STRUGGLES

in the region; and the Economic and Trade Body, which deals with the exporting and importing ofgoods
to and from the KRG at the Semalka border.”
On our journey into Rojava, whilst we were crossing from the KRG, we had watched truckloads
ofsheep being exported on large trucks from Cizîrê canton, whilst cement was being
imported. We asked Siha about these imports and exports. She couldn't give us a clear answer,
but stated: “People here are poor, and they can't eat meat a lot. This is why we export a lot ofit outside. If
the KRG has a need for something, and we have it, then we export it.”
Siha emphasised the need for international solidarity:“We have people and workers here, but we
need money to support projects, to build factories and so on. The Body cannot carry out projects because of
lack ofmoney. We have economic schemes and programmes to establish factories, but we need support to
implement them.”
Environment body
We met with Luqman Ahme, head ofthe Environment, Tourism and Antiquities body, and a
member ofthe Green Party, in Cizîrê. He told us that the role ofthe Environment Body is to
protect nature and water sources. He talked about the environmental problems that the people
ofRojava face, and unsurprisingly, a lot ofthem stem from Turkey. Luqman said:
“We suffer a lot from Turkey's policies. Seventeen rivers have been blocked by Turkish dams. The depths of
the rivers are decreasing. Turkey even built an underground dam in Ceylanpınar. The availability and
quality ofour water is directly affected by Turkey because our water comes from there. We have two rivers
that contain sewage. When water flows, schools have to close because ofthe pollution. The sewage comes
from Nusaybin. A project costing 2.5 million Syrian pounds is underway to clean a river. We know that
Turkey could continue polluting, but we can't leave it as it is. We also have information about nuclear
waste that has been dumped into the ground in Turkey.”
Another big concern ofLuqman's was the effect ofthe oil industry on the environment and on
people's health:
democratic confederalism in rojava
“There's a lot ofoil here, and it could be posing health risks to people here. One river runs alongside the oil
pipelines and the water contains high levels ofpollution. This affects the villages because, unlike in the
cities, they don't have water filters to ensure that their water is clean. The soil and ground are affected by
this pollution too, which affects agriculture and growing plants.”
We asked him whether international environmental activists can help with the problems that
they face in Rojava. He told us that they need expert groups to come to Rojava to measure
levels ofpollution in the soil, water and air, and that they need the equipment to be able to
measure the pollution. He also said that he wanted to connect with individuals or companies
who specialise in solar energy.
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