Ginger Stephens

[Soran Hamarash @SoranHamarash]

What do the USA and the West actually stand for? History teaches us that when you lose your identity, you lose yourself. As prisons filled with ISIS members are broken open in the attack on Kurdish areas, it’s unclear if the West is fighting ISIS or fueling it.
#Syria #ISIS #West

[Scharo Bajalan @ScharoBajalan]

First group of ISIS prisoners being photographed after they were released from Al Aqtan prison in the countryside of Raqqah.
This group is from Dhiban in Deirezzor.

[Jan Ilhan Kizilhan (personal ccount (1+1+1+1(4)=1) @janilkiz]

Syria is being rewritten — but not for its people.
After the defeat of Kurdish self-administration, power is shifting to an interim authority with extremist roots. This is not a democratic transition. It is a critical moment that will determine whether Syria becomes a state of law or a state of exclusion.
More than 500,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since 2011. These numbers are not tragic accidents — they are the result of a system that denied citizens enforceable rights and left minorities unprotected.
A new Syrian constitution must guarantee binding, enforceable rights for all ethnic and religious minorities. Symbolic language is not enough. Rights must be justiciable, protected by independent courts, and immune to political or religious domination.
Religion must not be the basis of state power or legislation. Only a secular state can ensure equality for Kurds, Christians, Yazidis, Druze, Alawites, Sunnis, and all others. Political Islam has repeatedly led to exclusion and persecution.
Minority languages are not a threat — they are a right.
Kurdish and other minority languages must be officially recognized, taught in schools, and institutionally protected. Decades of Arabization and cultural denial must end explicitly.
Syria is not an “Arab Republic.”
Not all Syrians are Arab. Not all are Muslim.
The state must be called “Republic of Syria” — a civic state based on citizenship, not ethnicity or religion.
There can be no future without justice.
An independent truth and accountability commission must investigate all crimes since 2011 — without exceptions. Impunity is incompatible with reconciliation.
International actors carry responsibility.
Support without strict human rights conditions stabilizes perpetrators, not peace. Funding must be tied to constitutional guarantees, secular governance, and minority protection.
Without enforceable minority rights, there will be no peace.
Without secularism, no equality.
Without justice, no reconciliation.
The struggle for dignity, rights, and democracy in Syria continues.

[Frederike Geerdink @fgeerdink]

Context is everything, so here's my take on developments in #Rojava, #Syria: look at what's happening in #Kurdistan in #Turkey as well, and see how the larger goal of the Damascus-Ankara alliance is to crush the Kurdish struggle for freedom. https://t.co/3xReWv1HnF

[Kurdistan 24 English @K24English]

'Kurdish Rights Must Be Guaranteed in Syria’s New Constitution,' Says Former US Diplomat

Former US diplomat Peter Galbraith shared his views about the new Syria-SDF deal with Kurdistan24. He criticized the dissolution of SDF units and warned of the regime's threat to minorities.
🔗: https://t.co/45S4G9jHJt

[Farhad Shami @farhad_shami]

Update:

Tanks and artillery of Damascus factions are shelling Al-Aqtan Prison north of the city of Raqqa, which holds ISIS members and leaders, in an attempt to storm it for the third time today. Our forces are showing strong resistance against the attacks.

[Meghan Bodette @_____mjb]

Government-affiliated forces filmed themselves humiliating two female Kurdish POWs and offering them to one of their leaders as a “gift.” Damascus has rewarded men who raped, tortured and killed women in Afrin and Ras Al-Ain — so presumably this will get these thugs a promotion.

[Murad Ismael @murad_ismael]

SDF gave more than 11,000 martyrs in defense of mankind against ISIS. Yes, maybe they are not perfect, but give me any perfect armed force in a region soaked with blood for thousands of years?!. Not just the sacrifice has been with lives of men and women, but also the people of northeast Syria—and all Syria—have endured years of blockade and famine, and a severe shortage of medicine, they have endured migration & unimaginable suffering. Let’s just hope the next chapter is safe for all Syrians, with at least the bare minimum of respect for religious and ethnic diversity.

