The twin town partnership between the Berlin district of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg and the northern Syrian city of Dêrik has existed for five years. The twin town association will celebrate this anniversary on 12 October in the Urbanstrasse neighborhood house.

In addition to a photo presentation about the history of the association and its projects for the people of Dêrik, there will also be greetings from the co-mayors of Dêrik, the district mayor of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg, Clara Herrmann, and from the district parliament. The celebration will be enriched by the well-known Kurdish musician from the region, Lorensê Amûdê.

Solidarity work in a forgotten region

The town twinning association said in its invitation that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) liberated the areas occupied by ISIS after years of fighting. “The cemeteries of the martyrs with thousands of dead bear witness to the high price in blood they paid. Today, the Autonomous Administration is left alone with tens of thousands of imprisoned ISIS terrorists. The states of the anti-ISIS coalition remain silent about Turkey’s constant attacks on electricity, gas and water supplies, as well as on hospitals and businesses. Geopolitical and economic interests take precedence over human rights and international law, even if this policy constantly creates new reasons for people to flee.”

On the current situation in the region, the invitation said: “The Autonomous Administration is currently taking in tens of thousands of refugees from Lebanon and is asking for international support, as it is barely able to provide its own population with basic necessities. Although the flow of refugees from Lebanon to Syria is present in the media, it is not mentioned that a large proportion of them are fleeing to northeastern Syria because they once fled to Lebanon from the Assad regime. In our twin town is located the large Newroz camp in Dêrik, where first Yazidis found refuge in 2014 and then refugees from the Turkish-occupied areas of Serekaniye and Gire Spi in 2019.”

Direct help for the population from the beginning

The statement continued: “Our association tries to help the population in Dêrik and the surrounding area with projects. This is a list of some of the projects implemented:

2018: sewing workshop for Yazidi women in the Newroz camp, financed by donations, which later moved with the women to Shengal/Northern Iraq and now offers several women an income opportunity.

2019: greening of part of the dried-up riverbed in Dêrik using grants. The city administration of Dêrik continued the project and completed it this year.

2020: realization of a mobile clinic financed by donations and grants for women and children in the area around Dêrik in cooperation with the women's foundation WJAS. Our association continues to finance the salaries of the staff with donations.

2022: construction of a playground in Dêrik to create a friendly place for children under the grueling conditions of war.

2022: donations for spare parts for diesel generators that were needed for the electricity and water supply after the Turkish bombing and destruction of the Teqil Beqil substation.

2023: the association financed the repair of the damage to the sewer system in Dêrik caused by the earthquake in Turkey and northern Syria.

2024: thanks to funding from the LEZ, a large solar system for a drinking water well was built in August. It now supplies a district with 5,000 people."