In November 2023, the “Oldenburg-Raqqa city twinning” was founded in Oldenburg. The association will be presented next Friday to talk about its goals at an event attended by a representative of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of the Northern and Eastern Syria Region (DAANES).

Raqqa

The city of Raqqa lies on the Euphrates River and is one of the oldest cities in Syria. It gained notoriety as the unofficial capital of the Islamic State, although its brutal reign of terror only lasted four years until the liberation of the city in 2017.

Today, Raqqa once again has a multi-ethnic, multicultural society that is working intensively to rebuild the city and society.

Since its liberation and victory over ISIS, Raqqa has been part of the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria and thus part of a development process for a grassroots democratic, gender-aqueous, multi-ethnic, social and ecological society, with particular attention to the liberation of women.

Oldenburg

Friendly relations with the people in Northern and Eastern Syria have a tradition in Oldenburg. The Helene Lange School and the OBS Eversten in particular launched numerous activities, including the school project “Jîyana Nu” (New Life) for educational work and school development in Northern Syria and two official school partnerships in the Euphrates region (Kobanê and Gîre Spî). In addition, a large collection was carried out for the Yazidis from Shengal who were driven out by ISIS.

In 2018, an association for city friendship with the city of Afrin (Afrin) was founded in Oldenburg. However, this twinning had to be ended because the region was occupied by the Turkish military in 2018 and much of Afrin's population was displaced.

Goals of the association

The association said it sees “the purpose and task in the solidarity between the people in Oldenburg and Raqqa as a contribution to international understanding between Germany and the Northern and Eastern Syrian Autonomous Administration as a whole. Through social and cultural exchange, through the initiation of cooperation between social groups, organizations, institutions, associations and private contacts, solidarity and partnership relationships should be created, and mutual understanding should be promoted. A very important focus is the initiation and development of an official twinning agreement between the city of Oldenburg and the city of Raqqa.”

On Friday 12 January at 7 pm, the association will present itself at KinOLaden, Wallstraße 24, 26123 Oldenburg to: "talk about the meaning and importance of a town twinning relationship; show the city of Raqqa in words and pictures."

A member of the Autonomous Administration will attend the meeting and will tell about the current situation in the city and the region.