Rojava: Syria’s Unknown War
The northern-eastern portion of Syria is one of the most intricate and underreported areas in the entire Syrian conflict. Kurdish fighters, associated with the PKK, have utilized the breakdown of Syria to create an autonomous state in its north-east, which is part of the country’s Kurdish region, and Turkey doesn’t like this.
To stop the Kurdish areas, the region called “Rojava” (the sunset) by the Kurds, the Turkish government shut down the borders to international commerce and disallowed reporters from entering. While Turkey grants free access to areas held by rebels in Syria, it doesn’t want any journalists to visit the area in Rojava, they instead have to travel through the Turkish border illegally, bypassing the army’s patrols, and risk being arrested.
They’re visiting Kovan Direj, a Kurdish activist who now lives as a refugee in the north-east of Syria. The administration had vacated most of Rojava earlier on, and Kovan is interested in demonstrating to the public how the local Kurdish forces were able to fill the void.
While Kurdish is the primary language, the region is ethnically diverse and includes Syrians of other ethnicities. Many Arabs are Muslim, along with a few Christian minorities. However, in Kurdish Syria, a precarious ethnic balance still exists. Christian organizations and their militias collaborate with the Kurdish PYD party in order to prevent jihadists from entering. Syrian Kurdistan holds around 60% of the country’s oil resources, and it could be a rich source of wealth if someone else took over.
In some areas, Kurdish and Arab villages are located next to each other. These peaceful communities of farmers now served as the first line of defense in the conflict between the YPG and their adversaries. Similar to other areas of Rojava, the majority of the fighters were local farmers. The YPG appears to utilize the local militias as the first line of defense in these isolated villages, the mobile reserve of elite troops is also present to respond to any invasions.
