The Autonomous Administration of North and East
Syria (AANES), also known as
Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern
Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, Manbij and Deir Ez-Zor. The region gained its de facto
autonomy in 2012 in the context of the ongoing
Rojava conflict and the wider Syrian Civil
War, in which its official military force, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has taken part. The region has implemented a new social
justice approach which emphasizes rehabilitation,
empowerment and social care over retribution. The death penalty was abolished.
Prisons house mostly people charged with terrorist
… Read more activity related to ISIL and other extremist groups, and are a large strain on the region's
economy. The autonomous region is ruled by a coalition which bases its policy ambitions to a large extent on democratic libertarian socialist
ideology of democratic confederalism and have been described as pursuing a model of
economy that blends co-operative and market enterprise, through a system of local councils in minority, cultural and
religious representation. The main military force of the region is the Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Syrian
rebel groups formed in 2015. The SDF is led by the Kurdish majority People's Protection Units (
YPG).
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