Newroz Suruç

Giacomo Sini

A Kurdish woman waves an HDP (People’s Democratic Party) flag during a celebration of Newroz, in March, 2016.

Photo Essay: Home for the Kurds?

The Kurds living in northern Syria worked together to create an independent region called Rojava, based on workers rights, equality, feminism, and ecology.

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Editor's Note: Since 2014, photographer Giacomo Sini has made several visits to the region of Kurdistan, spread across the borders of Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria, where Kurds have been living for thousands of years. On October 6, President Donald Trump issued a surprising order to withdraw U.S. troops from northeastern Syria, where they had been helping to maintain a buffer zone between Turkey and the Kurds. 

As a result, Turkish forces moved quickly into the region, targeting Kurdish fighters who were instrumental in assisting U.S. efforts to fight the Islamic State in 2011 and 2014. More than 130,000 people were quickly displaced by the Turkish onslaught, and hundreds of ISIS prisoners have escaped. Russian troops are moving into the areas vacated by the U.S.

Many characterize Donald Trump’s decision as a tragic betrayal.

The Kurds living in northern Syria worked together to create an independent region called Rojava, or the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Rojava’s system of governance is based on workers rights, equality, feminism, and ecology, as informed by the concept of Democratic Confederalism, written about by Abdullah Ocalan. 

In October 2014, Islamic State forces captured a large area of territory around the city of Kobane (Ayn Al Arab in Arabic.) Much of the Kurdish population had to flee to refugee camps across the Turkish border.

In June 2015, the People's Protection Units and the Women's Protection Units (YPG-YPJ)—Kurdish militias working as allies of the United States—were able to take back the region in a decisive battle in the war against ISIS.

In a 2018 interview with The Intercept, even the normally anti-war scholar and activist Noam Chomsky advised, “In my opinion, it makes sense for the United States to maintain a presence which would deter an attack on the Kurdish areas.”