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\u201cWe\u2019re sorry about the rain,\u201d Tanya* tells the crowd gathered on College Green for the Defend Rojava demonstration. \u201cOur brothers are fighting in the snow and mountains of Syria and Rojhilat!\u201d a Kurdish protester shouts in response, referring to the ongoing siege of Rojava, the autonomous region in northeastern Syria.<\/p>\n In early January, the Syrian Transitional Government (STG), led by president Ahmed Al-Sharaa, launched an attack<\/a> on Rojava, killing thousands and displacing 175,000 people, triggering a humanitarian crisis.\u00a0<\/p>\n Since mid-January, the STG has freed thousands of imprisoned ISIS fighters<\/a> and repressed the women\u2019s movement, with many female organisers forced into hiding<\/a> and women\u2019s centres systematically destroyed.<\/p>\n A fragile ceasefire<\/a> has been in place since late January, but attacks continue.\u00a0<\/p>\n Members of Bristol\u2019s 3,000-strong Kurdish community and their supporters gathered to hear speeches, songs, and poems in English, Kurmanci, and Sorani, representing all four parts of Kurdistan. <\/p>\n Speakers called on the UK to speak out against the attacks and highlighted the ongoing struggle against the Iranian regime, which has claimed up to 33,000 lives, many of them Kurdish.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the community has organised local fundraisers and discussions as part of a UK-wide mobilisation involving tens of thousands<\/a>, united in their stand in solidarity with Rojava\u2019s revolution.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018We should be learning from Rojava\u2019\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n After World War I, the Treaty of S\u00e8vres promised<\/a> Kurdish autonomy and the possibility of a Kurdish state, but this was never realised. A later treaty, signed in 1923 by Turkey, Britain, France and allied powers, ignored that commitment, leaving Kurdish\u2011populated lands divided between Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2012, amid Syria\u2019s civil war, Kurds in northern and northeastern Syria established an autonomous administration in the region now known as Rojava. Here, a revolution emerged built on women\u2019s freedom<\/a>, direct people\u2019s democracy<\/a> and ecology<\/a>, rallying behind the slogan Jin, J\u00eeyan, Azad\u00ee \u2013 \u201cWomen, Life, Freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe revolution united all Kurds,\u201d said Tanya, a local actor and musician. \u201cWe learnt ethics from Rojava. They reminded us that we had to go back to our roots.\u201d Tara agrees: \u201cWe should be learning from Rojava. I think the other Kurdistans can learn from their ideas and emulate them.\u201d<\/p>\n Tara and Tanya are from Bashur (Iraqi Kurdistan), yet, like many in Bristol\u2019s Kurdish community, they feel compelled to defend Rojava in Syria.\u00a0<\/p>\n Protesters carried placards reading \u201c2+2=1,\u201d calling for unity across colonial borders. \u201cYou might think that doesn\u2019t make sense. But it means that two parts of Kurdistan plus two parts of Kurdistan cannot be four Kurdistans. It\u2019s one Kurdistan. We want a free and autonomous Kurdistan across all four regions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n An escalating situation in Syria<\/p>\n Rojava\u2019s revolutionaries defended their communities against a genocidal<\/a> assault<\/a> by ISIS, helping bring about the group\u2019s territorial defeat<\/a> in 2019 at the cost of around 11,000<\/a> lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Turkish state \u2013 which has oppressed<\/a> Kurds and other minorities within its own borders for over a century \u2013 launched full-scale invasions of North and East Syria in 2018<\/a> and 2019<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Rojava revolution<\/p>\n In 2012, during the Syrian Civil War, a profound political transformation began to take place in Rojava, the Kurdish region of northeast Syria. Having battled and defeated ISIS, the people of Rojava began to forge a unique project based on the principles of direct democracy, ethnic and religious pluralism, and women\u2019s empowerment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Much of the intellectual foundation of the movement came from the writings of Abdullah \u00d6calan, an imprisoned Kurdish leader in Turkey, who was in turn inspired by the eco-anarchist writings of Murray Bookchin. The political system in Rojava became known as democratic confederalism.