Months after dictator Bashar al-Assad fled Syria, the country’s Kurdish population faces continued uncertainty — and Turkish air strikes. A photo series by Angéline Desdevises portrays the hardships of Kurds adapting to an ever-unstable reality.
A mother throws flowers on the grave of her son, a Kurdish fighter killed in action. (Courtesy of Angéline Desdevises)
More than six months since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the fate of Syria’s Kurdish population remains uncertain. While new president Ahmed al-Sharaa declared a new interim constitution in March, the great unmentioned question was the Kurds’ place in the new state. Added to this is the ever-dangerous military situation. Air strikes from neighboring Turkey have multiplied in the autonomous region of northern and eastern Syria, driving thousands of families into exile.
On the Euphrates, the Tishrin Dam is the scene of clashes between the (mostly Kurdish-led) Syrian Democratic Forces and armed pro-Turkish groups, costing the lives of many civilians. At the same time, the jihadist threat is growing, and some 39,000 families accused of being affiliated with ISIS have taken refuge in the al-Hol camp in the north of the country. From Qamishli to Kobane, via Hasakah and Raqqa, the fate of the people of Rojava is more threatened than ever.
Over the last two years, photogropher and writer Angéline Desdevises has traveled through Turkey and Syria. In this photo series shot against the backdrop of the recent fall of the Assad regime, she portrays life in northeastern Syria after years of conflict.
Kobane, January 27, 2025. A child cries amid the rubble of a district of the city destroyed during the war against Da’esh (ISIS) in 2015.A building that once belonged to the Ba’ath regime is now occupied by the Asayishs (the equivalent of the police). Posters of Hafez and Bashar al-Assad have been pulled off.The Semalka border post between Iraqi Kurdistan and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Since the fall of the regime, Syrian families who took refuge in Iraq because of the civil war have been returning home.In Qamishli, where inflation is very high, people can’t afford to provide for their families. Subsidized bread is distributed every day in every district.In Kobane, a mother and her children walk along the Turkish border. Families still live in this part of the city, which has been in ruins since the war against Daesh.After the fall of the regime, this house, home to a Christian family, was abandoned. Kurdish refugees from Afrin (a territory occupied by Turkey since 2018) were placed there.A Turkish drone bombed the center of Kobane on January 29. Two people were killed in the attack.A child is rushed to a hospital in Kobane after being seriously injured in Turkish air strikes on January 28 in the village of Sarrine, a few dozen kilometers from the Ticherine front (Aleppo).The checkpoint leading to Qamishli airport is now held by the Asayish.In Hasakah, a small group of women volunteers organize themselves daily to defend their neighborhood. They are the HPC-Jin, the civil defense forces.The olive tree, a symbolic tree for the Kurds of the region, in the village of Hêjî, near Kobane.Portrait of a Hêjî villager. She coordinates the preparation of meals to be delivered to the Tishrin front to feed the soldiers.In Raqqa, a Kurdish family lives in this single, small, dark room.After fleeing to Sherba in 2018, families from Afrin have been forced to take to the road again because of the new offensive by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army. In Raqqa, a downtown school welcomes them.More than 39,000 people accused of being linked to ISIS are refugees in the al-Hol camp in northeast Syria.Qamichli, a former regime district with closed shop fronts, is plunged into darkness.Burial of two Kurdish politicians killed by a Turkish drone on January 27 in Iraqi Kurdistan.The family of the deceased bury the coffins themselves.Two girls returning from school walk along a mural symbolizing the history of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). On this part is inscribed the slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” (Woman, Life, Freedom).
