KURDISH WOMEN LEAD THE REVOLUTION
Lisa-Marie (FiLiA CEO) was introduced to the issue of the Kurdish struggle by Rahila Gupta. FiLiA recognised the potential of the Kurdish women's struggle to inform our understanding of the potential for liberation and has platformed Kurdish women's voices at conference, and in our blogs and podcasts, as well as attending in-person solidarity meetings.
For this contribution, Rahila Gupta, author and activist, was invited to shape an interview with Kongra Star, the women's umbrella group leading the women's revolution in Rojava, North and East Syria. Kongra Star did what they do so well ‒ they used a collaborative approach and invited contributions from many women's groups in the region. The result is an extraordinary piece and one that we are very pleased to share with you on International Women's Day.
Image above and cover image: Joint declaration on 8 March. Owned by Kongra Star
The revolution in Rojava began under the leadership of Kurdish women inspired by the Kurdistan Freedom Movement. They organised themselves as Yeketiya Star (Star Union) in 2004 and are now known as Kongra Star (Star Congress).
Remziya Mihemed has been active in the women's movement for many years and is currently a member of the Kongra Star Co-ordination. She answered this question:
Can you briefly outline the Rojava revolution and what it has achieved, particularly for women, as many of our readers/members will not be familiar with it?
In 2011, the people of Rojava (the Kurdish word for the western part of Kurdistan) began a revolution in the wake of the civil war in Syria. They began to organise themselves communally and through democratic confederalism with the different communities living in the region and set up their own system of self-administration. They successfully defended the idea of a democratic and ecological society based on women's freedom against the attacks of the ISIS terrorist group. Today, the established Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria includes seven regions: Jazira, Firat, Sheba-Afrin, Manbij, Tepqa, Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa.
Women were and are the driving force of the revolution. They had gained an awareness of their history and were organised. They stood up against the ruling system and terrorist groups such as ISIS and fought against violence, oppression and injustice and became the pioneers of a people's revolution, a democratic revolution.
In this revolution, they fought and continue to fight for a democratic social system whose basic principle must be the freedom of women, and they actively participated in building this society. They built communes, councils and institutions, they built an autonomous system of women, where women organise themselves in their own communes, councils and committees, and they built the democratic autonomous administration.
With their experience, Kongra Star inspired women from other ethnic and religious groups, such as the Ezidi, Armenian, Assyrian and Arab communities, who took on important roles and responsibilities in the women's revolution in North and East Syria.
Because Kongra Star had an organised base and therefore an influence in society, it was able to develop self-defence structures that formed the basis for the emergence of the YPJ Women's Defence Units. The system of communal economy based on co-operatives is also promoted by women.
The co-chair system has been implemented in all institutions and at all levels, and a 50% quota has been introduced in all committees and councils so that women can play a role in the autonomous administration through their needs and perspectives and take part in decision-making.
Women were also significantly involved in the development of the current social contract, which was ratified in December 2023.
All of this has been possible because women have educated themselves and acquired knowledge based on the ideology of women's liberation, and they are still working to create knowledge and awareness of this in society.
We can say that every step taken by women has advanced the revolution and the path to a democratic society because women have been excluded in Syria and in our society as a whole.
Because the revolution gains its strength from women’s strength and women’s leadership, and because women also play a leading role in defending this revolution, they are constantly under attack, by groups like ISIS, but also by Turkey. Many women, like Hevrîn Xelef, Zehra, Yade Emîne, Yade Eqîde, Ysra and Rîhan, Jiyan and Zeyneb, Hind and Sida, have been targeted and killed in recent years.
To live up to their struggles, to carry them forward, is both a task and a promise for us women and for society. We are convinced that wherever in the world women unite, organise, educate themselves and reclaim their knowledge and history, they can ignite and lead a revolution.
The Zenubiya Women’s Community, founded in 2022, works primarily in the areas around Raqqa, Tebqa, Manbij and Deir ez-Zor, which were liberated from the Islamic State by the SDF. The aim of the association is to unite the women of the Arab, Turkmen, Circassian and Assyrian populations living there under the umbrella of Zenubiya and to organise themselves together for the emancipation of women in Syria.
Xewla El-Isa was born and raised in Raqqa and has been active in the struggles for women since 2017. She is responsible for Zenubiya public relations work and answered the question:
To what extent have the feminist ideas underpinning the revolution liberated women in other ethnic and religious groups such as the Arabs, the Christian Assyrians, the Ezidis? Are they equally committed to Rojava?