\u00a0<\/p>\n One of the most visible symbols of the revolution were Rojava\u2019s YPJ (Women\u2019s Protection Units) \u2014 female-led militias which defended the territory, alongside the YPG, which was led by male fighters. Many foreign volunteers, including Bristolians, went to Rojava in solidarity with the revolution.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, with a new government in power in Syria \u2014 led by former members of Al-Qaeda \u2014Rojava is in danger. Government forces are threatening to invade the autonomous region, supported by the Erdo\u011fan government in Turkey.<\/p>\n The struggle has drawn international supporters, including Bristolian Anna Campbell,<\/a> who fought with the YPJ (Women\u2019s Protection Units) and was killed by a Turkish airstrike in 2018.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fast forward to 2026 and Rojava is facing another existential threat, this time from the STG. In 2024, Al-Sharaa\u2019s Hayat Tahrir-Al Sham (HTS) toppled Bashar Al-Assad and took power in Damascus. Since then the STG has been trying to consolidate control over Syria. The current attacks on Rojava are part of that process, aimed at crushing Rojava\u2019s autonomy.<\/p>\n \u2018Our calendar is decorated with the dates of betrayals\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Kate, a former Bristol resident who joined the Kurdish women\u2019s movement, said that despite the ceasefire there is no trust in the Syrian Transitional Government (STG) and a deep sense of Western betrayal among those who have \u201clost their children\u201d fighting ISIS. Tara emphasised that Rojava\u2019s Kurds are asking only for Syria to be \u201ca federal and democratic republic.\u201d<\/p>\n For every braid you cut from our hair, we will braid a thousand more.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cOur calendar is decorated with the dates of betrayals. And memorials of deaths and genocides,\u201d says Tara Miran. For her, the UK\u2019s silence over Al-Sharaa\u2019s attacks on Rojava is another \u201cstab in the back.\u201d She noted that Green MP Carla Denyer has signed an Early Day Motion urging the government to protect civilians and safeguard Kurdish rights, but added, \u201cthere\u2019s more that can be done.\u201d<\/p>\n Bristol\u2019s Kurdish community and the Kurdistan Solidarity Network<\/a> have continued to mobilise through protests, pickets, and public events, keeping the struggle visible locally and internationally.<\/p>\n \u2018Braiding hair is a holy act\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n On College Green, many held placards bearing a braid. Others braided their hair in honour of a member of the YPJ who was killed in battle, whose braid was taken as a trophy<\/a> by an STG-aligned fighter in January. The act has come to symbolise Kurdish women\u2019s resistance to misogyny.<\/p>\n \u201cBraiding hair is a holy act for us,\u201d Tara said. \u201cFor every braid you cut from our hair, we will braid a thousand more. This is symbolic of the Kurdish resistance, of its soul\u201d.<\/p>\n Both women stressed that Kurdish women have always been central to the struggle. The movement, Tara said, transcends national and ethnic lines \u2014 something many states perceive as a threat. \u201cI think it is a very beautiful threat.\u201d she said. \u201cThis promise of a bright, colourful future is\u2026 the epitome of feminism\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we lose the hope again in Rojava, it\u2019s gonna be forever\u2026 That\u2019s it,\u201d said Tanya.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both women described a deep connection to Kurdish identity. Tara reflected: \u201cMy granddad could not say the word \u2018Kurdistan\u2019, or \u2018I am a Kurd\u2019 so if you ever see me at any event, don\u2019t wonder why I wear Kurdish clothes. I\u2019m a daughter of Kurdistan and it\u2019s my honour to wear them. I have a very strong feeling, based on the constant resistance of Kurds, that if I don\u2019t see a free Kurdistan in my life, it will happen in my children\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n *Tanya asked for us to refer to her only by her first name.\u00a0<\/p>\n To find out more check out Kurdani Bristol<\/a> and the Kurdistan Solidarity Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n ![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/tom-anderson-120x120.jpeg\")
\n <\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Peace-sign-scaled.jpg\")
Two women make the peace sign on College Green. Credit: Stefano Ferrarin.<\/p>\n\n
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Protesters interlink their fingers. Credit: Stefano Ferrarin. <\/p>\n