11 years passed…DAA system attracts Syrians' attention after toppling Ba'ath regime

It has been 11 years since the establishment of the Democratic Autonomous Administration in al-Jazira region, which was formed on January 21, 2014. The popular spring, which first ignited in Tunisia, reached Syria on March 15, 2011. The people rose against the authority, demanding freedom and democracy. The intervention of regional and global powers quickly transformed the peaceful popular uprising into a crisis, conflict, and war over interests, leading to massacres, destruction, displacement, asylum, expulsion, and occupation.

 With the beginning of the popular spring, the situation in Rojava changed. In this region, which witnessed continuous struggle over many decades according to the philosophy of Leader Abdullah Ocalan, organization, knowledge and education began to transform into institutional work.

The third line

 The Kurds in Rojava crowned their decades-long struggle with an administrative system to manage their affairs, currently represented by "autonomous administration," and began forming institutions. They worked on uniting the Kurdish front on one hand, and negotiated with the other components of the region, including Arabs, Assyrians, and Armenians, to unify the struggle for the unity and freedom of peoples. In this context, all the region's components (Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Syriacs, and Armenians) distanced themselves from external interventions, did not rely on any other forces, and chose neutrality.

 Steps towards the revolution

 The pattern of autonomous administration and relations was defined within the framework of Democratic Autonomous Administration, and in October 2011, the Democratic Society Movement TEV-DEM was established as an institutional umbrella. Then, the West Kurdistan People's Council (MGRK) was formed, consisting of 359 people, 40% of whom were women.

 On the other hand, the Democratic Society Movement was managing activities with the participation of all components of Rojava, transforming them into organized institutional work. Important steps were taken from the formation of communes to councils, and from education to protection. In 2011, the People's Protection Units were established as forces to protect all components. In this context, the formation of communes began in all villages and neighborhoods in 2013, and the first communes were established in the villages.

 July 19

The steps taken led to the outbreak of the revolution in 2012, where its first spark erupted in Kobani on July 19, 2012, and then this spark spread to Afrin, Serekaniye, Darbasiyah, Amuda, Derik, Gerkî Lege, Tirbespiye, Qamishlo, Tal Tamr and Hasakah, and the confidence of the people and their belief in a shared and free life was strengthened, as the protection forces were developing and growing stronger day after day.

Management style

 The revolution, which echoed throughout the region and the entire world, also determined the pattern of governance. People's councils, people's houses, and affiliated working committees were formed in the cities liberated from the Assad regime at that time. People resolved all their issues through these institutions until 2013, after which discussions and talks began about a system that would encompass the entire region with all its components.

 The discussions about governance took place from two sides: one embodied in the negotiations that occurred between political parties, and the other in the discussions that took place among all the components of the region. The discussions among the Kurdish parties resulted in the formation of the Kurdish Supreme Committee on July 24, 2012, which consisted of the West Kurdistan People's Council (MGRK) and the Kurdish National Council (ENKS), and under its umbrella, committees for "diplomacy, social services, and protection" were formed.

 Administration despite the difficulties created by the Kurdish National Council

After discussions between the Kurdish House and the rest of the components (Arabs, Syriacs, Armenians, and Circassians), the project of Democratic Autonomous Administration was proposed. The Supreme Kurdish Authority adopted the project, and the project was presented to the parties and institutions. In this regard, the People's Council of West Kurdistan and the Kurdish National Council signed a document consisting of 9 articles on September 8, 2013. This document stipulated the preparation of a social contract and the formation of Internal Security Forces to ensure the security of the region. After completing all preparations to announce the administration institutions, and one day before its announcement, the Kurdish National Council withdrew on orders from Turkey.

The Provisional Constituent Assembly and the Social Contract

The attempts of the Kurdish National Council failed, as the people of the region who built their unity on November 12, 2013, announced the General Constituent Assembly of the Provisional Administration. The project stipulates that the Rojava regions be administered in the form of cantons, and that 3 cantons be designated: al-Jazira, Kobani and Afrin, with each canton establishing its own council.

On January 6, 2014, with the participation of representatives of 52 parties, organizations, civil society movements, women's and youth movements, and 15 independent figures, the "administration style", the "social contract" and the "election laws" were approved. The most prominent provisions of the social contract are those related to the official languages (Kurdish, Arabic, and Syriac), freedom, justice, equality, education, health, environmental protection, women's freedom, and the protection of women's and children's rights.

Declaration of the cantons

The numerous meetings and public discussions with the people, institutions and parties resulted in determining the final form of the Democratic Autonomus Administration system. On January 21, 2014, the interim legislative council of the Democratic Autonomous Administration met in the city of Amuda and announced the interim autonomous administration of al- Jazira canton. All components of the region, including Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Armenians, Circassians and Turkmen, went out to the squares to celebrate.

After al-Jazira, the autonomous administration in Kobani was declared on January 27 and the autonomous administration in Afrin on the 29th of the same month.

The Democratic Autonomous Administration was established on the basis of free personality, shared democratic life, political and moral society, free coexistence, economic independence, the structure of law, culture, and the system of protection and diplomacy. The establishment of service bodies began, and all components of the region engaged in work within the councils, bodies and offices equally and democratically with their identities and cultures.

Provincial Coordination

There were areas under the control of mercenaries between the three cantons, so communication between the provinces was not satisfactory. To bridge this gap, the Provincial Coordination was established in 2015, which played an important role in common issues such as protection, security, education, politics and diplomacy.

