The popular movements in Syria under the influence of the Arab Spring led to transformations in many areas. With the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), social and political change accelerated in the region.

In the first months of 2011, the effects of the Arab Spring began to spread rapidly to Syria. The popular movements that started in Tunisia when the peddler Mohamed Bouazizi set his body on fire triggered similar protests in Syria. In Hesekê, Hasan Ali Akleh set himself on fire in January in protest against the dictatorial regime. Following this incident, police violence against a shopkeeper in Damascus caused 1,500 people to take to the streets, chanting slogans such as ‘Syrian people cannot be humiliated’.

The voice ‘overthrow the regime’, which had been previously raised in Egypt and Yemen, found an echo this time in the Syrian city of Daraa. A group of young people were arrested and tortured by the regime forces after writing ‘the people do not want the regime’ on a wall on 15 March 2011. This incident sparked popular reaction in Daraa and the anger spread to many cities,Q including Hama, Homs, Latakia, Qamishlo and Deir ez-Zor. The continuous protests, dubbed ‘Friday rage’, initially emerged in Daraa, but soon found support across the country.

Great outburst of anger

Hamza al-Khatib, 13, was severely tortured following arrests during a demonstration in April. His body was returned to his family on 25 May with burns and three bullet wounds. The circulation of Hamza's photographs on digital media sparked an outburst of anger. By June, the armed wing of the fighting groups had begun to form. On 2 June, 300 Syrians gathered in Antalya to organise a ‘Conference for Change in Syria’. As a result of this conference, a committee led by the Muslim Brotherhood was established and the Free Syrian Army (FSA) was formed. On 11 October, the Syrian National Council (SNC), the political wing of the FSA, was established.

Al-Qaeda calls for jihad

Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri released a video in 2012 calling on Muslims to wage jihad in Syria. On 12 April 2012, the United Nations announced the failure of peace talks and on 13 June the UN described the situation in Syria as a ‘civil war’. These developments indicated that the scale of the conflict in Syria would increase.

What happened in Rojava?

In Rojava, the Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEM), an institutional umbrella organisation, was established in October 2011. TEV-DEM grew by organising and carrying out various activities with the participation of all formations in Rojavayê (Western) Kurdistan. While significant progress was made in the fields of education and defence, the People's Defence Units (YPG) were organised in 2011. In 2013, the process of establishing communes and assemblies began. The developments in 2012 showed that an advance was underway towards a revolution. The beginning of this revolution was ignited in Kobanê on 19 July 2012. It then spread widely in cities such as Afrin, Serêkaniyê, Dirbesiyê, Amûdê, Dêrik, Girkê Legê, Tirbespiyê, Qamişlo, Til Temir and Hesekê.

Cantons and interim administrations

The Provisional Legislative Assembly of the Democratic Autonomous Administration met in the city of Amûdê on 21 January 2014 and declared the Interim Administration of Cizîrê Canton. This was followed by the declarations of autonomous administrations in Kobanê on 27 January and in Afrin on 29 January.  Subsequently, the Canton Coordination was established in 2015.

Federation of Northern Syria

As the self-defence system developed, the areas occupied by mercenaries started to be liberated one after another. Founded in 2015, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) liberated Girê Spî in 2015, Manbij in 2016, Tabqa and Raqqa in 2017. In order to harmonise these regions, the Federation of Northern Syria was declared in 2017. In this context, three regions (Cizîrê, Euphrates and Afrin) and 6 cantons (Qamişlo, Hesekê in Cizîrê Region; Girê Sipî, Kobanê in Euphrates Region; Afrin, Shehba in Afrin Region) were defined. Manbij, Raqqa and Tabqa were also designated as civilian councils. Finally, in 2019, Deir ez-Zor was cleared from ISIS and Deir ez-Zor Civil Council was established.

Declaration of Autonomous Administration

With this development, discussions on the form of governance also deepened. Therefore, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria was declared on 6 September 2018. Prior to this stage, a Social Contract covering Afrin, Cizîrê and Kobanê was signed in 2014. In 2017, when the transition to the Democratic Confederalism system was made, there was an election process in which two phases were completed, but the third phase of the election did not take place due to the occupation that started with the Turkish state's attacks on Afrin. Therefore, with the unfinished work of organising the system, a dual system was formed in the region. Thus, while the Autonomous Administration system functioned, the parliamentary system remained in effect in parallel.

Approval of the Social Contract

In this context, after the meetings held with the participation of the peoples in the region in 2021, the issue of writing the Social Contract of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria was put on the agenda. After two years of work, the draft contract was finalised and submitted to the General Assembly of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The General Assembly approved the Social Contract on 12 December 2023.

Administrative structure changed

According to the new contract consisting of four sections and 134 articles, the Autonomous Administration system was changed, and the name of the region was changed to the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The regional system of Cizîr, Euphrates and Afrin was abolished and the cantonal system was adopted. Thus, 7 canton systems were organised as Afrin-Shehba, Cizîrê, Kobanê, Manbij, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Tabqa.

Guarantee for the rights of all peoples

The Social Contract, based on Democratic Confederalism, which takes women's liberation as a basis and includes the principles that ensure the construction of an ecological and democratic society, is built on principles that recognise equality between the sexes as fundamental; that do not discriminate between nations, religions and sects; that are tolerant of the mother tongue of each nation; that see the demographic structure of the region as a heritage and protect it. Kurds, Arabs, Assyrian-Syriacs, Turkmens, Armenians, Circassians, Chechens, Muslims, Christians and Yazidis were mentioned in the agreement, and the rights of peoples and communities were guaranteed.