NEWS CENTER - Franziska Stier, General Secretary of BastA, who was part of the Swiss delegation visiting North and East Syria, pointed out that people do not trust Damascus, saying, "We need a solution, not just an agreement." 

 

The attacks launched by HTS against North and East Syria with the support of Turkish paramilitary groups were halted following international reaction and millions taking to the streets around the world. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) shared the agreement it made with the Damascus administration with the public on 30 January. A ceasefire was established after the agreement, and integration efforts began. However, the siege on Kobanê continues. 

 

A 13-member Swiss delegation, including human rights defenders, politicians and artists, visited North and East Syria on 1 February in protest against the attacks. Franziska Stier, General Secretary of the BastA Party and a member of the delegation, assessed the situation on the ground for the Mezopotamya Agency (MA). 

 

ROJAVA OBSERVATIONS 

 

Franziska Stier said there is a lack of trust towards Damascus due to ceasefire violations and failure to comply with previous agreements. Pointing out that there are many dangers in the region, Franziska Stier said, "The most important thing is the sleeping ISIS cells. The danger does not always come from the Syrian government or Turkish jihadist groups. There are also ISIS cells that could attack at any moment."  

 

Drawing attention to the fact that the people are protecting their neighbourhoods against possible attacks, Franziska Stier said: "We met a worker from a hospital—he's normally based in Raqqa, and now he's in Qamishlo and protecting the neighbourhoods. So, their life changed a lot. But they made clear to us that they will not go back into a situation before 2014, and especially the women made clear that they will not enter oppression under an Islamist regime. They will protect their freedom, whatever it takes. Comparing to the governments in the Western states, in my opinion, a lot of Western states send their people into the war to protect the interests of the government. In Rojava, it's different. The government works like the mother of a family. They want to protect their children, and it doesn't matter what that means for themselves. But the children want their freedom.”

 

Franziska Stier stated that they also visited citizens who had migrated from Afrin and other regions, saying, "We visited two schools in Qamishlo. 120 schools are closed. So, there is no education for the children in order to give the refugees a home. It's not a real home. The situation is very, very bad. There is no privacy. There is not enough food, medicaments, pharmacies. Everything is needed for them—also milk for the children. They had to leave their homes in 30 minutes. And everything they have, they got from the people of Qamishlo. It was very bad to see the situation. And the Western states should start with humanitarian aid for them. This is one of the minimums we can do. The second point, which is very important, is a guarantee for them to be able to come home, and safety guarantees for the process.”

 

'A WAR BETWEEN TWO IDEOLOGIES'

 

Franziska Stier said that the Syrian Interim Government is not reliable, she pointed to the €620 million budget allocated by Europe for the reconstruction of Syria. "This could also lead to war against Rojava and the people there. And we know that war against Rojava is not only against the Kurds. Because many religions and many ethnic groups live in peace in Rojava. So this war is a war between two ideologies. On one side, there is an ideology based on women's rights, equality and ecology. On the other side, there is an ideology based on oppression," she said. 

 

'THE WORLD OWES US'

 

Drawing attention to the heavy price the Kurds paid in the fight against ISIS, Franziska Stier said: "Every time we spoke with them, I asked them what they wanted to say to the people of Europe. They always said, 'We know that people stand with us. We defeated ISIS together 12 years ago. But the Kurds did not do this just for themselves. We did it for humanity, we did it for the world. And now the world owes us. We lost our children, our comrades, our friends in this struggle. No one else has lost as many people as we have. And now we see these governments making an ISIS terrorist the president of Syria,' they said. They don't understand this, and neither do I.”

 

‘WE NEED A SOLUTION’

 

Recalling the protests held in Switzerland for Rojava, Franziska Stier said, "The people here deserve the solidarity of others. We held some large protests in recent weeks. But governments are keeping their distance. Our delegation worked to change this. It tried to explain that the current agreement is neither a gain nor a loss. In other words, this is the best the Rojava government can do at the moment. It is very, very important that the deaths stop. But ultimately, we need not just an agreement, but a solution. And we are very far from real peace." 

 

Franziska Stier said that they would issue a joint statement about their observations in the coming days and discuss the situation with political parties in European countries.

 

MA / Hivda Çelebi