There is no shortage of apartments: There is news, as well as Opinion, Society, Culture and, of course, Sports. When the reader first sees Nu Dem (in Kurdish New Time), he may think it is a new newspaper. But the workers in this newspaper, written in Kurdish, are well aware of the difficulties they face: electricity, the Internet, the newspaper and the lack of salaries, among others. It's not easy.

“The launch of the fortnightly number is a great challenge for us, but this is the contribution we want to make to society in these times of war,” says the chief editor, Qadir Agid, in the city of Kamixlo, capital of Syrian Kurdistan. Agide spends the daily time left by his family and his work as a teacher. An issue of 3,000 copies was first launched last May. It is a risky gamble, as the Assad family, first Hafez and then Bashar son, usually apply a crude policy against the Kurds: the ban on the Kurdish language, population transfers and strong Arabization campaigns.

As the Syrian war erupted in 2011, the Kurds spoke out in favour of neutrality. Despite the clashes between the government and the opposition, in July 2012 the Kurds took up the northern region of Syria.

Working for the people

After a long pause, finally, electricity has come. Evin Lili, a 25-year-old boy, has immediately turned on the company's computer and mobile phone. “My mother went to Iraqi Kurdistan and I have to take care of the four young brothers now,” says the young Kurdish woman. Nu Deme’s work in Lili is a good opportunity, as well as dedicated to the people, to train in journalism. “What’s the hardest thing in my job? Approach to the public on the street. The city is full of mukhabarat agents [Syrian secret police] and people are afraid.” On the one hand, insecurity and, on the other, the cost of living is becoming more and more difficult for the families of the city. Since the outbreak of the war, the prices of some commodities have increased three times.

However, Kamixlo has not so far suffered the fate of cities such as Aleppo or Homs. Their lives are quieter than those of them and their inhabitants do not live the crossfire between the many government and opposition teams.

Although the Kurdish flag and symbols can be easily seen on the rooftops and peri-urban walls, the city centre and the airport are still under Assad’s control. Every day, a flight connects Damascus and this Kurdish city.

Rumours about a secret pact between Damascus and the PYD, the main party of the Kurds in Syria, have spread to the press. But the PYD burukide, Salih Muslim, has explained to Argia that “there is no pact, Assad did not want to open another front with the strongest minority in Syria; there is nothing else.” We have also talked to Redur Khalil, spokesman for the Kurdish militia. “Our military force has had no relationship with Assad,” said the former PKK warrior. Yekineyen, leader of Parastina Gela (a militia that can return with the name of citizen protection unit), stressed the following: “Our biggest problem is that generated by jihadists from Turkey.”

The price of independence

Alan Hassan is another worker from Nu Dem. On his way to work, he passes daily by the sculpture of Bashar's father. He is accustomed to the patterns and controls of the regime's paramilitaries. “They wear masks, in 4x4 cars around the city, shake the great symbols of Syria,” he says.

Hassan has finished today's work before, to present himself for an aptitude test for the formation of Kurdish. Like him, there are many who have started writing in Kurdish in the last two years. “Starting writing requires a lot of work. In fact, to write in kurmanji, which is our variant, we need a Latin alphabet, but in Syria, Arabic is the only script that is used.” Hassan publishes the Arabic section in the magazine and is also an expert in politics and sport.

The electricity supply has slowed back and turned on candles to continue working. Cools Hadid writes now in his notebook, accompanied by the light of the flashlight. “I left Damascus and had to leave the Engineering of Public Works studies. But in this destruction of the area I did not want to give in.”

Hadid combines his journalistic work with other hobbies, such as poetry or rap, among others. Although he still has little experience, he is aware of the reward of being independent: “No matter what to write or to whom to interview, the same criticism always comes from certain sectors.” On the political conflicts between the Kurds in Syria, he admitted that there are divisions to the extent that people are aligned with the Kurdish parties in Turkey and Iraq. On the contrary, it states that the need to combat the same enemy has also meant cohesion. At present, the General Assembly is the largest governing body in the region.

“We’re not going to resign”

At the end of the day, journalists have gathered on the terrace of Kursaal. The red eyes also rested in the darkness of the night of the city. Massoud Hamid, 33, leads the project. It came in time to take the last afternoon tea. In 2004, during an examination at the University of Damascus, he was arrested by the Syrian police and charged with a crime against the State for posting a photo of a demonstration on the Internet. He was sentenced to three years in prison. The Reporters Without Borders association denounced the situation and awarded him the prize in 2005, when he was still in prison. After taking refuge in France, Hamid returned to Syria in 2011, at the height of the revolution, according to Al Qaeda. Since then, he has been working energetically to develop his doctoral studies in Paris and his work at Nu Deme. “There are other Kurdish publications in Syria, but they are usually just collections of photocopies.”

The nearest printing house is in Iraq and Hamid has just brought an issue of 3,000 copies of Dohuk from Iraqi Kurdistan. “The need to cross the border twice a month entails expenses and penalties,” he regrets. Moreover, it says that the cost of the project is high: the grain is sold in 50 Syrian pounds (30 cents), but its printing costs 65. However, Hamid is clear that: "We're not going to resign. The Kurds in Syria deserve a real newspaper, as any other reader in the world deserves.’