Leila Mustapha seems out of place. Almost anywhere else the skinny jeans, leather-bomber jacket wearing 30-year-old probably wouldn't draw a second look.

Key points: The Autonomous Administration of North East Syria has enshrined gender equality and religious freedom in law

The Autonomous Administration of North East Syria has enshrined gender equality and religious freedom in law Many hope it will mark the start of new beginnings, but the removal of US troops could leave the young democracy vulnerable

Many hope it will mark the start of new beginnings, but the removal of US troops could leave the young democracy vulnerable Turkey has pledged to invade northern Syria, fearing autonomy there will embolden Kurds inside Turkey to rise up

But we're in Raqqa, the once notorious capital of the so-called Islamic State, where women were confined to the house and could only be seen in public in full covering with a male guardian.

What's more, Leila is the city's new leader.

"Give me a minute to finish my cigarette, just don't film me smoking," she says as she flips back loose hair that's come out of a slicked-back messy bun.

While I wouldn't ordinarily film someone smoking, Raqqa's female Civil Council leader puffing away in her office would've been a simple way to show how far the city has come since it pushed Islamic State (IS) out two years ago.

Smoking was banned under IS and its record on women is atrocious.

Journalist Yaara Bou Melhem (left) with Raqqa Civil Council female leader Leila Mustapha. ( ABC News: Yaara Bou Melhem )

But I'm more keen to tour the city with the former civil engineer to find out more about reconstruction efforts. It's midday, and we only have a few hours of winter sunlight left for filming. We also have to leave Raqqa before it gets dark.

Sorry, this video has expired Leila is keen to show how her city of Raqqa is recovering from ISIS.

The city may have pushed IS out, but it has morphed into an underground network and still poses threats — especially to people like Leila.

"A number of colleagues, a number of people who were close to me, members of the Raqqa Civil Council have been subject to attacks, assassinations," she said.

"We're expected to take precautions, but these precautions don't prevent us from our work."

Religious freedom, gender equality enshrined in law

Leila is a part of the Autonomous Administration of North East Syria, the little-known authority that rules roughly one-quarter of Syria.

The dull name belies a set of principles that could challenge those of many Western countries.

Equal representation of men and women in all areas of government is enshrined in law. ( ABC News: Yaara Bou Melhem )

The Kurdish-majority administration is enacting the philosophy laid out by a leftist revolutionary named Abdullah Ocalan.

Equal representation of men and women in all areas of governance are enshrined in law, as is religious freedom.

This democratic experiment is being rolled out in areas that the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) liberated from IS.

The SDF, backed by a US-led coalition, is nearing the last of that territorial campaign with just a sliver of land still under the group's control in the village of Baghuz in the Deir ez-Zor region.

The administration is seeking autonomy within a federated Syria

Devastation at Al-Shafa, in the Deir ez-Zor region, close to the front line. ( ABC News: Yaara Bou Melhem )

It hasn't been recognised internationally but on the ground it functions as would any other state, from leading large-scale reconstruction efforts including the opening of schools and hospitals to the more bureaucratic work of registering births, deaths and marriages.

But this young democracy may soon face a far bigger threat than IS.

The US is planning to pull out about 2,000 troops that have been providing support to the SDF campaign against IS. They plan to leave behind only a small peacekeeping force.

When that happens, the Kurdish-led authority will lose its protection.

Turkey has pledged to invade northern Syria and smash the Kurds. It fears autonomy here will embolden the 15 million Kurds inside Turkey to rise up with similar demands.

SDF Commander Simko Shikaki (left) fears there are worse people than ISIS who want to fight them. ( ABC News )

"When the coalition pull out from here we know that there are other people who are worse than ISIS who want to fight us," SDF Commander Simko Shikaki says.

"We will watch the situation, and once Turkey attacks we will have a response for it."

'A life that we didn't even dream of is being built'

Fatigued with war, young people are taking control of what they can. In a bar in the town of Kobani, close to the Turkish border, I meet with a 19-year-old journalist about to get married.

"The situation is peaceful for the time being. So we thought we'd get married now," Bercem Abd al-Kadr tells me.

Azad Ahmad (left) and Bercem Abd al-Kadr will have a civil marriage, rather than a religious one. ( ABC News: Yaara Bou Melhem )

Her fiance Azad Ahmad is a little more optimistic about the future. He's a 26-year-old fighter with the YPG, the Kurdish military force.

"The hopes for the future are bright, democracy is being built. A life that we didn't even dream of is being built," he tells me while smoking a shisha.

"As a Kurd, the Kurdish flag is being raised."

What makes their union exceptional is that their marriage will be a civil rather than a religious one.

The Autonomous Administration of North East Syria has brought in civil marriage, allowing people from different religious groups to legally marry.

Bride Bercem (right) looks over at her groom Azad. ( ABC News: Yaara Bou Melhem )

It may seem like a small detail, but it's radical in a region where sectarianism and tribalism dominate and where Islamic law had previously prevailed.

Bercem and Azad invited us to their vibrant and very Kurdish wedding party. It's a time to celebrate, but there is also the lurking prospect of a conflict with Turkey.

"If needed, he will go to war and I will continue working," Bercem says on the day of her marriage.

"We did not want them to win, so that's why we got married."

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