Feminist ideas and women's struggles have had an impact on many areas and aspects of women's lives throughout history. Women have followed in these footsteps to fight for their freedom, including in the women's revolution in Rojava. With the idea of women's liberation, for example, women have played an important role in analysing and deciphering their oppression in the name of religion and tradition and especially in Islamist ideology.
When we Arab women started to organise ourselves, we did so primarily through education. It is and was important to gain our own awareness and knowledge about our own rights and needs and to discuss a social ethic based on which we women can continue the revolution in truly our own way.
What is certain is that women were fought against in the name of religion, they were expelled and subjected to rape and had to experience violence in all its forms. As women, we have this in common, and it is also our strength. As women, we have all suffered similar pain due to the war and systematic violence ‒ it is a collective experience and we know it is a social problem for all peoples.
The idea of building a democratic, confederal society in North and East Syria is based on the understanding that a free society is only possible through the liberation of women. The liberation of women is the basis of the solution and that is why all women of all religions and population groups take part in these struggles.
We must unite for the liberation of women in Rojava and in all regions.
We must be everywhere where women are oppressed under the pretext of religion, customs and traditions, especially in wars, as well as where women are systematically attacked and the legacy of their struggles and achievements is destroyed. And we need to reach out to all women in the world.
If we approach the problem as if it were only a concern of women from a particular group, then it will not succeed. Rather, it should be for all women in the world because we all feel it. If we call with the same sorrow to stand against all forms of violence and aggressive practices, then it also becomes clear what the task of British women must be: to support women in all aspects so that the women's revolution continues throughout the world and not just in Rojava.
The PYD (Democratic Union Party) is a political party founded in 2003 in Rojava/North and East Syria, whose aims are based on the ideas of Abdullah Öcalan and which aims to realise his project of a democratic society in North and East Syria. The women of the PYD have joined together in a Women's Council and aim to develop a strong force as women in political positions and to implement practical achievements such as the co-chair system.
Netewî Xemgîn is one of the spokeswomen of the PYD Women's Council and answered the following two questions:
What are the wider geo-political forces that are hostile to the Revolution? Why is Turkey specifically keen to crush it?
The geopolitical forces represent the system of capitalist modernity, a system of domination based on liberalism and individualism. Those forces put their own needs first and act for their own benefit: their influence in the Middle East, their access to resources such as oil and their control over the main trade routes of the region. These are the simple reasons for the involvement of different geopolitical forces such as the NATO countries, especially the USA; Turkey; Russia; Iran; Iraq; the Arab countries and other forces in the conflicts not only in Kurdistan but in the whole Middle East.
All of these forces are united in their opposition to the revolution in Rojava and the established Democratic Autonomous Administration in the region of North and East Syria. This is because the revolution in Rojava and in North and East Syria is a social revolution. It is a mental revolution, a women's revolution and a democratic revolution. The international forces do not want this revolution to grow and succeed.
Where there is a social revolution ‒ where society begins to organise itself, to educate itself, to think and decide for itself ‒ the hegemonic system of domination loses its influence and power. Since it is a real, democratic revolution, it is not about changing a government, but about developing the alternative of a democratic nation, as opposed to the concept of the nation-state, and putting into practice the model of democratic confederalism drawn up by Abdullah Öcalan. This requires an intellectual revolution, which above all fights against the mentality of domination, against patriarchy and state-based concepts such as nationalism and racism. And it fights for a change towards a truly democratic mentality, that develops a comprehensive ecological understanding with a women's perspective in all areas.
In this women's revolution, women have educated and organised themselves. They have freed themselves from the only role given to them, that of running the family. By fighting for their own freedom, the freedom of their society and their country against patriarchal domination and male mentality, they have become a leading force of the revolution. Today, they are pioneers and bear outstanding responsibilities in all areas of society.
This intellectual, social and democratic women's revolution is attacking the ideological foundations of the hegemonic states and is becoming an example of how self-determined forms of social organisation are possible without or despite the state.
This is why the hegemonic states have no interest in seeing this revolution flourish.
Since the declaration of self-administration, the project has been threatened from various sides, including the so-called ‘Islamic State’ and the Ba'ath regime. However, Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with which the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria shares its northern border, has become a major aggressor. Erdoğan fears that the successful implementation of self-administration in North-East Syria will fuel similar aspirations among the Kurdish population in South-East Turkey. However, as he dreams of a new Ottoman Empire, his aim is to expel and annihilate the Kurdish population of that region in particular.