Foreign Representations

The echo of the Democratic Autonomous Administration, which created great enthusiasm among the people of the region, resonated abroad as well, so the diplomatic efforts of the autonomous administration began to bear fruit little by little. The first autonomous administration representation was opened in Sulaymaniyah in Southern Kurdistan in 2015, then other representations were opened in Austria, France, Germany, Russia, and in Belgium in the name of the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg) and in Sweden in the name of the Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Iceland), and the opening of administration offices in Lebanon and the Emirates.

The expansion of the DAA system

And coinciding with the establishment of the Democratic Autonomous Administration Network, the liberation of the areas under the control of the mercenaries and the establishment of councils in them, where the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which were established in 2015, liberated Gire Spi in 2015, Manbij in 2016, and Tabqa and Raqqa in 2017, and after their liberation, the people's councils were established in these areas.

In 2017, with the aim of harmonizing all the regions and implementing the autonomous administration system, the Federation of Northern Syria was declared in 2017. In this context, the administrative divisions in the autonomous administration were determined as three regions (al-Jazira, al-Furat and Afrin) and 6 districts (Qamishlo and al-Hasakah affiliated with Al-Jazeera region, Gire Spi and Kobani affiliated with al-Furat region, and Afrin and al-Shahba affiliated with Afrin region), while Manbij, Raqqa and Tabqa were determined as civil administrations.

After the end of the presence of ISIS mercenaries in 2019 in Deir ez-Zor, discussions deepened about the management style in it. On September 6, 2018, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria was declared.

Official recognition of the Autonomous Administration

Meanwhile, the diplomatic movement of the Autonomous Administration continued, which resulted in the Parliament of the autonomous region of Catalonia, which enjoys autonomous rule under Spain, officially recognizing the Autonomous Administration on the anniversary of the liberation of the city of Raqqa (October 20, 2021).

The Social Contract and Recent Amendments

The liberation of new areas and the expansion of the Autonomous Administration system led to the expansion of discussions and talks about it and the social contract. In this context, and after the meetings held by the components of the region, the issue of reformulating the social contract was put on the agenda. After two years of continuous work, the draft of the social contract was completed and presented to the General Council of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, which approved it in its 91st meeting (2023), and announced its approval of it through a statement to public opinion on December 12 (2023).

The new social contract, which consists of 4 chapters and 134 articles, stipulated a change in the autonomous administration system and changing the name of the administration to the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, abolishing the three-region system (al-Jazira, al-Furat, and Afrin) and adopting the cantons system, so that the areas of the Democratic Autonomous Administration in their administrative divisions would consist of one region that includes 7 cantons (Afrin, al-Shahba,al-Jazira, Kobani, Manbij, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Tabqa). The Baath regime's intransigence in resolving the Syrian crisis and its inability to address the legal, cultural, linguistic, and political problems of Syrian societies and nationalities, leaving Syrians to groan under the burden of economic problems, and its failure to respond to the basic needs of the population, were the reasons for its downfall on December 8, 2024.

"Syrian Dialogue Initiative to Build a New Syria".

To address the situation and block the way from deepening the crisis and the emergence of a new form of tyranny, on December 16 of last year, the Democratic Autonomous Administration of the Syrian city of Raqqa revealed an initiative to build a "new Syria", in a press conference.

With the fall of the tyrannical Baathist regime, Syria has entered a new phase. In order to successfully emerge from this transitional period, we must stand together, unite, and work to draw a common roadmap. The policy of exclusion and marginalization that has destroyed Syria must end, and all political actors must participate in building a new Syria, including the transitional period. Therefore, we call on all Syrian parties to reconsider their approaches towards each other, and to put common national interests above all considerations.

The Autonomous Administration said that cooperation between the Democratic Autonomous Administration and the political administration in Damascus will be in the interest of all Syrians, and will contribute to facilitating a successful exit from this difficult phase.

To make its initiative a success, the Autonomous Administration has set 10 items, including:

1. Preserving the unity and sovereignty of Syrian territory and protecting it from attacks launched by the Turkish state and its mercenaries.

2. Stopping military operations throughout Syrian territory to begin a comprehensive and constructive national dialogue.

3. Adopting a position of tolerance and avoiding hate speech and accusations of treason among Syrians, as Syria is a country rich in its components and spectrums, and this richness and diversity must be preserved on a fair democratic basis.

4. Holding an emergency meeting in which Syrian political forces participate in Damascus to unify visions regarding the transitional phase.

5. Effective participation of women in the political process.

6. We emphasize that wealth and economic resources must be distributed fairly among all Syrian regions, as they belong to all the Syrian people.

7. Ensuring the return of indigenous and forcibly displaced people to their areas, preserving their cultural heritage, and ending demographic change policies.

8. With the developments that have occurred in Syria, we affirm our continued fight against terrorism, to ensure that the terrorist organization ISIS does not return, in joint cooperation between the Syrian Democratic Forces and the International Coalition Forces.

9. Ending the state of occupation, and leaving the decision to the Syrian people to shape their future and implement the principle of good neighborliness.

10. We welcome the constructive role of the Arab countries, the United Nations, the international coalition forces, and all international powers active in the Syrian affair, and we urge them all to play a positive and effective role in providing advice and support to the Syrian people, and bringing together the views of its various factions and components in a way that ensures the preservation of stability and security, and stopping foreign interference in the Syrian affair.

With the assumption of power by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, Syrians are once again fearing a similar system to the previous one based on exclusion, marginalization, denial, and imposing a form of sectarian rule, based on what Syria is witnessing on the ground, such as imposing a single form of administration and excluding women.

At the same time, the eyes of Syrians inside are turning to the form of governance followed in the areas of the Democratic Autonomous Administration, considering it the best model for a solution in Syria, a pluralistic, decentralized model.

T/Satt.

ANHA