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#NewsFromTheFront
Weekly update from your anarchist comrades in #NES
09.02.25-16.02.25

Also available on https://tekosinaanarsist.noblogs.org/category/war-updates/

# NES

- Resistance in Tishreen-
The civilian vigil in Tishreen dam continues, with people from all territories of Northeast Syria organizing rotations. The convoys are organized by the different cantons, with dozens of civilians going in every rotation to keep watch on the dam for a few days until the next group arrives.
Meanwhile, the clashes between SDF and SNA militias continue in the western countryside of the dam, with Turkish drones and warplanes bombing SDF positions constantly. Supply lines of SDF, as well as other civilian locations are also a target of Turkish drones on the eastern side of the dam. The Syrian Kurdish journalist Agid Roj was killed in one of these drone strikes. SDF drones units destroyed several vehicles of SNA militias.

- Roja Reş and delay of the "historical announcement"-
Kurdish people all around the world held demonstrations on February 15th demanding freedom for Abdullah Ocalan on the 26th anniversary of his imprisonment. After the meeting of DEM party leaders with him in Imrali prison, an historical statement was announced, but it has been delayed. DEM party leaders held meetings with the main Turkish political parties and also with Kurdish political parties of Başûr, Iraqi Kurdistan. PKK senior leader Cemil Bayik declared that the guerrillas will not disarm without Abdullah Ocalan's release from prison. PKK executive committee member Murat Karayilan hinted additional conditions for any possible disarment, adding that a decision like that needs to be discussed in a PKK conference before taking any step. This contradicts declarations of Turkish politicians stating that PKK will lay down weapons if Ocalan calls for it.

# SYRIA

-Plans for the "National dialog conference"-
Syrian Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa formed a preparatory committee for the "National dialog conference" on February 12th, that is mostly comprised of pro-HTS individuals and close allies of al-Sharaa. The preparatory committee does not include representatives of the Alawite, Druze, Kurdish, or Shia communities. The Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), aligned with the DAANES, made a statement denouncing the lack of inclusivity of that committee, as well as the risk of such a conference to be instrumentalized by HTS to simply consolidate their power grip. The Preparatory Committee held its first “dialogue session” in Homs Province on February 16.

-Security operations of HTS-
HTS forces continue their security operations, mostly targeting regime loyalists. At least 13 people had been killed in different incidents in Homs, Aleppo, Latakia and Deir Ezzor. SOHR reported some of the arrested to be found dead afterwards, some with signs of torture as well as two bodies that were found decapitated in Abu kamal.
An operation in Deir Ezzor resulted in the arrest of a group of leaders of the "National Defense" militia affiliated with the regime. In Latakia countryside, a curfew and searching operations took place after two check points of HTS in the area of Fahel Qabu, western Homs countryside, were attacked. The "Syria popular resistance" claimed responsibility for the attacks, a group allegedly aligned with Iran and other regime loyalist forces.

-More non-Syrian HTS appointments-
HTS continues their reorganization of the new Syrian army, announcing new appointments and changes in different military structures. The Defense Ministry reportedly appointed HTS Shura Council member Brigadier General Abdul Rahman al-Khatib as commander of the Republican Guard in Damascus, a majority Alawite elite force under the Assad regime. The Defense Ministry also reportedly appointed the former head of the ”Deterrence Aggression” operation room as the head of the “Damascus Division", probably referring to the 4th Division of the Syrian Arab Army.

-HTS deployment in Lebanon border-
Following the clashes that took place in the Syria-Lebanon border last weeks, HTS security forces had been deploying in coordination with Lebanon army to crack down on the smuggling routes over the border. Discussions between Lebanese authorities and HTS provisional government in Syria are coordinating the security operations and the procedures for Syrian citizens arrested by Lebanese army.

-HTS negotiations with southern armed groups-
The Syrian interim government has continued to attempt to consolidate its control over groups in southern Syria that have not yet joined the Defense Ministry. Negotiations with the "Southern operations room" in Daraya and with "Men of dignity" in Sweyda continue. Some agreements allowing deployment of HTS forces in those areas had been put in practice, but definitive agreements about the integration of those groups on the new Syrian army has not been reached yet.