The Turkish state has already carried out several military offensives to achieve this goal. In 2017, Turkish ground forces and mercenary groups occupied areas around Al-Bab and Azaz in violation of international law. In 2018, the Afrin region was occupied with the help of Islamist mercenary groups, followed by the occupation of the areas around Serê Kaniyê and Girê Spî in 2019. The Turkish state is carving up the region, displacing the people living there and forcing a demographic change in the region by settling Syrian refugees.
The current attacks on power plants, water stations, food supply, in other words, places that provide basic services to the population, are also carried out to starve the population, to make them suffer and thus weaken their will, to make them flee and abandon their project.
Do you believe that Turkish elections in 2024 will bring positive change and hope for peace if Erdoğan loses? Or is it not about the individual in power?
Democratic change in Turkey will not come through elections. Elections do not change anything - but they can be an indicator of how democratic or fascist Turkey really is.
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and Erdoğan have consolidated a fascist, anti-democratic system based on nationalism and religious fundamentalism during their years of rule in Turkey. This system oppresses and suffocates not only the Kurdish population, but also other ethnic groups and the diverse democratic voices in Turkish society. Even if democratic forces win the upcoming regional elections and gain representation in city and regional administrations, not much will change.
If Erdoğan and his appointees lose, the problems of the Turkish state will not be solved. Far-reaching changes to the laws and, above all, the constitution would be needed to enable democratic development and democratic structures in Turkey.
Because the Turkish state has always been characterised by fascism, dictatorship and nationalism, change requires above all a change of mentality, a mental revolution. Elections are not enough. What the elections can achieve now is to send a message to the government and the anti-democratic forces in Turkey that the people do not support the fascist policies and patriarchal mindset of parties such as the AKP, the İYİ Parti (Good Party) or the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). They can show how much Turkey needs democratisation and to reject forces like Erdoğan or the MHP who are pushing for the division and destruction of Turkey with their war mentality.
Furthermore, if they are elected, democratic forces can create new spaces and opportunities at the regional level and advance projects for democratisation, for the struggles for women's freedom, for an ecological society and for an alliance of peoples in Turkey.
Ultimately, the question is not which parties win the elections, but whether the Turkish people can overcome the war mentality and live in solidarity, with an alliance of peoples, so that an appropriate domestic and foreign policy can emerge. This requires a fundamental change of mindset, the freeing of Abdullah Öcalan and the will for a democratic solution.
The Human Rights Organisation in Jazira works primarily to document violations of international humanitarian law and human rights. In this context, the organisation monitors the situation of people, especially children and women, in the territory and in the areas of responsibility of the Democratic Autonomous Administration, such as prisons and courts. It publishes annual reports on the human rights situation, the situation of children and the issue of violence against women in the entire region of North and East Syria. It also documents war crimes in the areas occupied by Turkey.
Evîn Cuma is a human rights activist and has been working with the organisation since it was founded in 2013. She is currently its spokesperson and answered the question:
Please tell us more about the regression in women’s rights and loss of freedoms in the areas of Rojava/DAANES (Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria) for example, Afrin and Girê Spî, occupied by Turkey.
Women are subjected to violence every day in the areas occupied by Turkey.
Since the occupation, in violation of international law, of Afrin in the spring of 2018 and Sêrekaniyê and Girê Spî in the autumn of 2019, the entire population of these regions has been subjected to constant oppression and violence. Villages in the regions are repeatedly shelled with a variety of weapons, and residents are threatened, tortured or killed. The aim of this practice is to forcibly displace the population and settle other people in their place to bring about demographic change in the region. Today, barely 25% of the population is Kurdish, when it used to be 90%.
Women are particularly vulnerable to violence in this context. They experience violence beyond the daily threat of the occupation forces. Since the beginning of the occupation, we have received repeated reports of women being abducted. In the Afrin region alone, more than 250 cases have been reported since 2018. They are separated from their children, subjected to rape and torture, taken to other regions and sold as slaves. Underage girls are forced to marry and are deported to Turkey, for example. We continue to receive reports of arrests and torture in the prisons that have been set up. As recently as the beginning of 2024, eight kidnapped women were sentenced to prison and two to death, despite the fact that the death penalty has been abolished in Turkey.
The mercenaries used by the Turkish state, radical Islamist groups and Islamic State terrorists, who have deliberately settled there with their families, determine the legal and living situation of the people there. They spread patriarchal and misogynistic ideas and consider women's freedom as undesirable and contrary to the law and Sharia. As a result, women are isolated from social and practical life and generally lead a difficult life in the occupied territories. All the gains, rights, structures and opportunities for women's social and political participation achieved during the revolution have been destroyed. There are no organisations or civil institutions in which women could organise themselves, or which could support women or advocate for their situation.
