Kurdish Women
As Türkiye considers launching another attack on Kurdish , the dream of realizing an equal and just society in the northeast of Syria is gradually drifting away.
● Rojava (Photo source: German Kurdish Association)
Because of chaos, conflict and endless terrorist attacks, Syria's image in the hearts of the people is the same as hell on earth. However, today's Syria is also a significant experimental site for peace, cooperation and gradual political change. Rojava is a beacon of courage to try, which has a profound impact not only on , the Middle East, , but also on other parts of the world.
Rojava, in Kurdish , means "western" and is also called "Western Kurdistan". It is a narrow strip across the northern edge of Syria, bordering Turkey to the north and Iraq to the east. The Kurds make up the majority of the Rojava population, about 4.6 million, and are mostly Muslims, but the region is also home to many other ethnic groups, including Arabs , Assyrians and Yazidi, as well as Christians and other small groups. One year after the start of the Syrian civil war, Rojava announced that he would break away from the high-pressure Assad regime and implement "autonomous" that has not been officially recognized. The Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) led the residents here to form a direct democracy. They have established a political system based on inclusion and cooperation in this land where Kurdish language and culture are banned and civil rights are deprived, recognizing gender, religious and racial equality among all citizens, and women account for 40% of all leadership positions.
In the summer of 2014, the extremist organization "Daish" (ISIS) wearing a black mask seemed invincible. They swept the terrified Iraqi towns. The Iraqi army and the famous Iraqi Kurdish militia Peshmeg could not stop the enemy's momentum, until the jihadists arrived in Kobani, where they met a completely unexpected guerrilla, a young Kurdish female soldier. In the fight against ISIS to defend Kurdish democratic autonomy, women are on the front line as fierce fighters and leaders.
● Kurdish girl Asia Ramazan Antar is known as "Kurdian Angelina Jolie " for her beautiful face. She was killed while trying to stop the attack of three ISIS suicide car bombers. Antal was born in 1996 in a city near the Turkish border in northeastern Syria. He was married at the age of 19 but then divorced. It is understood that she joined YPJ in 2014 to shoot ISIS militants. The YPJ Female Soldier Brigade is an all-female army of the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Force. It has about 50,000 female soldiers. Most of the senior management is held by women aged 18 to 40 (Photo source: Facebook)
● The poster of the movie "Daughter of the Sun" directed by Eva Yusong in 2018. The movie is adapted from the true story of female soldiers in Kurdistan (Photo source Google)
● The Peshmeg soldier from Syria is one of the troops guarding the Mosul dam in Iraq. "Pesmeg" means "a person facing death" in Kurdish. It is an armed force in the Iraqi Kurdistan Autonomous Region (Photo source: SETH J. FRANTZMAN)
In recent years, the United States' armed support forces have gradually shifted from the Kurdish region. In order to maintain the stability of its own Kurgward area and expand its influence in the Kurgward area and even the entire Middle East region, Turkey plans to launch another attack on the Kurdish jurisdiction in northeastern Syria. This has worried the Rojava women fighting for freedom and equality, not only the war itself, but also their future and the possible consequences of the war.
In fact, there are fewer and fewer female warriors fighting for Rojava today, many of whom died in the war against the Islamic State, and the ongoing threat of the Turkish invasion, an unstable ceasefire, economic difficulties, and attempts to squeeze the Kurds into Arab jurisdictions have also had a negative impact on the lives, power and freedom of Rojava women.
The threat of war is approaching
Living in the warehouse area in northeastern Syria, and living a small daily life is never easy. Today, commodity has been in short supply: water and electricity are intermittently supplied, employment opportunities are short, staple foods are expensive, and it is even more difficult to support the family or raise children. However, as the drums of the Turkish war grew louder, many Rojava feared that even this difficult status quo may soon be replaced by more terrifying air strikes and refugee waves.
Turkish President Erdogan has threatened in recent weeks that he will restart his operation in Syria if the terms of the agreement reached by Moscow , Ankara and Washington in 2019 are not respected. Liza Shishko, a Russian-born journalist living in Rojava, told the media hotline that the local security situation is deteriorating regardless of whether another operation against Syrian Kurdistan is imminent.
● On August 7, 2020, Turkey, President Erdogan of Turkey talked to the media after attending the Friday prayer of the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque. (Image source: Reuters)
Sishko recently reported through Telegram and Instagram: "Communication in Rojava has become dangerous, while Turkey has added precision attacks on leaders of Self-Defense Forces (SDF) and YPG over a month, and more kidnappings have occurred on Turkish-controlled territory".
SDF, the Syrian Democratic Force, is an alliance of militias, the official defensive force of Rojava. The Self-Defense Force is led by the People's Protection Force (YPG) and is a militia team composed mainly of the Kurds.
On October 9, 2019, Turkish President Erdogan announced that he would launch a military operation code-named "Fourth of Peace" in northern Syria. Turkish troops entered the Syrian Kurdish-led towns Tell Abyad and Ras al-Ayn, with hundreds of civilians killed in the operation. Many people are forced to leave their homes and lands.
