It is bizarre – a moment ago gunfire and bombs
yet today we passed through the checkpoint without any problems
Welcome to the YPG: the Kurdish militia in Syria
We enter Hasaka from the north
The city centre is intact
There was no sign of the first fighting
against the IS terrorist troops that raged in the south of the city
The children greet the YPG enthusiastically
In the courtyard of the YPG headquarters
the mood is clearly relaxed
The military staff are playing football
As his comrade Louent
"Louent" is his 'nom de guerre'
The Kurdish officers use neither real names
nor they wear rank insignia
Comrade Louent was, as he says
directly involved in various battles
He now coordinates the various ethnic groups
in the fight against IS
This task becomes increasingly important as the Kurds
advance further towards the south
Louent's people show us the southern part of the city
At around about on the city limits
the portrait of Hafez al-Assad still stands
The father of Syria's embattled president
as its eyes are riddled with bullets
In early July, Assad's regime still controlled this district
Then Islamic State fighters took control with their suicide missions
And finally the Kurds encircled the IS fighters and liquidated them
with support of American fighter jets
According to the YPG the IS lost 396 men
Also present to the YPG, the Kurdish women's units
These Kurdish female soldiers are now patrolling the district
that was conquered twice in a single month
first by IS, then by the Kurds
Interestingly enough, Assad's flags and soldiers are still present
on territory conquered by the Kurds
Typically enemy emblems are removed immediately
but here Kurdish and government checkpoints operate peacefully close to each other
Later we even meet two of Assad's men at the headquarters of the YPG
They are in uniform and armed even carrying hand grenades
They are members of an anti-terrorist unit within the Assad regime
Two of Assad's men are among the Kurds
And your alliance?
Comrade Louent puts this into perspective
Define the chaos of war, daily life continues in Hasaka
The scenes on the streets almost resemble Western neighborhoods
At least to an extent that would be unthinkable in the IS controlled wrecker
We're on our way to a funeral
Gathered in a hole, at the men on the left side
an image of the PKK leader Öcalan in the middle
and the women on the right
Among the women is the grieving mother
On august the fifth, she lost her son Mihemed
Comrade Louent has come
He's a company in Gazen, the commander
They claim 21 men and women lost their lives in Hasaka
The battle lasted 39 days
The following day we drive to the Kurdish front lines
on the top of Mount Abdulaziz, south-west of Hasaka
A detachment of the female YPJ troops is also stationed on the mountain
Even they slightly further south, IS fighters are on the lookout
This does not affect today spirits The Kurds feel safe
The women, too, have a 'nom de guerre' and don't reveal their real names
Comrade Rosa shows us one of the two new bunkers
which the Kurds recently completed
A few months earlier they chased IS militia from this area
The Kurds know the mountains
They are in their element
Louent and his commanding officer Zord don't want to draw the border at the
current defensive positions on the mountain
Rather, the mountain is crucial for further operations against IS
Such as an attack on the headquarters in Raqqa
Back to Hasaka, the city free of IS fighters and headquarters of the YPG
Today is a big day for comrade Louent
Together with his soldiers, Louent prepares a reception
They are expecting a distinguished guest
Everyone undergo security checks
The woman who have been invited must also be scanned for weapons
and explosives
And then he comes – Hamidi Daham al-Hadi
The governor of the autonomous Kurdish canton, an Arab Sheikh
The fact that the governor of the canton is an Arab, carries obvious political significance
The Kurds are building alliances
In the conference room under the portrait of Öcalan
the head of the PKK party currently imprisoned in Turkey
sits the Arab Sheikh, protected by his private guards
Cooperation between Kurds and Arabs will be discussed
One common enemy is obvious
IS in the South, but today the YPG feel especially threatened in the northern regions
Comrade Louent explains what the YPG Thinks of turkey
Outside we meet a distinguished figure
Michael Enright, a British Hollywood actor
And since early 2015
a member of the YPG
he also cautions against Turkey
And so Germany, you know, I would say – and the West in general:
Reevaluate your relationship with Turkey because these have no been our friends at all
in the fight against ISIS
They've not been our friends at all. They have not
To the north it's the heroes cemetery, Haz-gol Daja, named after
the first YPG march of the city
Here they lie in rank and file the martyrs
Men and women side-by-side laid to rest by gravedigger Sabri
There are always new graves
The heroes of the most recent battle still need to be put to rest here
The cemetery is on a large patch of land but it looks like it could soon become crowded