The Women's Council in North and East Syria is an umbrella organisation that brings together women's organisations and structures from different fields such as politics, society, justice and culture. The Council expresses the will of organised women in North and East Syria and works to strengthen the role of women in political decision-making centres and in all strategic and crucial issues related to women and society.
The co-ordination of the Women's Council is made up of representatives from various social groups and structures. These are currently Stir Qasim, representative of civil society organisations, Jiyan Hussein, representative of the Kongra Star women's movement, Abeer Hassaf, independent activist, Siham Ammouka, representative of political parties, Sabah Shabo, representative of the Syrian Women's Union, as well as Amina Al-Jarrah and Doaa Al-Hassan, representatives of the Arab women's organisation Zenubiya. Together they put together an answer to the following question:
There have been a number of targeted assassinations of women activists by Turkey. Why does Turkey feel so threatened by women?
In recent years, the Turkish state has repeatedly targeted women in Rojava, North and East Syria. We see the following reasons for this:
Because Kurdish women in Rojava have a cause to fight for, which is the case of their people living on their historical land and deprived of their political, national and cultural rights.
Because the establishment of the Democratic Autonomous Administration in Rojava, North and East Syria, is taking place on the southern border of Turkey, it is feared that this democratic experience will have an impact on the internal Turkish population and spread.
Because the Rojava Revolution and the democratic confederal model of society in North and East Syria is successful and has become a model that can inspire other movements and struggles around the world.
Because the women of Rojava fought the most powerful known terrorist organisation, the Islamic State, and were able to defeat it militarily in its last stronghold in Baghouz in Deir ez-Zor. By targeting women, Turkey is taking revenge on behalf of its ally, the Islamic State.
Because it wants to break the will of women and destroy the achievements they have made with their free will.
Because Turkey recognises that women in Rojava, North and East Syria, can play an important role in solving the crisis in the whole of Syria.
Because of the importance of women in establishing the values of peaceful coexistence and sisterhood among the different ethnic and religious communities in North and East Syria.
We, as women's organisations and movements in North and East Syria, welcome the solidarity of the women of the world with our cause and our struggle for women's rights and freedom and for the establishment of democratic values in order to achieve a stable democratic society where everyone enjoys peace and safety. Women's freedom is part of this and one of the foundations of human rights and democracy.
Istêr Murad has been an active member of the Assyrian Women's Union and the Assyrian Unity Party in Syria for many years and has participated in various initiatives and committees in the development of democratic self-administration in North and East Syria. Since 2021 she has been co-chair of the local and municipal administration of Jazira and also represents the interests of her community there. The local and municipal administrations developed from the initiative of the people during the revolution to manage the basic supply structures and the development of the cities and villages themselves. Today they are responsible for the areas of road construction, sewerage, water supply, waste disposal and cleanliness but also for social assistance for the population. In her role as co-chair, Istêr Murad answered the following question:
There has been a recent surge of Turkish drone attacks on the infrastructure of Rojava, on health facilities, food production, fuel and water supplies. How is daily life affected by this? Can you illustrate by way of case studies?
There have been repeated, intense and sustained attacks in the regions of North and East Syria in recent months. All essential goods for millions of people have been destroyed. These attacks targeted the infrastructure and services of the Democratic Self-Government in North and East Syria, including water and electricity supplies, mills and factories, and all oil and gas stations. This means that all means of transport are affected by these attacks.
These were attacks on basic life, or to put it more eloquently, we say that the attacks hit the main nerve in people's lives. Every time, we tried to respond quickly to the destruction and to make the basic facilities operational again using all our capabilities.
But this time the destruction and devastation have been greater than before. Hundreds of bombings took place during the last wave of attacks from 13th to 16th January 2024. The gasworks and all stations were targeted, as were all oil, power and fuel tanks. Twenty energy facilities are out of service. Over two million people are cut off from electricity supplies.
As we know, every movement and every detail of daily life depends on fuel (whether gas, electricity or diesel). Generators cannot operate without diesel. Buses and delivery services do not operate and stoves, heaters and ovens are unusable in private households.
Energy supply is also fundamentally necessary for all areas of water supply and the production of various materials and food. That's why all areas of people's lives are affected. Prices will continue to rise and place additional burdens on people. We can say that these attacks are aimed at sabotaging livelihoods as well as security and stability in the region and paving the way for people to be forced to migrate and leave the region.