● Türkiye's "Spring of Peace" operation resumes shelling of the YPG position in Tar Abiad, Syria. (Photo source: REUTERS)
Since that day, the two cities have been shrouded in darkness, with thousands of Kurdish residents forced to flee, and the demographic structure of the region has undergone significant changes. And in the war, women were the ones who were most affected. The vast amount of evidence recently discovered by the United Nations Commission shows that "the situation of Kurdish women is at stake".
United Nations Independent International Commission on Investigation for Syria has found a large amount of evidence of daily rape, sexual violence, harassment and torture of women in the Kuala Lumpur. The report cited examples of violations and targeted kidnapping of civilians in the city of Aflin. In 2018, Turkish militia invaded and occupied the city of Afrin. The report records the rape of at least dozens of women in Tar Abiyad.
Ancient Oriental linguist Shiler Sido said that the situation is getting worse due to the economic blockade in Syria and Turkey, and she is working to study the serious consequences of war on Kurdish women who have become refugees within the framework of international law. Sidor was born and raised in Aflin , and due to the Turkish invasion, she had to leave the city and found a shelter in the rural areas of Aleppo .
"Every place in Syria is like a grave, everything is destroyed, schools, houses, nothing is spared. As for Rojava, we have been suppressed by the regime from the beginning, a lot of agricultural land has been taken away, and the economic blockade has continued in all aspects, which suffocated us. There are many reports that due to malnutrition, there are general iron deficiency in our women's blood," she told the media hotline.
● On March 7, 2021, people stood next to the Kurdistan flag, waiting for Pope Francis to hold a mass at the Franço Hariri Stadium in Erbil, Iraq (Photo source: Reuters)
The end of the Kurdish utopia?
For the past decade, Rojava has been a sharp contrast between the implementation of patriarchy and the degrading attitude towards women in Syria and the entire Middle East. Kurds, Arabs and international women flock here to participate in the armed struggle against oppression, while using it as a shelter to escape conservative society and patriarchy. Rojava's laws prohibit polygamy and early marriage, and women participate in all aspects of their lives, including military command and political leadership.
● Rojava women celebrate 2020 International Women's Day (Photo source Rudaw.net)
Cido said, "ISIS wants to put the whole world in black and let us go back to the Middle Ages. The whole human being is in danger, not just us. Rojava is just the opposite. It opposes radical Islamic ideas, opposes violations of human rights and the violations of women's rights."
"Why is Rojava so attractive to women? In fact, there are not many places around the world that allow women to obtain weapons and participate in armed struggles. Since there is no male monopoly on weapons, they have certain confidence and self-defense. Here, women can play an important role in military and civilian leadership. All of these aspects are in contrast to the image of the 'weak woman' that exists in the West and here in the Middle East."
● Rojava's female warrior cried in the streets (Photo source: Women Defend Rojava. Net)
Professor of Tel Aviv University of is a famous expert in studying Kurdish history and the author of many related books. He said that foreigners who came to Rojava were attracted by romanticism , adventure, battles with "bad people" and long-term civil war. In this regard, this phenomenon can be compared with Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), which once attracted idealists, communists and justice suitors from all over the world.
Shishko stressed that for many Kurdish women, joining Rojava's armed resistance was seen as an opportunity to avoid the traditional paths of women in patriarchal society - marriage, family and children. Many of them consciously chose what is called "revolutionary celibacy." She said women cannot have families and children during the YPG. There is actually no regulation that women who have given birth to children are prohibited from joining YPG, but their families may disagree and even prevent them from doing so. There is always a compromise between conservative and extreme religious societies and revolutionary needs.
As a mother of three, Cido added that in Rojava, women have the power to choose, become a warrior, or become a mother. She said: "If your children and families are behind you, it will be difficult to devote themselves to the battle. In a country like Syria, it is very difficult to fight and have children. In addition, under the current unstable conditions in northern Syria, the situation for married women is also very difficult. There are war crimes, rape, domestic violence, and many times women feel that they must rebel in one way or another."
Rojava's unstable situation, the bloody war on ISIS and the ongoing threat of Türkiye's invasion have had a serious impact on Kurdish utopian autonomy in northeast Syria.Before 2019, women accounted for about one-third of all YPG fighters, and today, according to locals, their number has decreased significantly as many have died on the battlefield, such as their political leader, Hevrin Khalaf, the secretary general of the Syrian Kurdish Future Action Party, was brutally killed by pro-Turkish troops in Rojawa on October 12, 2019.
● Hufflin Khalaf (Image source: ANF News)
In addition, many progressive families have gone to Europe, while more conservative families have moved from the south to northern Rojava, where most women cover their hair and adhere to traditional norms. Shishko pointed out that these actions have led to social changes, such as the public swimming pool of Kamishli and the absence of women in the army.
Syrian Kurds are worried that if Turkey launches a new offensive in northeastern Syria, they will find themselves unprepared as the United States is keeping distance from the region while Russia pursues its own interests in Ankara. Kurdish leaders in northern Syria recently issued a call for negotiations with Damascus . In early November, Damascus mobilized Syrian Arab troops to the Self-Defense Force-controlled town of Tel Rifaat to deal with the attacks from Ankara forces.
Syrian Kurds will continue to fight for their survival, but the dream of building an equal and just society in Rojava seems to be drifting away.
compiled: Zhou Junyi
review: Zhang Junyu
typesetting: Wang Zihan
