Turkish proxy forces are being hit hard by the SDF on all fronts, but the Turkish military is refusing to be distracted, and remaining focused on their true enemy: grain silos and water pumping stations.

Huge flex by the main SDF spox here, dismissing claims that Turkish-backed forces have taken strategically vital Tishreen Dam by filming himself standing on it "Today is a day of dignity, a day of honour. Because this is not war against a dam, or against a village, this is a war against everything"

Local journalists in North East Syria are so likely to be targeted by Turkey that their agencies get them to contribute to their own obituaries, while at the same time Western press are in Damascus asking the big questions like if Jolani will allow alcohol and christmas trees.

Not content with being one of the biggest jailers of journalists worldwide, Turkey seeks to control the narrative in Syria by murdering those they can’t arrest. Cîhan & Nazim made invaluable contributions from a region being mostly ignored by the international media.

Devastated to learn Turkey just killed 2 much-loved Kurdish journalists in Syria in a targeted drone strike. Nazim (left) was the first local journo I met when I joined the RIC. Both were fearless in their reporting from Syria in the face of constant threats to their lives.

I spoke to @jamesstout.bsky.social on the It Could Happen Here podcast about the current situation in Syria, and what it means for the future of Rojava: www.iheart.com/podcast/105-...

Turkey's SNA forces in Syria are sharing a video of them questioning and then executing wounded soldiers as they lay in their hospital beds. Not posting the video, but this is precisely the kind of thing we expected from Turkish forces based on previously documented warcrimes.

As details emerge from SDF and local sources, today’s impressive defence of Manbij is proof that a lightly armed but well prepared and highly disciplined defender can inflict intolerable losses on a more numerous & much better equipped attacker, even one with total air supremacy.

"The era of tyranny is over" Confident statement by NES's defacto foreign minister that follows similarly positive messaging from other noteable leaders. They've kept the democratic confederalist project alive until now, and I am cautiously optimitic they'll continue to do so.

Entering a very dangerous period for Rojava; a massive assault on Manbij is underway. The SNA (opposition faction distinct from HTS) are attempting to capture the city from the SDF by attacking on 3 sides. The SNA have been responsible for some of the most apalling atrocities...

There's a lot of talk of strategic points and captured equipment and so on, but for me the main thing is that people can go to school, or the shops, or for a walk across town, without having to cross potentially hostile checkpoints. People can drive around the ring road. Life will be easier.

Woke up this morning to news that the SDF control all of Hasakah and Qamişlo. It's amazing that this is how it ends, after all the blood that's been spilt over those enclaves.

End of an era in Qamişlo and Heseke as loyalist areas come under SDF control. Many large posters of Assad, lots of Zahreddine too, and a really amateur statue of Hafaz on the corner of the park. All will be pulled down over the coming days. Photo from my first full year in Rojava, 2019.

Post-Assad Syria, what are you most looking forward to? 🚂 Restoration of Al-Ya’rubiyah-Damascus train line? 🛫 €29 Ryanair flights to Qamişlo? 🍫 Return of SnackBars (Syrian Snickers) at original price of $1 per dozen? ☠️ Ba’ath party loyalists getting the noose?

The Kurdish Red Crescent are actively calling for donations. They are currently the only NGO providing aid to the 200,000+ refugees arriving into Tabqa and Minbij, and will inevitably be responsible for building longer-term camps for them. Please donate if you can.

A 🧵 on current SDF/AANES situation in: 1. Northern Aleppo & Til Rifaat 2. Minbij region 3. Deir-ez-Zor, specifically Khasham pocket Based on conversations with people on the ground there. (As a caveat, I'm not a member of the SDF and don't speak for them)

The Kurdish Red Crescent are actively calling for donations. They are currently the only NGO providing aid to the 200,000+ refugees arriving into Tabqa and Minbij, and will inevitably be responsible for building longer-term camps for them. Please donate if you can.

Honestly this is the single most comprehensible introduction to current situation in Syria and I wish I'd seen it 7 years ago. It's now my default response when a friend or family member asks me what's going on 'over there'.

Hard to explain to my friends that haven’t spent time in Rojava but if a single photo could describe the last 6 years of my life it would look something like this. twitter.com/AliiAmmarrr/...

Kurdish poet İlhan Sami Çomak released from prison after 30 years “I had imagined being freed on a brighter and sunnier day, seeing the light in my loved ones’ eyes in a different atmosphere. But this is good too—I’m free at last," Çomak said upon his release. bianet.org/haber/kurdis...

Now well into its second decade, the Syrian civil war just reignited as Turkish-backed islamist groups in the North West have launched a massive offensive against the Russian-backed regime, right at the same time as the Kurdish-led SDF launched a series of devastating raids on those same militias.

I wrote for @novaramedia.com about today's raid by the Met police on the Kurdish Community Centre in London. novaramedia.com/2024/11/27/m...

Imgs via dean_sewell (www.instagram.com/dean_sewell) @risingtideaus.bsky.social just ran a 3 day coal port blockade in Australia. After the continued failure that is COP, the blockade is the only political horizon left for the environment movement

Heading to Tal Temir in the Springtime. Abdulaziz mountains in the distance.

$250 billion is equivalent to 57 days of NATO’s aggregate 2024 defence expenditure. In fact the US on their own could pay the extra $250bn out of their defence budget and still have the highest defence expenditure on Earth www.bbc.com/news/live/c8...

Absolutely convinced that we can tempt Greta to join a Jineoloji education in Rojava

My first holiday in 6 years. Quite a change from Al-Hasakah

Cooling off the in Euphrates, Raqqa, Syria.

Turkish strikes in Syria cut water to one million people: “Let me tell you frankly, north-east Syria is facing a humanitarian catastrophe,” said Yayha Ahmed, co-director of the city water board. www.bbc.com/news/article...

The BBC's recent documentary on the water crisis in Rojava ends with 3 outright lies by the Turkish government. I get why BBC editors (who seemingly live in fear of being accused of bias) felt the need to include these, but allowing Turkey to have the last word with no counterpoint is inexcusable.

Qereçox

Raqqa

Just noticed that the BBC's recent documentary on the (entirely man-made and preventable) water crisis in Al-Hasaka region in North East Syria is now available on YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UZP...

Russian use of ICBMs against Ukraine just now is certainly the biggest geopolitical taboo that I've seen broken in my lifetime. Can't help wondering if NATO were informed about their payload beforehand to avoid a nuclear response.

Pre-emptively started block/mute list for Bluesky for the inevitable flood of Turkish nationalists and assorted jihadis as Twitter collapses: bsky.app/profile/did:...

Dusty trip home from Şededî

So glad to see the BBC reporting on this crisis that threatens to snowball into a catastrophe if serious international support doesn’t materialise. Al-Hasakah was already in crisis when I first moved there in 2020 and since then water has only become more scarce. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Up to 20 on the list so far. Who else should be on there?

Raqqa, Syria, early 2020

“we should also be divesting away from weapons and the military” Calling for this while the UK is (w/huge public support) an active participant in Europe’s worst war since 1945 is the kind of messaging that puts otherwise green-aligned people off voting Green. www.independent.co.uk/climate-chan...

Homeward bound

My first 100 followers on here: tell me a little about yourselves.

Building up a Rojava starter-pack, for those covering events there and across Syria and Kurdistan. Who should I include in it? go.bsky.app/Ce8oGKM

Tonight I'll be taking part in the latest instalment of 'Planted in this Land', a land justice study group run by the Glasgow Seed Library. Join us online from 18:30 UTC. To take part or learn more visit: www.cca-glasgow.com/programme/pl...