Talat Yunis, co-chair of the self-governing council in the canton of Cizre, said difficult times were to be expecte for the population in Northern and Eastern Syria. Turkey's targeted attacks on the infrastructure since October have made supplying the nearly five million people in the region with basic needs even more problematic.

In this ANF interview, Yunis is nevertheless convinced that the autonomous government and the population will overcome these difficulties.

How is the population reacting to the Turkish state's attacks on infrastructure and service facilities since October?

The Turkish state has continued its attacks for years to break the will of the people, liquidate our system and occupy our land. The attacks since October also fall within this framework. They target the entire infrastructure, civilian areas and service resources in the region and have caused great damage. By causing fear and panic, the Turkish state wants to force people to emigrate and make the occupation comfortable. It believes that it can bring down the Autonomous Administration, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary in a few days, by destroying opportunities to improve people's living conditions. The people's attitude and resistance to these attacks was strong. The attackers wanted to plunge the people into total despair, but our people thwarted this goal by protecting their own gains. People insist on staying in their own country and homeland. The Turkish state was expecting a large refugee movement, but the population is resisting. They stand behind the Autonomous Administration.

The attacks disrupted the supply of water and electricity to two million people. It's winter and the conditions are difficult. How will the people in the region cope with that?

In the latest attacks, the Siwêdiyê power station, which supplies all of Cizre's electricity needs, was completely destroyed and rendered unusable. The electricity distribution stations in Amûdê, Dirbêsiyê, Qamishlo and Tirbespiyê were completely shut down. Gas supplies and oil wells were also attacked. In winter, people are particularly dependent on diesel, electricity and gas. Almost all towns in the Cizre canton are cut off from the power supply. Service facilities, water points, mills, hospitals and bakeries have no electricity. Gas stations have been destroyed, leaving nearly five million people in northern and eastern Syria without gas. Many gas stations were attacked. There is no diesel.

Of course, it is difficult to find all of these things again and meet people's needs. There are serious implications for both services and basic needs. For years, our people have managed to overcome all kinds of war conditions through their resistance to the embargo and attacks. The Autonomous Administration and all its institutions are making great efforts to reduce the impact on the population. We will face difficult times, but we will overcome them.

What should the population do in this situation?

We cannot separate the people from the Autonomous Administration. They continue their existence and their lives together and in unity. In our autonomy system, the population and the administration are not separated. All institutions belong to this society. Therefore, we must face all attacks and difficulties together and act accordingly. The Autonomous Administration must be further strengthened in our defense system. We must defend our institutions, our achievements and our country together. That is our main task.

It will not be easy to overcome the difficulties with living conditions and livelihood problems. We may have difficulty meeting the needs of daily life. But we have experienced much more difficult times than that in recent years. Just as we resisted then, today both the people and the administration will overcome these difficulties with greater will and strength. No power will succeed in breaking our will, frightening us and forcing us to take a step back.

Coalition forces have been in the region for years to ensure security and stability, but their silence on all the attacks by the Turkish state makes their presence here pointless, right?

Their presence in the region serves to defend their own interests. We should not forget this fact. Warplanes attack before their eyes, targeting people, livelihoods and institutions. All of these are war crimes, but they are silent. This is the reality of these powers. They defend their own interests. ISIS, for example, is being strengthened by the Turkish attacks. If checkpoints of our security forces, Sina Prison and Camp Hol are attacked, this will support ISIS. We continue our fight against ISIS, but the coalition should be aware of this danger. If their presence does not contribute to stability and security in the region, people will behave accordingly. Then their presence will be like their absence.

It is also worth repeating that we have never relied on any external power. Our society has always formed the basis of its own power. We have always leaned on our society. That is our strength.

How to deal with the lack of response from the government in Damascus?

The government in Damascus is only interested in protecting its own power. It does not care about protecting Syrian territory or the Syrian people. That is why Syria has become an open field for all kinds of powers. Syrian land was occupied. Massacres were committed against the Syrian population. Cities were burned and destroyed. The Syrian people migrated, and today Syrian people are scattered in all countries of the world. Damascus has remained silent about the Turkish state's occupation of our country. Syrian cities such as Afrin, Serekaniye, Cerablus and Bab were occupied by the Turkish state. The flag of the Turkish state flies there. Turkish is spoken there. The Turkish state's entire ambition is to completely separate these places from Syria. Attacks are now being made on our region's infrastructure. This infrastructure belongs to all the Syrian populations. This silence shows collaboration against our people. If the government in Damascus sticks to this policy, the crisis in Syria will worsen in the future.