They must fight

Rojava or simply Western Kurdistan is a region in northeastern Syria that I visited in the beginning of January 2025, just one month after "fall" of Bashar al-Assad.

The whole journey was organized by a clever journalist, traveller, tour guide and an orientalist Lenka Hrabalová, who shares a great passion for the Middle East with me. I wanted to get back to Syria. When I started travelling, which was 15 years ago, the first country which I visited was Syria. I had never thought it would take me such a long time to visit this country again since it has become more than courageous to live in this area, recently.

New Syria?

It is more than certain that you have heard of the state revolution in this country, which occurred in the start of December last year. The majority of the country was taken under the control of the so-called New Syrian Army led by Mohammad al-Julani (now he has returned to his civil name Ahmed al-Sharaa) who calls for freedom in Syria. I was sceptical with him from the very beginning due to his early ties to Al-Qaeda. However, the euphoria from the overthrow of the dictator Bashar al-Assad was so huge all over the country that it catched the big attention of the world press. Journalists from all over the world were eager to map the cruelty of this dictator. However, Lenka and I had a different plan. We wanted to visit Rojava, which is under the control of SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces). This party is mainly Kurdish so the overthrow of Asad does not change anything for them. They are even more worried if the New Syrian Army remains free and lets Kurds live their lives in Syria. Only a few journalists were heading to this area and we were one of them.

My interest in authentic areas went in a new direction. As journalists you can get to know the country from a different perspective than the ordinary tourists or travellers. You can get deeper into the problematic of countries or areas thanks to the interviews with prisoners, refugees, bedouins or politicians.

Turkish aggression

Immediately when we cross the borders of Iraq and Syria we get catched by a fixer. Among the journalists, a fixer is a person who accompanies you during your stay in the country, guarantees your safety, arranges travel documents and permissions or communicates with the liaisons who help you to get to places where it is normally not allowed to get to, for example to the camp for families of ISIS fighters, the radical group which occupied Syria and Iraq between 2014 and 2017.

But let´ s get back to the beginning. Our first steps lead to the town Al-Qamishli, where we get the opportunity to take some pictures of abandoned Asad military buildings. Kurds do occupy the majority of Rojava, however some strategic points were under the control of Asad itself.

It is a strange feeling to walk across places which were occupied by the army and now they are completely empty and abandoned. Al-Qamishli is located near the Turkish borders, and as you may know, Turkish do not like Kurds. So after the overthrow of Asad the attacks in the Kurdish area have become more intensive. Honestly, I do not understand it, since I have never met as friendly and peaceful ethnic group as the Kurds are.

We visit Christians who have lived in this area since its beginning. Before the civil war there were up to 10% of Christians in Syria. This number has certainly lowered due to the recent conflicts in the country. The majority of them belong under the Syriac Orthodox Church and we also visited a church under the administration of Armens. We were welcomed warmly everywhere and could enjoy the spiritual atmosphere which is very characteristic for these churches. We arrived just before Christmas. Orthodox celebrate it a bit later than Christians.

In the former capital of ISIS

The aim of Lenka´ s project was clear from the very beginning - to do an interview with a radical follower of islamic State - "Jihadist". Unfortunately, we did not get permission for the interview because of the lack of time (we spent 5 days there) and because of ongoing conflicts with Turks. So we got occupied with other activities.

The next day we got to the city of Raqqa which used to be the former capital of ISIS. Almost 80% of the city was destroyed during the war. It is amazing how fastly the city has recovered after the war so we can barely see any ruins left. When we entered one of the city roundabouts we got checked by a young female soldier from SDF. She was a tiny girl with a nice smile, however fully armed. I would not hesitate to invite her on a date if the circumstances were different. Wearing a bullet-proof vest and Kalashnikov around her arms together with a dagger on her back, she could be a candidate for the upcoming Miss Syria competition, I thought.

Lenka asked her in Arabic: " Miss, how old are you?" She answered: "19." Lenka replied: "The gear you are wearing must be twice heavier than you." The girl started laughing. Her strict supervisor came to us just when she was about to have a picture taken with us. He checked our documents and sent her back to her checkpoint. I could not fall asleep that night because of all that beauty.

Lenka headed to take some photos of the city center and I was called by two locals to join them for a cigarette. I showed them a postcard with the picture of our beautiful Bratislava. Who knows if they ever visit it, probably not.

The day after we were heading to the refugee camp. We asked for permission obviously. When we entered the camp, Lenka started doing some interviews with people living in the camp. Only a few of them allowed us to take pics of them. When we got surrounded by kids, Lenka asked them to bring their favourite toys. They replied they had no toys. The only thing they were playing with was a torn ball filled with various things and sewed up like you would stitch up a wound on your body. The same evening Lenka suggested: "Let's buy some balls for them, Peter!" The day after we brought them two new balls, what a joy and happiness.

