The situation in Northern and Eastern Syria - ANALYSIS

Due to the attacks and the embargo, the democratic Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria is struggling with structural problems. The economic, educational and health sectors are particularly affected.

Attempts are being made by all sides to destroy the model of democratic Autonomous Administration in Northern and Eastern Syria. Unorganized parts of the region's population are also repeatedly used as tools of special warfare. The constant attacks and attempts at destabilization are aimed at breaking people's hopes and making them leave their country.

Turkey's intelligence work, especially if you include the terrorist groups controlled by MIT, is aimed at depopulating the region. Damascus is taking similar action against the self-governing regions. The creation of an organized and conscious society that can defend itself against the methods of psychological warfare and counter-activities is a question of survival for the Autonomous Administration.

The continuous rise in the dollar exchange rate and the devaluation of the Syrian lira are exacerbating the poverty of the population. In addition, the country is under an embargo. Since the required products cannot be produced, many things have to be imported from abroad. Smuggling is significant across all borders, and states and their Secret Services are involved in this.

It is not easy to set up an organized customs system and make it functional. Most of the goods imported from abroad are bought in dollars. This leads to a constant increase in prices. Since the tax system cannot be organized, the region's sources of income are shrinking more and more. Even if laws are passed and efforts are made to enforce them, their systematic implementation is difficult.

Democratic model should not spread

The Autonomous Administration favors trade activities mainly on the Syrian domestic market. It does not want the market to be flooded with Turkish goods, as in South Kurdistan. However, the regime in Damascus taxes goods imported into Northern and Eastern Syria on the one hand, driving up prices, while on the other hand, imposes an embargo. Its aim is to bring the region under control by plunging it into crisis and chaos. It does not want the Autonomous Administration to survive and a democratic model to spread. It sees the democratic option as dangerous for its own survival.

Damascus is trying to sabotage the Autonomous Administration

Despite many shortcomings and difficult conditions, almost a million students are educated in the self-governing areas. Classes are given in Kurdish, Arabic, Syriac, etc. Care is taken to ensure that each person can use and develop its language. The children study for years, but the regime in Damascus considers their diplomas invalid. In this way, it wants to once again impose the one-party mentality and secure its power in the long term. This means that families are forced to send their children to government schools. This tactic seems to be at least partially successful, because where there are state schools, a significant number of families send their children there. The government is trying by all means and even using the most basic living conditions as a weapon to bring about the failure of self-government and ultimately to eliminate it.

Kurdish banned as a language of education in occupied territories

The Turkish state has banned Kurdish as a language of education in areas such as Afrin. The regions are occupied and Kurds are being assimilated or expelled. There is no PKK or PYD in Afrin, only a few Kurds who have remained there and are suffering massive repression.

In addition, Kurdish collaborator circles infiltrated by the Turkish Secret Service, such as the so-called Kurdish National Council ENKS, have repeatedly made propaganda for the Turkish occupation troops and their mercenaries. Their hope of getting a piece of the pie in return has not materialized. The Kurdish population in Afrin is estimated to have fallen from 90 percent to less than 20 percent with the occupation. The ban on teaching in the mother tongue and the Arabization and Turkification of every sign and every statement show the extent of the assimilation and expulsion policy.

Oil was the region's main source of income

The democratic Autonomous Administration was established in the areas liberated from the Islamic State. The people who built the Autonomous Administration did not have extensive experience and knowledge of how to organize a system on this scale. The principle was to preserve the acquired values ​​and put them at the service of the people. The region's main source of income was oil. Most of the oil wells were destroyed during the war. As far as we know, only 20 percent of these wells have been repaired and are in operation. The refining of the oil extracted and its marketing also require a comprehensive organizational structure. The oil extracted cannot be offered on the markets at official prices. In this respect, the Autonomous Administration has serious economic problems, which are also reflected in the budget.

Cheap bread and oil products

Another problem of the Autonomous Administration is its food production policy, which was inherited from the Baathist system. Half of the budget goes to the purchase of wheat. Instead of providing some support to producers or taking a certain share of agricultural inputs, an irreversible policy is being pursued. Wheat is being bought up at a price that is higher than world market prices. Flour is being provided to bakeries for almost free. The prices of wheat and barley seeds are also extremely low. Bread is baked almost exclusively in the Autonomous Administration's bakeries. Prices are so low that some people dry the bread and sell it at a higher price than animal feed. This makes it impossible to accelerate the economy and balance the budget. It is true that people's purchasing power is not high, but oil products and bread in Northern and Eastern Syria are cheaper than anywhere else in the world.

There are those who know these things better and need to explain them to people. We want people and those watching from outside to know that the Autonomous Administration has education, health, economic and management problems in parallel with the occupation and attacks. It is clear that the Autonomous Administration needs to take action more effectively and quickly by making good use of time.