[Meghan Bodette @_____mjb]

Kobane is now surrounded by Syrian government-affiliated extremists. What will become of these people? Are they less deserving of peaceful and normal life than you and I?

[YPJ Information & Documentation Office @YPJ_Info]

Militias of the Syrian government are attempting to encircle Kobani, and fierce fighting is taking place around the city. The SDF and YPJ are defending Kobani with courage and determination, and the resistance continues.

[Joshua Landis @joshua_landis]

This is a sad day for #Kurds who have so long dreamed of a Kurdish nation.

No matter one's view of the Kurds or their aspiration for self-determination, one must pause and say a prayer.

Many Syrian Arabs will celebrate the defeat of the SDF and Rojava - after all, Kurdish national ambitions have long clashed with those of an Arab Syria. President Ahmad al-Sharaa is championing a Syrian Arab Republic.

But everyone, no matter their ethnicity, can sympathize with the nationalist dream of the Kurds, which today has suffered a blow. We all wish to live free. We all think of living without fear, surrounded by family and those who have our best interests at heart. We all dream of self-determination.

In the video copied below, one can hear the distress and strength in the voice of Roksan Mihemed. That dream will not die even if has suffered a heavy blow this week.

[Mutlu Civiroglu @mutludc]

Foza Yusuf, a senior official in the Kurdish-led administration of northeast Syria, told @RudawKurdi that the meeting in Damascus between Mazloum Abdi andAhmed al‑Sharaa “was not positive.”

She said Damascus is pressuring the Kurdish-led administration to dismantle its institutions and is resisting any recognition of Kurdish political or cultural rights.

According to Yusuf, the Syrian interim government wants DAANES to hand over all authority and for Rojava to be pushed back to its pre‑2011 status, before the uprising and before the emergence of the autonomous administration. @YusufFoza

[Nadine Maenza @nadinemaenza]

As planning begins to resettle Al-Hol residents back into Syrian communities, the U.S. and international community must urgently provide funding and expertise for de-radicalization.

Having visited Al-Hol and spoken with professionals who have successfully run de-radicalization programs for Al-Hol families and children, I know how deeply many women remain committed to extremist ideology—some are extremely dangerous.

Without proper support, this process risks fueling future violence.

[Lindsey Snell @LindseySnell]

"They ask, 'are you Alawite?' Then they force you to bark."

Trump lifted sanctions on Syria despite ongoing sectarian violence at the hands of its new government.

Please watch our full video: https://t.co/dEcIL50EIg

[Lindsey Snell @LindseySnell]

Protesters wave ISIS flags and chant threats against Jews and Druze in Idlib

[VoiceOfKurdistan @VoiceKurdistan_]

Turkish parliament speaker switches off the microphone of Kurdish MP Sirri Sakik because he used 3 words in Kurdish in his speech. A state that is so hostile to the language of tens of millions of Kurds in the country will not endeavour to resolve conflicts.

[Wladimir van Wilgenburg @vvanwilgenburg]

Seems video of Syrian govt fighter cutting moustache of a Druze man in Sahnaya

[Michael Rubin @mrubin1971]

When Recep Tayyip Erdogan (@RTErdogan) falls, it will be necessary to have a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to explore the crimes of both Erdogan, his family and those who enabled them. Here is a proposed agenda: https://t.co/sFV69ZP14V #Turkey #TwitterKurds

[Soran Hamarash @SoranHamarash]

Three elements dominate Kurdish Newroz: fire, the Kawa and Zuhak myth, and Mir Newrozi (Prince of Newroz). These 3 rituals were central to the Sumerian New Year festival, Zagmuk (𒍠𒈬), in its older forms. For more details, see my documentary [https://t.co/lo5jgrsoev] #Newroz