Bridge to deliver emergency healthcare and essential supplies to Syria. This comes as European countries freeze all asylum cases for Syrians, discussing deportations in far-right dominated debates.

– Israeli defense minister make claims about the region of the newly occupied ‘security zone’ as “historical moment of Mount Hermon returned to our control after 51 years”, indicating their intention of holding those territories besides all declarations of “temporary buffer zone”.

– In a meeting between US and Turkey, Blinken spoke of the “need to ensure that the coalition to fight ISIS can continue to fulfill its important task […] crucial to making sure [the re-emergence of ISIS] doesn’t happen are the Syrian Democratic Forces, which we support”

# NES

– The Kurdistan National Congress met with dozens of Kurdish tribal and political figures in Jazira Canton to emphasize their support for their military forces and the Democratic Autonomous Administration, calling on the Kurds to achieve national unity.

– Merazins (burial ceremonies) of fighters against the turkish attacks are taking place all around northern Syria. 9 Komandos and 2 YPJ fighters who fell in the defense of Manbij, together with 2 HPC-jin (women civil defense forces) who fell in Qereqozah had been burried in Kobane. 4 fighters of the Syriac military council who fell in the frontlines of the M4 – Til Temir region were buried in Hasseke.
In Aleppo 10 fighters from different YPG/HRE units were laid to rest.

– Rumours and fabricated lists of alleged demands of HTS and SDF negotiations that are circulating in social networks had been revealed fake by the political bodies of the DAANES.

– Dismissing the ceasefire agreements, SNA attacked and took control of the Tishrin dam. Allegedly, SDF recaptured the area later in a counter offensive.

– SNA factions are also starting ground attacks on the Ain Issa region from the occupied strip near the M4 road, with artillery support of the Turkish army. In the Til Temir region of the Turkish occupied strip also constant bombing

# International solidarity: Global day of action December 14th

– There is an internationalist call for a global day of action for tomorrow 14th of December. We call you all to support this, joint protests and take action to defend the revolution!

Revolutionary greetings!

Updates 12-12-2024

# “Real Politik”

– The military activity is transitioning to political activity, as different agreements, political talks and official declarations are becoming the pivotal elements of the future of Siria. Nation-states wave their plans and make their moves, we won’t dive on that.

– Several governments are stating their intentions of opening embassies in Damascus to start relations with the provisional government, signaling their approval of the interim govrment and the power transition in Syria.

– The autonomous administration made an official statement declaring that all official buildings of DAANES will fly the new/old Syrian flag, as a symbol of victory of the revolution and the fall of the regime. This comes as a paradoxical return since it is the flag that YPG was waving in their first congress in 2013.

# Streets politics

– Protests in different cities are becoming key elements to measure force and support base of different factions. They are also being used as war propaganda, and we can see pro-turkish media accounts spreading videos of gatherings in different cities presenting them as protests against SDF, while at the same time don’t talk about the demonstrations in support of SDF and the Self-Administration institutions.

– A man armed with a light machine gun (PKM) opened fire in the streets of Raqqa, injuring some Assayish (Security forces) and also civilians. Allegedly, 43 people injured, not clear if there are any deads. Pro-turkish channels spreading fake information claiming that SDF opened fire against civilians. SDF is denying it sharing videos of what really happened.

# War on Eufrates region

– A ceasefire was brokered to halt hostilities in Manbij, agreeing to 1) SDF (MMC) to withdraw from Manbij safely 2) The tomb of Suleiman Shah to be given to SNA and Turkey 3) Tishreen dam to become a demilitarized zone with officers of the dam controlling it’s administration.

– SNA groups attacked the area of Tishreen dam with heavy forces despite the announcement of ceasefire. After a turkish drone hit the dam few days ago, and heavy clashes could damage the critical infrastructure of the dam unleashing a terrible catastrophe.

# Analysis

The situation is getting very confusing on the ground, with desinformation spreading on social networks and political talks behind closed doors. Verifying information is becoming a critical step to understand what is happening, since turkish propaganda strategy relays on a very strong desinformation apparatus.

This specially affect a lot of Syrian returnees, since many of them had been living in Turkey and being exposed to the turkish narrative of criminalization of SDF. This will feed ethnical tensions between kurds an arabs, risking more conflicts and even violence.

