🧵Takeaways from the historic Kurdish national conference in Qamishlo today: 1) All major parties in all parts of Kurdistan, despite differences, are on the same page about Syrian Kurds getting a place in the future of the country. KDP, PUK and KCK all gave statements. General Mazlum thanked all of them.

Kobane has no strategic value, no economic resources, a very small population.

Before the war, many Kurds hadn’t even heard of it, let alone Turks, Syrians or Westerners.

Turkey only wants this city because it did not fall to ISIS in 2014, despite Erdogan’s best efforts. Kobane was a forgotten city even by Syrian Kurdish standards. Many villages lacked electricity and paved roads. From the mid-1990s until the mid-2000s, there was no central water system — it broke one day, and because Kurds used it, Assad couldn’t be bothered to fix it.

🚨Turkey-backed SNA militias are launching attacks on SDF-held Shehba and Tel Rifaat. If they are able to advance, a humanitarian catastrophe is imminent. Since 2018, this region has housed tens of thousands of predominantly Kurdish IDPs forced out of Efrin by Turkey’s invasion.

These IDPS live in 5 camps (Serdem, Berxwedan, Vegere, Efrin and Shehba) and in surrounding villages.

I was in NE Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan for much of this year. Some observations: 1) SDF (especially Kurd elements YPG/J and PYD) aren’t “pro-regime.” Many Kurdish leaders spent time in prison or political exile. Talk to anyone in the admin about life before 2011 — you’ll hear a million stories of oppression, cultural erasure, artificial poverty.

1. Yesterday, Turkey made an explicit threat against all public infrastructure in northeastern Syria, which it falsely claims is “YPG infrastructure.” Targeting civilians and civilian objects is a war crime, as are indiscriminate attacks. 2. Turkey also said that “third parties” (read: the Coalition) should avoid sites that may be targeted—a threat against the Coalition presence there, and very much not the first one.

This video shows women detained by Hamza Division in occupied Efrîn, filmed after clashes between groups led to another faction going into the prison. They are a few of the hundreds of women and girls kidnapped by armed groups there since 2018.

Here is what the UN found about the treatment of women by these armed groups in occupied areas. undocs.org/A/HRC/43/57