ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Hundreds of people from diverse backgrounds took to the streets of Herne, Germany, to express solidarity with Kurds in northeastern Syria, known as Rojava, following a major military offensive by Damascus and its allied armed factions.
The protest took place one day after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced a “comprehensive agreement” with Syria’s transitional government. The deal includes a ceasefire and the phased deployment of government security forces to parts of northeastern Syria, after weeks of intense fighting.
The agreement follows a large-scale offensive by the Syrian Arab Army and Damascus-affiliated factions aimed at seizing territory and key infrastructure controlled by the SDF in Rojava.
The clashes forced SDF units to withdraw from several areas, including Kurdish-majority neighborhoods in Aleppo, the predominantly Kurdish province of Hasaka, and former Islamic State (ISIS) strongholds in Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa. According to United Nations estimates, approximately 100,000 people - most of them Kurds - have been displaced by the fighting.
The demonstration in Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia region drew Kurdish residents as well as German politicians, who voiced support for Kurdish forces and their political project in northeastern Syria.
“Rojava showed that democracy is possible, human rights are possible, women’s rights are possible - even in regions where radical Islamism, war, and instability make conditions extremely difficult,” said Patrick Gavlizcek, a district council member of The Left Party.
The rally was part of a broader wave of protests held in recent weeks across Europe and beyond, as Kurds react to renewed military pressure from Syrian government forces seeking to reassert control over parts of the country following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad last year.
The SDF declared the territorial defeat of ISIS in Syria in 2019 after years of fighting alongside an international coalition.
Mey Dost contributed to this article from Germany