Founded as part of the women's revolution in Rojava in 2013, the Women's Defence Units YPJ is an all-women armed force in Rojava, in the autonomous region of North and East Syria.
The YPJ's understanding of self-defence is based on the belief that without organised self-defence by women, society, and women in particular, cannot be defended against oppression and patriarchal hegemony. The YPJ has gained global recognition for the brave women who are fighting the Islamic State and its cruel and misogynistic ideology.
Ruksen Mihemed is the spokeswoman for the women's defence units YPJ, and she answered the question:
Are the Turkish attacks on detention centres where ISIS fighters are held a way of releasing them so that they can be free to attack Rojava again?
Turkey's attacks on North and East Syria are nothing new. Time and again, the Turkish state tries to divert attention from its defeats and internal crises by attacking externally. With their current attacks, they continue their policy of annihilation and occupation, genocide and feminicide.
They want to revive the Islamic State, which was defeated by the young men and women of the region. ‘If Kobanê falls, everything falls!’ Turkey said in 2014, not expecting that both the YPJ and the YPG would put up such resistance and that the people would also show a defiant attitude. Both made it possible for the Islamic State to suffer its first defeat in Kobanê. It was also a defeat for Turkey. And from then on, the Syrian Democratic Forces, the YPJ and the YPG were able to smash the Islamic State in the region. They protected and defended all of humanity and, above all, the people of the region.
Today, the Islamic State gangs are in prisons and the families are in Camp Hol and Camp Roj. And everyone knows that Islamic State is still dangerous. There is a mindset and a consciousness that has not been destroyed. The Turkish state wants the Islamic State to become active again, to carry out operations and destabilise the region. The aim of the current attacks is also to open up ways of achieving this. We know that Turkey supports and supplies the Islamic State. Islamic State groups are staying and being trained in the occupied territories.
In 2022, there was an attempt by Islamic State forces to break out of Sinaa prison, which was prevented, with heavy casualties. The Turkish state paved the way for this then and wants to do the same again. For this reason, the checkpoints of the security forces, the Sinaa prison, the area around the detention camps and other security facilities are attacked again and again.
We can be sure that the resistance and the honourable attitude of our people will continue. And we will continue our struggles and prevent Turkey from reaching its goal. But it is also necessary that all the people of the world, the freedom-seeking people and peoples and human rights organisations play their role and stand against the attacks.
Aynur Pasha is an active member of the Justice Council of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of the North and East Syria Region. She is also a member of the Research Centre for the Protection of Women's Rights. There, she works on documenting violence and human rights crimes against women, particularly in the Turkish-occupied areas. She answered the question:
Why is the international community turning a blind eye to Turkey’s infringement of international laws and agreements?
International law and agreements have been developed to protect human rights, in times of war as well as in times of peace. The first international agreements, the Geneva Conventions and parts of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights gave rise to International Humanitarian Law. This is intended to guarantee the protection of human rights internationally, even in times of conflict.
One of the four Geneva Conventions deals with the protection of the civilian population. It stipulates that women and children, old and sick people, or all persons who cannot protect themselves and are not part of the fighting, must be given special protection by the warring states. However, we see time and again that the agreements and resolutions declared as universally valid are not honoured when it comes to the hegemonic states and their partners, and that international law is broken time and again.
Violations of the rights granted by the Geneva Conventions are considered war crimes. This includes attacks against the civilian population, such as those we are currently witnessing on a daily basis in the region of North and East Syria, e.g. the bombing and destruction of vital supplies of water, food and, especially in winter, energy.
It is the task of the International Criminal Court to prosecute violations of the Geneva Conventions and to hold those responsible to account. However, the International Criminal Court can only be called upon by the contracting parties, the UN Security Council and the Court itself.
The region of North and East Syria is part of Syria and it is Turkey that is currently committing war crimes in this region. Theoretically Syria would have to prosecute Turkey before the International Criminal Court. Neither Turkey nor Syria have signed the Rome Statute - the basic treaty for the prosecution of war crimes. Neither do they recognise the International Criminal Court.
In order for the Criminal Court to become active, both sides, the plaintiff and the defendant, must be nation states. The Autonomous Administration is the de facto independent government of its region. However, because we are not a state, we are not authorised to bring charges before the International Criminal Court.
