Hasakah- The Culture Authority of the Jazira Region of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) organized a two-day festival called, “The Democratic Nation Culture Festival” in Tell Brak, one of northern Mesopotamia’s largest ancient sites in the Upper Khabur region of northeast Syria with the motto, “In Spirit of Democratic Nation, We Will Defend North and East Syria”.

Four tents were set up for Kurdish, Arab, Armenian and Syriac people to promote their local dishes at the festival that brought different cultures together. NuJINHA spoke to women who participated in the festival.

‘We preserve our cultural heritage’

Sebah Şabo, a member of the Syrian Women's Union in Qamishlo, was one the women cooked in the tent set up for Syriac people. “We cook these local dishes for our special days. We preserve our cultural heritage by participating in the festival. Such festivals should be organized more to preserve this heritage,” she told us.

‘Different cultures come together’

Sebah Şabo said that the festival brought different cultures together and expressed her happiness to see that.  “The festival shows us that many cultures are similar to each other. We see such events as an opportunity to show our culture and history to the whole world. We wholeheartedly thank the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria for organizing such an important festival that serves all nations, religions and sects.”

‘The mosaic of different cultures is very valuable’

 Reşa Elo, Spokesperson of the Hîlala Zêrîn Cultural Movement in Tel Temir, a town in the Hasakah Canton of North and East Syria, emphasized that the mosaic of different cultures at the festival was very valuable and beautiful. “Like all nations, we, as Arab women, have left our mark on the festival. Today, the culture and heritage of people from different nationalities are displayed in a historical site. A bridge has been built between old and new history. Today, people from different nationalities come together under the umbrella of the AANES.”

‘We preserve our culture’

“The festival shows the unity of Armenian, Kurdish, Arab and Syriac people,” said Gülistan Kavoliyan, a member of the Armenian Community Council of North and East Syria. “The aim of the festival is to show that no one can break this unity. At the festival, we send a message to our common enemies that their drones will not be able to break our unity. We are from different nationalities standing for peace. Today, we preserve our culture thanks to the system based on democracy.”