Emine Osê, Co-Chair of the Executive Council of the Northern and Eastern Syria Autonomous Administration said that the people will resist together against a possible and that the Turkish state will not face only the SDF this time.

Emine Osê talked to ANF on the occasion of the 10-year anniversary of the 19 July Rojava Revolution.

What were the conditions that formed the 19 July Revolution?

The Kurdish people, living under the BAAS system, were not recognized as a people and were deprived of all their rights. They have always struggled against this. On 12 March [2004] things exploded, but no one supported the Kurdish people in this process. Otherwise, there would have been a permanent change at that time. Even the opposing parties to the BAAS government went on the offensive to neutralize the 12 March resistance when it came to the Kurds. The spirit of 12 March was still alive. In this sense, 19 July was a resurrection for the Kurdish people. The Kurds did not consider this resurrection to be only for themselves. They acted with the awareness that all the peoples living in this land suffer because of these systems and that they all have one thing in common. On this basis, the Kurdish people organized themselves in a very short time. They developed their military and social organization. At the same time, they tried to establish the system by meeting on common points regarding the rights of Northern and Eastern Syria.

How is the Rojava Revolution different from other revolutions?

Revolutions normally begin on a certain date and are completed in a few years. The Rojava Revolution is in constant change and transformation. The first step is to create a system outside the Damascus government and to survive within the framework of this system. However, this revolution is also about protecting ourselves against future attacks. How will he be able to resolve the contradictions created by the government of Damascus between the peoples of North-East Syria and establish a life together? It was precisely to answer this question that the governance model was developed as a democratic model. For this reason, attacks by Al-Nusra and other gangs started at the beginning of the revolution. During those 10 years, multiple efforts were made to liquidate this system. They could not succeed in Serêkaniyê, they carried out many attacks on ISIS again, and they failed. It has become public that the Turkish state aims to liquidate the Northern and Eastern Syrian system in order to keep itself afloat.

What happened in these last 10 years? What kind of developments have you seen?

The organisation started in the Kurdish regions, then we further developed our structure so that other liberated areas could govern themselves. The Autonomous Administration started from Kobanê, developed in Cizîre and Afrin, and reached as far as Girê Spî, Manbij, Tebqa, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. As the light of the revolution developed and expanded, this was seen as a great danger, and so the attacks began to multiply. Everyone, politically, socially and militarily, stepped in and tried to prevent the development of this project.

The invading Turkish state targeted our areas in 2018-2019. This was an honourable resistance carried out by the people against the invasion attacks. This honourable resistance was seen in Afrin, Sêrekaniyê and Girê Spî. However, the international powers remained indifferent to these attacks, and at the same time, our people did not have the experience of standing against such an attack at that time. Let me also point out that the attacks did not stop there. It was a military attack and the areas were occupied. However, with political pressures, they did their best to create an economic crisis in the region and to divide people. Borders were closed, trade gates were closed, economic embargoes were imposed, and all these were insurrectionary efforts against the Autonomous Administration. Again, the aim was to destabilize the region through gangs and to tell the people that this administration could not defend and govern them. Again, the Turkish state has constantly tried to prevent Rojava from gaining status with all political, diplomatic and initiatives. We were exposed to all kinds of political, diplomatic, military and social attacks.

Despite all the oppression and invasion attacks, there has also been a revolution within the revolution in the past 10 years. This was no ordinary situation. A permanent change and transformation was developed in the revolution. In this general uprising, there were sections of society that wanted their own rights and wanted to have their freedom. One of these sections was the women’s one. It was about how women organized themselves, how they developed, how will they take place in every field of society and how will they play a role. These range from military, political, diplomatic, health and education. In all these areas, no one has ever given women a role. These areas have always been treated as male domains. In this sense, the most important development in the Rojava Revolution was the women's revolution. With each passing day, women began to organize themselves in every field in Northern and Eastern Syria. They also took their place in the co-presidency system and have a say and a decision in all political, military and social decisions. These are the achievements of the revolution. Of course, the revolution both for the general society and for women continues and so do changes.

There are still threats against the achievements made by the revolution. How do you evaluate this?

The gradual development of the revolution, which started on July 19, as a women's revolution and a cultural revolution in itself, posed a threat to monist systems. They saw the development and disintegration of this system in Northern and Eastern Syria and the Middle East as the foreseeable end of their system, and therefore the attacks against Rojava have not stopped for 10 years. They mobilized all their means to liquidate this system. Erdogan did not stop for a minute. He is looking for partners 24 hours a day to put an end to the Rojava Revolution. Especially in this last period, they see their own assets in the liquidation of the Autonomous Administration. We consider the threats against Northern and Eastern Syria as serious. Erdogan is not only content with threats, but also constantly negotiates with diplomatic initiatives and seeks partners for the invasion to be made. In this way, he calculates that he will be able to prevent the reactions against him in the future.

For 10 years, the Autonomous Administration was considered the organization of the people, met their needs and defended them as its duty. It carried out its work in this way. Now, the Autonomous Administration has taken on the defense of the people against these threats as a great task for itself. Erdogan has linked his future and existence to these attacks. He calculates that only in this way he will be able to convince the Turkish public and win the 2013 elections.

What does the declaration of a state of emergency for Northern and Eastern Syria mean?

We declared a state of emergency to alert the people to be prepared for any eventuality. We will no longer step back. The past should not be viewed as a war. We have the experience of Afrin in 2018, Girê Spî and Serêkaniyê in 2019. A great deal of experience has been gained in being prepared to respond strongly to all kinds of social, political and military attacks. It is not the first time that the people of Northern and Eastern Syria have been exposed to attacks. We are aware of the need to prepare ourselves.

The Turkish state will no longer just go to war with the SDF. This time, the Turkish state will face the great resistance of the people of Northern and Eastern Syria. Of course, we are not in favour of war, there are attempts to prevent it from happening, but when there is an attack, not only with military force, but all the people of Northern and Eastern Syria will join the resistance.