Rojava-Northern Syria Democratic Federal System Constituent Assembly Co-President Hediye Yusuf stated that 90 percent of the ISIS presence in Northern Syria would end with the liberation of Manbij.Hediye Yusuf spoke to ANF on the consequences of the Manbij Military Council’s operation to liberate Manbij, which had begun on June 1, and the Rojava-Northern Syria social contract that was approved after a 2 daylong meeting recently.

MANBIJ WILL SHIFT THE BALANCE IN SYRIA

The hottest item on the agenda is the operation to liberate Manbij. What is your assessment of this military campaign launched by the Manbij Military Council on June 1?

As you know, the Manbij Military Council launched the liberation operation upon the request of the region’s people. So, this operation serves the interests of Syrian peoples.

Therefore, we evaluate the operation to liberate Manbij as a strategic step. This military campaign will cut the connections of ISIS gangs in Syria and Iraq, as well as the connections with Turkey and the rest of the world.

With this operation, 90 percent of the ISIS presence in Rojava-Northern Syria will end and the peoples of different faiths and ethnicities will find comfort in the Rojava-Northern Syria Federation. Also, it will lay the grounds for the unification of Afrin and Kobané cantons. With its strategic importance, Manbij will shift the political and military balance in Syria and bring defeat to not only ISIS gangs but also the Turkish state.

IT WILL BE THE END OF ISIS AND THE STATES THAT SUPPORT IT

What will be the political and military effects of the operation to liberate Manbij in Syria and the Middle East?

With its geopolitical location, Syria has an important place in the Middle East. There has been a war in Syria over the past 6 years, and it is not only a war between Syrian peoples and the regime.

This war has become more complicated and got transformed into a 3rd world war with the direct and indirect interventions of international and regional powers. This critical operation came at such a strategic period, and will inevitably have political and military consequences. The operation to liberate Manbij will be the defeat of ISIS gangs and their supporters, will serve the interests of peoples in Syria, end the current war that has been going on for 6 years, and end the crisis in the region. All of these will shift the military and political balances in the region.

This operation will also show that revolutionary and democratic forces that want transformation in Syria exist, and prove that Syrian peoples do not need the current Ba’athist regime, nor gangs such as ISIS, Al Nusra, Ahrar Al Sham etc.

The operation will also be the end of ISIS gangs and their supporters, and bring a solution to the peoples of Syria.

PEOPLES WILL ORGANIZE THEMSELVES

Rojava-Northern Syria Social Contract was approved after 2 days of discussions recently. What are the clauses of the contract? Could you discuss the contents of the social contract?

I can only inform you briefly on this issue. For example;

* Women’s rights will be under full protection and the system of co-presidency will be updated in all of our institutions.

* Women will be able to carry out their work more freely within the confederal system.

* Everyone including young people, women, and members of different faith groups will be represented within the confederal system.

* Everyone 18 years old or above will have the right to vote and run for office.

* The confederal system will establish itself in social life through academies, cooperatives and assemblies.

* The society will organize itself within the confederal system through peoples’ and faith congresses and communies, and participate in decision-making mechanisms through collective labor.

* Social justice will be implemented authentically and freely, and will set an example for the Middle East and the globe.

* All civilian institutions and organizations will carry out their work through democratic peoples’ congresses, and will have the right to choose its administration.

* All regions within Rojava-Northern Syria will be able to establish its autonomous system within the confederal system, which is the basis of the Democratic Federal system.

* All regions within Rojava-Northern Syria will be governed autonomously, and will have the right to determine its own regional policies.

* People will organize themselves socially and defensively through congresses, which will ensure the participation of peoples’ will in these spheres.

One last question; will this social contract fulfill the needs of Syria’s peoples? What kind of an effect will this contract have in Syria and the Middle East?

The social contract will fulfill the peoples’ needs for fraternity, unity and shared life. We believe in this and have full confidence in our practice and political mind. Our democratic social contract approaches different people and faith groups as its central components, and we believe that it will set an example for Syria, the Middle East, and the world.