Survive the next day

There are several hundreds of refugee camps around the city of Raqqa. People fled here from a war and basically have nowhere where to return. Their homes are destroyed. Sometimes they get help from international organizations, but usually people who live nearby try to support them by providing some food, water, clothes or blankets.

For these people nothing changes with the new army. They do not care if Asad, ISIS or the New Syrian Army is in charge of the country. They go there where the war is not so intensive. They are not interested in politics. What they do care about is to survive the next day. While men and boys leave the camp during the day to work, women together with kids and elderly stay there and wait - wait for the uncertain future.

The waste collectors

On our way from Raqqa we stopped by another camp where kids were collecting garbage. Lenka decided to take some pics of this situation. Once we stopped, we were immediately surrounded by 30 - 50 curious children and I could tell that our fixer was really not happy about that. We learned that kids collect plastic bottles and deliver them to recycling centers where they get some coins in exchange for them. Most of the garbage is burnt so that they make place for new waste, since every day garbage trucks come here to dump waste from the city.

Surprisingly, kids were not rude or annoying or even begging. They were fascinated by Lenka´ s cameras and all of them were smiling and seemed happy. Some of them had to catch our attention by kicking to younger ones, who really did not care and just moved a few steps away. In the end a microbus going to the camp stopped next to us and we were invited to go to the camp with them for a cup of tea. We agreed more than happily. We learned that the driver had been driving elderly to the hospital for some check-ups. This is the hospitality of Syrians, who often do not possess anything.

Teacher who sells veggies

Another goal of our journey is to do an interview with bedouins, a pastorally nomadic tribe who commutes with their herd from one place to another. Unfortunately, we are not lucky here as men are away and women do not want to speak to us. We hear: " We are sorry, we cannot talk to you, men are gone and without their permission we are not allowed to make any decisions." As we walk around we reach a tent where they are having a class. A limping man with a long beard looking older than he really is invites us to go inside the tent. He starts talking: "I teach these kids in my free time. They are the kids of bedouins,they do not have any money for education. I work as a vegetable seller, but since I am the only one with a university degree in this area, I teach kids in my spare time." I really appreciate his effort. Children are staring at us like we are some extraterrestrials. They are so surprised and shocked that none of them make any noise during our interview.

On the rails with some tea

The next day is spent in the city of Hasaka. It is a formal base for the SDF. When we arrive in the city, we can see a convoy leaving the base, since Turks have attacked the water dum Tishrin Dam nearby the city of Kobani. So far Kurds have successfully repulsed Turkish attacks.Will it be different in the future? Voices calling for some help from foreign countries remain unheard. Our fixer leaves the city later in the afternoon to see his family. Once we are checked in our hotel we go out for a walk with Lenka. Just before the sun set we arrived at the abandoned train station. What an atmosphere there is! It was a long time ago when the last train left the station. Moreover, we find another base of the Asad army located directly in the old train station. We walk along the track, take pictures, talk and even meet a young couple who is having a date directly on the rails. They are drinking tea. They help us to find a way to our hotel. It is time to go back.

Visiting one of the Gods

We were supposed to do an interview with some radicals, but we did not get permission, so that day we felt a bit hopeless at the beginning. However, we had a back-up plan to visit one historical place from the era of Pagans - Tell Mozan located near the city of Amuda. Tell Mozan is the site of the ancient city of Urkesh which was known from myths and history. Urkesh was established in the 4th century B.C. by the Hurrians - ancient ethnic group which lived in Anatolia, northern Syria and northern and eastern Mesopotamia. The God of Urkesh was Kumarbi often called as the father of gods. It was believed Kumarbi lived in the nether world and was connected with prosperity. This city was rich thanks to nearby copper mines. Currently, the whole place seems rather abandoned, without any archeological activity. However, we found the custodian of this area and even a little info in English.

Real Madrid or Barcelona?