# INTERNATIONAL

-Paris conference on Syria-
Paris held an international conference about Syria with several representatives of Western states as well as other influential powers involved in the transition of Syria. French president remarked the need for new Syrian authorities to get more involved in the war against ISIS and the need for SDF to be included in the transition of Syria, remarking the important role the kurds played in the war against ISIS. Discusions about lifting the sanction took place, with promises to make it happen soon to provide humanitarian relief to the Syrian people. This become event more urgent now that Trump froze all USAID founds, from what many of the humanitarian services in Syria, including clinics in the camps of ISIS prisoners, depend. After the conference France authorities also confirmed that Israel refused their request to withdraw from areas that had been recently occupied.

-Negotiations with Russia-
An oficial call between al-Sharaa, interim president of Syria, and Putin took place. Among other topics, they talked to coordinate the withdraw of Russian forces from Syria. Russian naval fleet is reported leaving Syria, with Russian cargo vessels evacuating military assets from the port of Tartus as Russia negotiates its presence in Syria with the interim government. A big shipment of printed Syrian currency arrived to Damascus from Russia, where it has being printed for several years.

# REMEMBER OMAR AZIZ

Events to commemorate Omar Aziz, a Syrian anarchist who died in the regime prison on February 16th 2013, took place. More than 20 events across more than 15 countries were held, reading his text "On the formation of local councils" and screening movies about the Syrian revolution. Events also took place in Northeast Syria, highlighting the similarities of his anarchist proposals with the system of communes and local councils of the Self-Administration of Northeast Syria. Many anarchist groups also made statements to remember his struggle commemorate his legacy. Jawana Aziz, daughter of Omar Aziz, published a video as a tribute to him. The video and the list of events can be found in the website https://rememberomaraziz.net/

Revolutionary greetings!

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#Syria #VictoryCongress #SDF #DAANES #AANES #SNA #SDF #HTS #AlSharaa #Rojava #Revolution #DefendRojava #Anarchy #Anarchism #Comrades #Internationalism #Tishreen #Turkey #AgidRoj #AbdullahOcalan #Öcalan #DEMparty #PKK #NationalDialogConference #AlSharaa #Latakia #Lebanon #Macron #USAID #Trump #Russia #Putin #OmarAziz #LocalCouncils

#NewsFromTheFront
Weekly update from your anarchist comrades in #NES
20.01.25-26.01.25

Also available on https://tekosinaanarsist.noblogs.org/category/war-updates/

## NES ##

# WEARETISHREEN ACTION DAYS

To support resistance in Tishreen Dam, the internationalist commune called for days of action on January 25th and 26th. 10 years ago, on these dates, the city of Kobane was liberated from the attacks of ISIS. Today, the attacks of Turkish forces are still ongoing. For more than 2 weeks civilian convoys have been arriving to maintain a vigil in Tishreen dam. The vigil is continually attacked by drones, with 18 civilians killed and over a 100 injured. Important representatives of the autonomous administration of North-East Syria who joined the vigil also got injured in those attacks, as well as some internationalists who also went there to support the resistance.

# INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS SUSPEND OPERATIONS IN NES

International organizations providing humanitarian help have suspended their programs in northeastern Syria without providing a timeline for the suspension. This follows an executive order signed by the new U.S. President Donald Trump, which temporarily halts all U.S. foreign aid programs for 90 days. Several international organizations operating in northeastern Syria have informed their staff that program implementation will be paused pending a review by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The executive order signed by Trump states that all heads of departments and agencies responsible for U.S. foreign development assistance programs must immediately suspend new commitments and the disbursement of development aid funds.

# RELEASE OF SYRIAN FAMILIES FROM AL-HOL

66 Syrian families currently in the al-Hol camp will be allowed to return to their home. Al-Hol camp hosts families of ISIS fighters, mostly women and children captured during the operations that brought the islamic caliphate to an end. This is the first time that detainees from Syria in al-Hol camp are allowed to leave the camp. Date for return of these families has not yet been disclosed. Talks about return of other Syrian and Iraqi families detained in the camp are on going. This announcement came together with a call to UNHCR and Red Cross to assist the camp administration to ensure the return of those families, as well as a call for the international community to take responsibility for foreign detainees.

