These are some of the men I met while I was in Syria. They are someone's fathers, brothers, sons and lovers who decided to take guns to protect their families and towns. These are the men who stand up and die for freedom for Syria.

It’s been over 6 years since the revolution in Syria started in March of 2011. Bloody battle has spread across the country. This historic country, a one of the richest histories in the world, has been torn apart. In 2013, I crossed the border from southern Turkey with a fixer who is also a member of the Free Syrian Army. We instantly became friends, and I stayed at his house, where his uncle’s family, his fiancé’s family, and his cousin’s family all live together. I always ate lunch and dinner with them, chatted with them, and laughed with them. I was amazed by the incredible hospitality of the Syrian people, even in this turbulent time. As soon as I arrived in Aleppo, the second largest city of Syria, I realized that there was no water, electricity, food, medicine, gas, jobs, school, or even milk for babies. They lost everything. Those who used to be normal citizens of Aleppo took guns and joined the Free Syrian Army in order to achieve victory against President Bashar al-Assad, whose family has held presidency since 1971. But as the battle for Aleppo gets harder and longer, people have become more anxious about the future of their country and their daily life. You hear the sound of indiscriminate shelling and gun battles even at midnight. You see the death of a friend or somebody you know every day. They feel like they are forgotten and isolated from the international community because no help has arrived, even though they have been calling for help. Many Syrians have become pessimistic; they do not wish to endure the condition of their daily lives any longer. On the other hand, the soldiers of the Free Syrian Army are optimistic and believe that they will eventually win. I often drank tea with them, and we laughed together. Even in front line, they were still laughing and joking until bullets ripped the air and the government forces began shelling them. I cannot forget their frightened faces when the battle became hard and one of their soldiers was shot. I cannot forget their anxious faces when we escaped and hid from the shelling. I realized that they were just like me in many ways. No one wants to die, even if they are willing to sacrifice their lives to protect their town and people. Are they the people who are being swallowed by the huge wave of the history of Syria? Or are they the people who are creating a new history of Syria? I do not yet know. But none of them know what is going to happen if they defeat Bashar al-Assad and his forces. They used to be students, teachers, engineers, farmers, and taxi drivers. They are someone’s father, someone’s son, or someone’s lover. None of the soldiers in the Free Syrian Army know what is going to happen next. One soldier said, “We really don’t have enough time or room to think about life after Bashar. We only have time to think about how we can win the battle. That’s it.” Syria has plunged into the chaos of war.

Refugees from Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc…these people escaped war in their own country and are dreaming a new life in Europe. They pay $1,200~$2,000 to smugglers to risk their life to cross the ocean between Turkey and Greece. When they arrive at a shore of Lesbos island in Greece, some of them are filled with happiness. Some people pray for the God or cry for fear. This is just a begging of their long tough journey to their new life. They don’t know what is ahead yet. They don’t know how they will be treated yet. This is an one way ticket. Destination is unclear. But there is no choice to go back. Although they managed to escape the war, their journey will continue until they get to where they can feel at ease.

　It's been more than six years since the start of the war in Syria. More than 300,000 Syrians have lost their lives in the war, which began with anti-government protests. Since the conflict began in 2011, about 5.5 million people had left the country, and another 6.3 million had been left internally displaced. Injured Syrian refugees are being doubly victimized as a result of the Syria conflict. These vulnerable individuals are being left in the shadows of the humanitarian responses. 　In Amman, Souriyat Across Borders, run by strong Syrian women, specialises in the rehabilitation of war wounded civilians, to provide them with the physical and social skills needed to rebuild their confidence in overcoming disability. 　These are young men who are struggling between despair and hope.

Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, was the scene of a battle for control between Iraqi, Kurdish, and ISIS forces. In June 2014, the leader of Isis, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared a global caliphate from Mosul. Since October 2016 it had been the site of a military operation to dislodge and defeat militant forces. The city was under the control of ISIS from June 2014 to July 2017. Even though Iraqi prime minister said Mosul is completely liberated, there are still ISIS fighters hide and fight in the old city. And there are so many mines and booby traps that ISIS fights set up in the old city. People are still afraid of ISIS and they don't know who belong to them among their friends. The fight against ISIS is not over yet at all. This just might be a start of next phase for a long battle against ISIS. イラク第二の都市モスルは、イラク軍、クルド人、ISISの3者による支配権争いの舞台となった。2014年6月、ISISの指導者アブ・バクル・アル・バグダディがモスルから世界的なカリフ制を宣言した。2016年10月からは、過激派勢力を追い出し、打ち負かすための軍事作戦の場となっていた。同市は2014年6月から2017年7月までISISの支配下にあった。イラク首相がモスルは完全に解放されたと言っても、旧市街にはまだISISの戦闘員が隠れて戦っている。そして、旧市街にはISISの戦いが仕掛けた地雷やブービートラップがたくさんあります。人々はまだISISを恐れており、友人の中で誰がISISに属しているのか分からない。ISISとの戦いは、まだ全然終わっていない。これは、ISISとの長い戦いの次の段階の始まりに過ぎないのかもしれない。

The Syrian democracy movement, which began in 2011, became a civil war and then a quagmire as major powers provided funding and weapons to various groups for their respective interests. The northeastern part of Syria is called Rojava, where the Kurds, who became the ground troops in the Western countries' campaign against IS and eventually drove IS to destruction, are in control of the real power. The U.S. was supporting the Kurds, but in 2019, President Trump made it clear that the U.S. military presence there was for oil facilities and decided to withdraw many troops. And shortly after the US troops withdrew, Turkey, not happy with the rise of the Kurds, launched an invasion of Rojava. The Kurds felt abandoned by the U.S. and were angry, but they had no choice but to confront the new enemy that was coming at them on their own. The Russian and Turkish forces expanded their power in Rojava while the number of U.S. troops in the area decreased, Kurdish forces resisted the Turkish invasion with Syrian government forces. The situation in the region has become a complex one, with the various forces in the region jostling for supremacy, and new civilian casualties are mounting. Will peace ever come to Mesopotamia, a land where various forces have been fighting each other for thousands of years? 　 2011年に始まったシリアの民主化運動は、内戦になり、そして大国がそれぞれの利益を狙って様々なグループに資金武器を提供し、泥沼化した。欧米諸国の対IS作戦の地上部隊となって活動し、ついにはISを壊滅に追い込んだクルド人たちが実権を握るシリア北東部はロジャバと呼ばれる。 アメリカはクルド人たちを支援していたが、2019年、トランプ大統領が米軍がそこに駐留するのは石油施設の為であると明言し、多くの部隊の撤退を決めた。そして米軍部隊が撤退した直後に、クルド人の台頭を快く思わないトルコがロジャ場に侵攻を開始した。クルド人たちはアメリカに捨てられたと感じ怒ったが、自分達の力で迫ってくる新たな敵と立ち向かうしかなかった。 駐留米軍の数が減った隙をついてロジャバで勢力を拡大するロシア軍とトルコ軍、トルコ侵攻に抵抗するクルド人部隊とシリア政府軍、この地域はさまざまな勢力が群雄割拠する複雑な状況になった。 そしてまた新たな一般市民の犠牲者たちが増える。 数千年もの昔からさまざまな勢力が争ってきたここメソポタミアの地には、永遠に平和はやってこないのだろうか。