Have you heard of a camp AI-HoI located near the city of Hasaka? It is a camp for families and friends of ISIS. At the moment there are more than 39.000 people in the camp, most of them are Syrians and Iraqis. This number is slowly reducing as Iraq has started repatriation - the return of Iraqis to Iraq. I could not wait to see this place. I had never been to a similar place. I had a feeling that people in the camp would be unfriendly, radical or even depressed that they were stuck in that place. The reality was surprisingly different. Once we entered the camp we received instructions from the camp worker. The whole process took around 30 minutes. I did not understand much as Lenka spoke to the lady in Arabic. After they finished Lenka was so nice and translated most of their discussion. We had two soldiers who accompanied us in the camp. We were allowed to walk in the central part of the camp where shops with food, clothes or toiletries were located. Lenka started doing interviews immediately. People were friendly, smiling and willing to have their pictures taken. I "got rid of" all of the postcards from Bratislava which I always carry in my pocket as gifts when travelling. When I gave a postcard to one child, immediately other kids wanted another one and in a few seconds I had none left. When some children asked their parents what place was in the postcard, they answered that it was Turkey. We had great soup and falafel there. Our fixer was not happy about the food. He was worried about the hygiene in the camp. The boy who was in charge of serving soup was proudly saying he was the best goalkeeper in the camp. He asked about football: "Real Madrid or Barcelona?" "Of course Barcelona", I reply. No other answer is acceptable in this part of the world.

Once again we were surrounded by a group of people. One lady started shouting and blaming America for everything. Other people joined her and in a second we were in the middle of a crowd. You must stay confident, keep smiling and listen carefully when you appear in a place like this. We had two soldiers guarding us, but you never know, anything can happen. However, I did not have a bad feeling in the camp. Everything seemed working there, no one was depressed nor neglected. But I could not help myself, there were still some questions in my head. How long will these people stay there? What will young boys from the camp become? Will they become radicals? Will Islamic State come back? A lot of people believe that IS will return: "We are waiting for them to return and everything will be good again." The Paradox is that Islamic State, preferring Sunnites, was looking after their people at the beginning of their governance.

The spokesperson of the YPG

The visit of the camp was very exciting, but I must mention one more visit - the visit of the spokesperson of the Kurdish YPG which is part of SDF.

We were lucky and instead of the interview with a jihadist we got the permission for the interview with a charismatic guy who came to the office with an assistant who was making notes of our interview. The guy looked confident, could be in his age of forty and was speaking very clearly without any mistakes as you would expect from the spokesperson. I was just a listener in this interview. At the end of each interview Lenka gave me a chance to ask something and I am very grateful for it. When he ran out of cigarettes, I offered him one of mine. He finished the interview with words: "We are Kurds, What can we do? We have to fight, as we always did." I had goosebumps and was leaving the country with a good feeling. The feeling that showed me how strong these people in reality are. Despite all the difficulties and complications they have in their lives they keep their respect which they show to you also.

Important information:

ROJAVA (also known as Western Kurdistan) is an autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of sub-regions: Euphrates, Jazira and Kobani. Rojava is not recognized as autonomous by the government of Syria. Kurds recognize Rojava as one of four regions of Kurdistan, which besides Rojava includes southeastern Turkey (North Kurdistan), northern Iraq (Southern Kurdistan) and western Iran (Eastern Kurdistan).

Established: 2014

Population: 2 millions

Official languages: Kurdish, Arabic, Syrian, Turkish

The capital city: Al-Qamishli

The biggest city: Raqqa

SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces): It is a coalition of Kurdish, Arabic, Assyrian, Armenian and Turkmen militia. It was established during the Syrian civil war led by the Kurdish militia - People´s Protection Units (YPG) and Women´s Protection Units (YPJ). Together with protective Units HPX and Christian Units they form SDF. In 2017 there were around 20-30 thousand members. Since July 2013 Asayish (agency responsible for domestic security) has been fulfilling the function of the Ministry of Interior. It leads the police, anti-terroristic units, press service and training of units. In total Asayish has around 15 000 members (10 000 in Jazira, 3000 in Afrin and 2000 In Kobani/ Euphrates). So in the country there is double security provided by Asayish and local militias.

ISIS – was Sunni's military terrorist organization occupying areas in Iraq and Syria which together were the size of former Czechoslovakia. It was established in 2006 by diverting from Al-Qaeda. Its members were from all round the world- Europe, Russia, China, even the USA. This organization was known for its brutal terrorist and war attacks, including mass executions of soldiers and civilians. This organization was breaking all human rights and oppressing other religions which did not follow the rules of strict Islam. The biggest crimes were committed mainly against Shia Muslims, Yazidi, Christians and even Sunnis who were opposing ISIS. ISIS was trying to create a functioning state, they were even minting their own coins. In 2016 Army of Iraq and Kurdish Militias with international support started offensive attacks on the city of Mosul - the capital of ISIS in Iraq. On 23th of March 2019 Islamic State lost its last significant city - Baghuz in Syria.  

Date of trip: January 2025

Author: Peter Gregor 

Photos: Lenka Hrabalova, Peter Gregor