The snaking tunnels beneath Kobani hold no mysteries for Commander Zanarin Kobani of the YPJ, the women’s unit of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which runs a semi-autonomous region in north-eastern Syria.
“As much as there is an above-ground Kobani, there is an underground Kobani,” she said. The SDF has spent years carving out this sprawling networks of tunnels deep beneath the streets in an attempt to evade Turkey's relentless drone strikes.
After a 10-minute walk, the winding tunnels open into a furnished, heated space with a kitchen, bathroom and Wi-Fi. In the main room, where a bookshelf lines the wall, displaying the works of the jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan, Ms Kobani monitors the city on a split screen showing live footage of strategically important points.
For security reasons, access to these underground labyrinths is tightly restricted, and only a few journalists have been granted a glimpse inside. Ms Kobani cannot step outside without taking strict precautions, knowing that the moment a drone detects her location, a strike will follow.
The commander has taken part in nearly every battle against ISIS. She fought in Manbij, Raqqa, Qamishli and Kobani, which suffered a terrible siege during the war against ISIS, from which she took her nom de guerre. Since 2019, she said, the main threat has shifted from ISIS – defeated by the SDF with the help of a US-led coalition – to neighbouring Turkey.
From Ankara’s perspective, the Kurdish-run region of north-east Syria, also known as Rojava, has long been a security threat. Turkey considers the YPG, the most powerful faction within the SDF, a terrorist organisation due to its affiliation with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist group that Turkey had fought and that is designated as a terrorist group by Ankara, the US and other countries.
Ocalan's historic announcement on Thursday, in which he called for the PKK’s dissolution and disarmament, might ease tensions between Turkey and the Kurdish-led administration, though the impact the move will have on north-east Syria remains unclear. SDF commander Mazloum Abdi welcomed Ocalan's "historic" call but said it applied only to the PKK and was "not related to us in Syria".
Over the years, Turkey, backed by rebel groups on the ground known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), has carried out several military campaigns in north-east Syria, seizing large areas of land along the Syria-Turkey border. The most recent campaign was launched immediately after the fall of the Assad regime in December. The SNA, which joined the offensive led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) that toppled the dictator Bashar Al Assad, seized the momentum to send its forces west of the Euphrates River.
The semi-autonomous north-eastern region, which covers roughly 25 per cent of Syria and is home to rich oilfields, is engaged in a difficult balancing act – negotiating with the HTS-led government for stability while fearing for its hard-won rights, all against the backdrop of a looming ISIS resurgence. Despite the Turkish-backed factions' incursions, Ms Kobani remains defiant. She views HTS – born from Al Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of Al Qaeda – and the SNA as allies under Turkey’s leadership.
As a female fighter, she is specifically worried that women's rights will be at risk, but she hopes for successful negotiations and a peaceful resolution. “We need international guarantees that Turkey will stop attacking us. People here will not accept any occupation, whether it comes from the SNA or [HTS leader Abu Mohammad] Al Jolani,” she added, referring to the HTS leader Ahmad al Shara, now interim President, by his nom de guerre. “If we come under attack, we are ready to defend ourselves.”
Complicated negotiations
The SDF wants to pursue diplomatic avenues before engaging in any direct military confrontation – one it would likely lose if Turkey intervened, especially amid recent reports of a US troop withdrawal from north-east Syria.
The SDF has signalled a willingness to engage with the new administration. Its commander Mazloum Abdi has met Mr Al Shara. The Kurdish-led administration has officially recognised the new Syrian revolutionary flag, which now flies on top of every government building. Mr Abdi also congratulated Mr Al Shara on his appointment. Additionally, Kurdish-led authorities have resumed supplying oil from fields under their control to the central government in Damascus.
“We met with Al Jolani, and he has a national vision for Syria's future,” SDF spokesman Farhad Shami told The National from an SDF military base in Raqqa, adding that another high-level meeting is expected to take place soon. Kurds have also celebrated the fall of the regime. In Hassakeh, where the Assad regime maintained a military and administrative presence, the main square has been renamed Freedom Square, and the statue of Mr Al Assad's father Hafez that stood at its centre has been toppled.
Though the Kurds did not side with the opposition during the civil war, that did not mean they supported Mr Al Assad, under whom their rights were also suppressed. During the Assad regime's half-century-long iron grip on Syria, Kurds were not allowed to speak their language or give their children Kurdish names. Yet significant hurdles remain, officials from both HTS and the SDF confirmed to The National.
Mr Al Shara has made it clear that all of Syria's factions must be incorporated into a new national army, while the SDF insists it will only join as a separate force. “If they do not agree to integrate as a single bloc under the Ministry of Defence, it will create a problem. We will not compromise. Our priority is to protect the land,” said Rukan Jamal, the head of the YPG media centre. “What guarantees do we have against the Turkish-backed factions if we dissolve?”
The SDF was not invited to the national conference, an initiative that gathered hundreds of Syrians of all political persuasions and was supposed to pave the way for an “inclusive political transition”. The Kurdish administration criticised the event for its “exclusion and marginalisation” of some components of Syrian society.
But the SDF is also under pressure within the Sunni-majority region, where it has built shaky alliances with local Arab communities and tribes, who have expressed dissatisfaction with SDF rule. The Deir Ezzor Military Council, composed of Arab members, defected after the fall of the regime. In Raqqa, tensions erupted between protesters celebrating the regime’s downfall and SDF security forces, though calm has since returned to the city.
A silver lining is the PKK's announcement that it will lay down its arms and disband in a bid to end Turkey’s 40-year conflict with the Kurds. SDF officials view the move as a positive step.
“We are not seekers of weapons, and we won’t seek conflict if we have international guarantees that Turkey won’t attack us,” Ms Jamal said. “We’re at a turning point, either diplomacy succeeds and we go for a long-term stability, or it fails, and it leads to chaos and war,” she added.
North-east Syria's many wars
But war has never truly left the north-east. In Kobani, the main commercial street has been shielded with reinforced roofs to protect civilians from drone activity. At time of writing, fierce battles continue between the SDF and Turkish forces, along with Turkish-backed groups, at the Tishreen Dam, located on the Euphrates River near the Turkish border, where convoys of civilians have gathered in protest.
At the military hospital in Hassakeh, which is filled with wounded SDF fighters, new recruits lie paralysed after drone strikes. Young faces are disfigured by shrapnel and battle-hardened veterans of the ISIS war share yet another round of war trauma.
Since Turkey and its allies on the ground captured the cities of Manbij and Tell Rifaat in December, close to the Turkish border, around 100,000 people have been displaced. Many have been sheltering in schools, with no clear plans on where to go next.
In Raqqa, residents told The National that schools remain closed because they are being used to house the displaced. Meanwhile, ISIS sleeper cells are taking advantage of the situation to expand their activities, with SDF officials citing intelligence that the group is rebuilding after the fall of Mr Al Assad. For residents who have endured years of war and displacement, stability is now the priority.
“As long as our rights and our Kurdish identity are guaranteed, we don't care which government rules us,” said Sobhi Hassan, 58. Displaced by the latest Turkish offensive, he is staying in a school in Hassakeh, with no other place to go. Originally from Afrin, which is now under the control of the new Syrian government, he said his only wish was to return home. “We just want peace and stability."