## SYRIA ##

# HTS MOVES SOUTH AND EAST

The Military Operations forces, linked to the transitional government of HTS, took control of a corridor along the M5 in southern Syria until the city of Daraa and the border with Jordan. This move divided the territory under control of the southern operations room in the Daraa region and the Druze defense forces in Suweyda region. They also sent military forces east of the coast cities, taking control of the oil and gas fields in the region of southern Raqqa. Since the fall of the regime those areas were under control of SDF, that deployed there to prevent ISIS expansion. This transfer of control was coordinated between SDF, HTS and the international coalition, but some media outlets spread false information of clashes between HTS and SDF that SDF denied.

#ASAAD AL-SHIBANI IN DAVOS FORUM

The Foreign Minister of Syria's transitional government, Assad al Shibani, joined the World Economic Forum held yearly in Davos, Switzerland. He met with important political figures, including an interview with Tony Blair and a meeting with Masrour Barzani, PM of the KRG. Shibani called to lift the economical sanctions on Syria. He invited foreign investment to Syria and stated their intentions to privitise state-run companies. Those are clear indicators of their will to apply a neo-liberal economical agenda in exchange for acceptance as legitimate government of Syria. Shibani also called for the SDF to disband, claiming they have no longer justification to exist since his government is promising to protect the rights of kurds and other minorities.

#ISRAEL MILITARY BASE IN QUNEITRA

Israel army continue their operations to expand their occupation in southern Syria. Recently they started the construction of military base in Quneitra countryside, southern Syria. In some areas where recently deployed forces of the Military Operations, connected to the transitional government of HTS, videos with both military forces deploying together had been recorded. It is not clear how much this operations are coordinated.

## ANALYSIS ##

As HTS government consolidates it's position, asserting their diplomatic influence and expanding their military presence over Syria, their position on the autonomous self-administration starts to be more aggressive. Recent military deployments on the gas and oil fields south of Raqqa were used by some media to claim military advances over SDF, exploiting also ethnic tensions and resentments that may arab nationalists still hold against Kurds. It is not clear how much it was a mistake or disinformation of some media, or how much it was an intentional move to portray the transitional government as strong and decisive against separatism. Assad al-Shibani, FM of the HTS government who recently got his PhD from an Istanbul private university, is calling to disband SDF in the (in)famous World Economic Forum of Davos, while announcing a full embracement of neoliberal economical agenda for Syria.

Al-Sharaa, 'de facto' president of Syria, is also making declarations like "The Kurdish People's Protection Units alone did not respond to our call to restrict weapons to the authorities". Those statements dismiss not just the ongoing negotiations with SDF, but also how other armed groups also rejected his calls to reorganize the monopoly of violence under direct control of a centralized state. As SDF makes diplomatic moves to consolidate it's position and strength in the negotiation table, HTS seems to be more inclined to accelerate tensions towards confrontation, knowing they will have full support of Turkey for any military action against SDF. Turkish state media have a long history of fabricated news, and now already twice they spread false information of alleged car bombs going to Aleppo from SDF areas, indicating their readiness to create excuses to justify attacks on SDF.

Let's not lie, the situation in NES looks difficult. Still, the resistance in Tishreen is an example of the determination to resist against the invasion, to defend the advances of the revolution. We also remember how 10 years ago, 26th of January of 2015, YPG and YPJ announced the liberation of Kobane from the attacks of ISIS. We should not forget that, because at that time it looked much darker than today. And here we are, the revolution did not just defeat the caliphate, but have been also a key element to the collapse of the regime of Bashar al-Assad. It is also making impossible for Turkey to consolidate it's imperial aspirations in Syria and in Kurdistan. Revolutions are not the easy way, we know that, but difficulties won't deter us to pursue our dreams of freedom and liberation.

Revolutionary greetings!