We have repeatedly and emphatically called on the UN Security Council to initiate proceedings against Turkey. Nine of the 15 member states of the Security Council would have to agree to such proceedings. But the hegemonic states, in particular the five permanent members, are preventing Turkey, a member of NATO, from being held accountable under international law. International powers such as the USA, Russia, the UK and France have no interest in peace and stability in the region because they want to fulfil their hegemonic and neo-colonial interests in the Middle East. Therefore, they also allow Turkey to commit human rights and war crimes in North and East Syria.
Turkey is also misusing international law to legitimise its own war crimes. For example, Turkey describes its current attacks as self-defence in accordance with Section 51 of the UN Charter ‒ although it is in no way threatened by attacks in the region of North and East Syria. In this way, it continues to commit war crimes against the population in the region for all to see, yet with impunity.
What we see is that international law is not the right of people or peoples, but the right of states, and that states, with their patriarchal mentality of domination, exploit this right for their own power. That is why we call on the international public and especially human rights organisations and activists in anti-colonial and anti-patriarchal struggles to break this silence. Because this silence affects us all, in Kurdistan, in Palestine, in South America and many other regions of the world. It is in the interest of all of us that the rights of people and peoples worldwide can be guaranteed. We people must stand up for this ‒ the ruling states will never do it.
Internationalist women are working at the Andrea Wolf Institute of Jineolojî Academy in Rojava which was founded in 2019. Their aim is to develop research on knowledge that is rooted in matriarchal values, revolutionary history and the resistances of women in different parts of the world. And they are sharing this knowledge with people all over the world in order to develop a common struggle. In the institute, women can get to know themselves and their roots and build up a communal life. They wrote answers to the following two questions.
What suggestions do you have for implementing your models and your organisational methods in our very different local contexts? Is it possible to use elements of them within a patriarchal capitalist system or do we need to overthrow the system before we can implement your models?
To implement the models or organisational methods that we are using in Rojava, you do not need to overthrow the patriarchal and capitalist system first. This is a misunderstanding of revolution as a single act; revolution is a constant process, development, and struggle for change. We say that in 2012 the revolution in Rojava happened, but actually, the achievements didn’t all happen overnight. In 1979 Abdullah Öcalan crossed from Bakur (North Kurdistan) to Rojava and brought with him the idea of liberation and helped the people to start organising themselves. Therefore, a foundation was built over 40 years ago and is flourishing still today.
We, as Jineolojî, encourage women to connect themselves with their history and their roots and to research about the reality of women in their regions. While doing deep research we find solutions that are not just changing the surface but that are shaking the patriarchal system at its core. Another organisational method is the autonomous organisation of women. If we look back in history, revolutions were not built on the freedom of women. Mostly, it was said that the freedom of women would be achieved after the revolution. But this was never the case. So we need to put the freedom of women at the centre. The stronger we become, the more we can push back and overcome patriarchy and capitalism.
Furthermore, capitalism and patriarchy are influencing all areas of our lives. It is influencing the way we live, the way we build relationships, and our personalities. We need to understand this very well in order to struggle at all levels. Therefore, we always need to ask ourselves ‘How to live?’ and live according to our values. With these deep questions, a deep search and, therefore, deep change can happen. Here, we are trying to change our surroundings and our societies but first of all, we are also changing ourselves and supporting our comrades to change and to get rid of patriarchal influences.
Last but not least, capitalism is building up a life without meaning and hope. So our work is to build up hope and give meaning. We need to know that we can change the system, that we can overcome patriarchy, that it is in our hands, and that it is our duty as women to struggle for it.
What can we women in Britain do to support the revolution?
On the one hand, you can support Rojava in a very practical way by spreading the ideas of Abdullah Öcalan, joining the campaign for his freedom and joining other campaigns like Women Defend Rojava or Defend Kurdistan. Furthermore, you can help by making the revolution in Rojava known and putting pressure on the British state to stop supporting Turkey. Another practical support can be donating money because of the constant attacks on infrastructure that we need to build up again and again.
On the other hand, supporting us means organising yourself and putting the ideas of women's freedom, democracy and ecology into practice. We are all connected and as strong as the democratic force in one place gets, all other places become stronger. We are all part of the democratic forces fighting together against patriarchy and capitalism. Therefore, building up women's collectives, organising workers and neighbourhoods, and fighting an ecological struggle are all works that support us. The important thing is to connect all these fights to a bigger picture. The patriarchal and capitalist systems are constantly trying to divide us, so to fight against this we need to make our connections even stronger and not split the different struggles from each other.