This comes together with the inter-kurdish conflicts we discussed two days ago, and indicates a general plan of turkish state intelligence to divide and isolate the leading forces of the revolution. Other forces like US or HTS will not oppose to such a plan, since a weakened revolutionary force will make it easier to dilute and manipulate the political project of the DAANES. This puts the achievements of the revolution in serious danger, and is more important than ever to expose and denounce such strategies, building a common revolutionary front to face enemy attacks.

Revolutionary greetings!

Updates 11-12-2024

# Ongoing situation

– The interim government of HTS is slowly formalizing their power, making interviews in western suits and staging press conferences declaring “Our goal is to restore security and stability to all Syrian cities and return millions of Syrian refugees”.

– Israel continue their bombing campaign, with more than 400 targets hit. They announced destruction of 80% of military capabilities of Syria. The IDF occupation (“security zone”) is growing every day, expanding alongside the Lebanon border, with tanks now at 20 km from Damascus.

– SOHR reports attacks of violent masked men in Latakia and Damascus outskirts. Videos spread in social networks with masked military teams storming towns, mainly of christian population. Some videos show al-Nusra flags being waved by the attackers.

# Turkey and SNA offensive

– Turkish air force bombs several villages around Kobane city, including Lafarge cement plant and Mishtenur. Some reports indicate that SNA fighters (with turkish air support) are crossing the Qereqozah bridge to start ground attacks on Kobane, but in the last hours very few information is arriving, probably due to internet restrictions.

– Turkey also bombed the Assayish headquarters of the Raqqa, this is the first airstrike in Raqqa city since 2017, when SDF liberated it from ISIS. US coalition forces moved some troops inside the city after the strike.

– Videos of the brutalities of SNA in the territories they occupy from SDF are spreading in social networks. Their channels are going full of videos were they record themselves torturing and killing, with calls to “kill all the kurds” and other anti-kurdish statements.

– Bombings alongsidethe M4 and Til Temir front lines are also increasing every day, with drones, mortars and rockets hitting different points, as close to the city as the village of Til Cuma at just 2 kilometers of Til Temir.

# Other related updates

– Turkey is opening borders to let Syrians return to Syria as “voluntary return”, making them sign a document that don’t allow them to return to Turkey. Several European countries are also discussing about the situation for Syrians to return, with narratives dominated by far-right parties.

– Rojava Information Center is also working on daily updates, with verified information and reports from different areas of NES. Read their report of 10-12-24 here: https://rojavainformationcenter.org/2024/12/update-escalation-in-nes/

# Analysis

HTS is now busy making itself more presentable to western audiences, hoping to gain official legitimacy throw capturing the Syrian state structure. Western powers are going along with that, and no one is putting much attention to the small scale attacks that their rogue islamist groups are doing. The DAANES is holding talks with them, accepting them as provisional government for now, hoping to halt Turkish offensive and work towards a federal Syria that respects regional autonomy.

Turkey is moving further in their attacks, striking as far as Raqqa, making a bold statement that they are ready to defy US red lines in order to achieve their aims. The SNA soldiers are recording and spreading videos of the horrendous crimes they are committing as part of their psychological warfare, evoking the behavior of ISIS. This is not a coincidence, several ISIS fighters have been reported to be now holding command positions inside different factions of SNA.

Israel is moving further into Syria, defying even the UN that called to not push forward. With Russia and Iran losing all their influence on Syria, Israel and Turkey (strategic NATO allies, Turkey being formal member of the military alliance) are taking advantage of the situation to advance their imperialist agendas, indirectly supporting each other in their occupations.

DAANES is struggling to sustain the developments of past years, with Turkey attacks on Eufrates region and inter-tribal tensions in Deir-Ezzor, where some tribes pleading alliances with HTS while others reaffirm their support to SDF. This is nothing new, is the continuation of the tribal conflicts that had been ongoing in the region for some time.

One important topic to put attention is the situation of women. Women played very important roles all along Syria since the first uprisings of 2011, but in HTS protests and events, the absence of women is very noticeable, specially when compared with the role of women in DAANES. Rojava is a women revolution, and this is becoming even more obvious now, when all other forces are overwhelmingly male.

Enough for today, keep struggling and support the revolution!

Revolutionary greetings! 🖤