My name is Hevrin, from Derik, a city in Rojava. I studied and lived there, but now my work is in Qamishlo. I studied civil engineering in Aleppo for five years and I completed my education in 2009. After working for the government for one year, the revolution started. This was in 2011.

My family deserves the credit for my participation in the Rojava revolution; they are patriotic and have been organized for years. They always took me to meetings and social events. In other words, I have never been far away from political organizing and have always had strong roots in our society.

This may be the case everywhere in the Middle East, but especially in Rojava there still exists a strong unity and solidarity among our people. Living together, or what we call ‘communal living’ is still alive and common today. I am also part of this communal society.

These were Hevrin Khalaf’s words in the spring of 2018 when I met her. On October 12, 2019, three days after Turkey launched its military offensive into northern Syria, she was brutally murdered. According to reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, she was dragged out of her car and shot in cold blood on the road. Her autopsy reveals she was shot, beaten with heavy objects and dragged by her hair until the skin on her scalp came off.

I do not know how many times I have listened to our interview recordings since I heard the horrible news of Hevrin’s death. She describes Rojava and her struggle with such pride. I wanted to hear these honorable words, because they also explain many of the reasons for the war against Rojava and Kurds. This interview is an attempt to bring justice to the brave work that Hevrin Khalaf did for her people and for the people of Rojava.

I met Hevrin Khalaf (Hevrîn Xelef, in Kurdish) in the spring of 2018 when she was the co-chair of the Ministry of Economy of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, better known as Rojava. The day before, she had lost her comrade Gerdo, with whom she had struggled together for many years; she was returning from Gerdo’s house in Tirbespîyê , and I remember when she called me to say that she was sorry for being late and that she was on her way.

A lifelong struggle

While I waited for Hevrin in the garden of the Ministry of Economy, sitting in the shadow of a tree, I chatted and smoked with the woman responsible for the Asayişa JIN, the women security forces in Rojava. She looked so strong and autonomous that when I saw the ring on her finger, I must admit I was a little surprised and asked her if she was married; “I’m married, but my husband works for the community security forces in another part of Rojava,” she said. A little embarrassed, she laughingly confessed: “We forgot that we were married once the revolution happened.”

Women in Rojava have always sought to transform the revolution, which everyone knows as a women’s revolution, into a social revolution. Hevrin struggled for this all her life and was murdered while fighting for it.

I had already heard about the beauty and dignity of Hevrin, and indeed, when she arrived, her swollen eyes and sadness from crying for Gerdo could not hide her beauty, nor did her fatigue obstruct her hospitality; while greeting me, she immediately inquired if I was hungry and if I had something to eat.

During my stay in Rojava, I had no relations with money; every day I ate and drank tea in the communal kitchens of one of the many local institutions or civilian houses along the way. There, it was evident that money does not dominate all social relations. Sometimes the people in Rojava were making fun of me; joking that if I had come during the time of war and embargo, they would have only given me soup.

A society built around communes and assemblies

Along with the revolution, a social economy had been organized in Rojava. At the time of our meeting, Hevrin was a spokesperson and co-chair of the Ministry of Economy for over two years.

There are three important pillars for organizing a social economy. The first one is the economy for social needs, which unlike in a capitalist economy, is not focused on maximizing profit. The second pillar is ecology and the ecologically responsible production of society’s needs. The third pillar is the creation and control of a fair market. These three pillars are very important for the social economy, and we want to make these a reality.

Rojava is not only the territory where a revolution is taking place, it is also a territory where the idea of a revolution is being redefined. Rojava is the place where a social revolution is taking place; where the notion of the “classical revolution” — based on the idea of transforming society through the seizure of power — is rejected.

The Kurdish movement of Rojava refuses to take power; instead, it mobilizes in an organizational modality that forms a network of assemblies that allows the people to become the subjects of their decision-making processes, offering the principle of self-determination for autonomy. That is, the Kurds are rejecting the basic component of a state: its power to make and implement decisions from the top down.

In other words, unlike other parts of Syria, the Kurds are not just another armed faction, but a militant popular movement that promotes horizontal self-determination and autonomy by and for the people of northern Syria. As Hevrin explained:

We should understand the main difference between the revolution in the rest of Syria and the revolution in Rojava. Let me give you an example, last night there was a public gathering. There was a teacher from Deraa. You probably know the significance of Deraa as the spark that lit the fire of the Syrian revolution back in 2011.

However, it could not go further.

Yesterday he told us that in Deraa, after the city was liberated from the regime seven years ago, nothing else was done; no organization, no service, no administration. Only a group of soldiers arrived to rule. That means whoever has guns can has power there. Our most important difference is this.

The first thing that was done in Rojava, and later in the broader region of northern and eastern Syria after it was liberated from ISIS, was the establishment of regional cantonal assemblies in agreement with the people living there, as the subjects of their own decisions. The sanctioning of, or participation in these assemblies by armed forces, was banned by the social contract of Rojava and northern Syria.

The purpose of the popular assembly-based system in Rojava is to organize an anti-capitalist and autonomous model for a stateless, anti-patriarchal and ecological society. Democratic autonomy, which is organized around the commune, is not a political party organization or government, although it recognizes political parties. Communes and popular assemblies, which are the main bodies of societal organization, constitute a self-government.

The spirit of a democratic nation

Unlike ethnic and religious conflicts that have transformed the Middle East into a war zone, democratic autonomy is guaranteed by the communes for all institutions of autonomous government on the basis of a “democratic nation”.

It was evident from the tone of her voice that Hevrin had captured the spirit of the democratic nation, just like her Assyrian comrade Gerdo:

Ever since the movement began organizing itself, they [militants of the Kurdish movement] have been explaining the solution [democratic autonomy] with Öcalan’s prison writings. In his work, there is a solution for the entire Middle East and Rojava. So, the political solution is already there, we just need to implement it.

This is why, when overthrowing a system, that you need to replace what was previously there with an alternative vision. If you don’t have an alternative, what you’ve destroyed might turn into something worse.

In other words, when the revolution started and the state left with all of its institutions — it remained only in a few places — if we didn’t have our alternative system and if our people were not ready, it would have been impossible for us to achieve a real liberation by simply establishing institutions.

In order to build this alternative system, we started with Mala Gel [People’s Houses] and Mala JIN [Women’s Houses]. All the institutions of society were created separately. If our society is recognized, it is best known for the women’s organizations. So, when people talk about the revolution in Rojava, they call it the Şoreşa JIN [Women’s Revolution]. The women started by building the Women’s Houses whose aim was to organize the women’s movement.

They were formed to create the common mind of women and to emancipate them from the dark and deprived situations in which they often find themselves, and have them become the leaders of this social revolution. Because we know that when a woman becomes a leader, society becomes a leader with her and transforms itself. The freedom of women and society are interdependent.

When I joined the revolution, my first place was in the Nurî Dersîm academy, where the political formation of society took place. I worked there for a time. At that time, the autonomous government had been declared, but prior to that my comrades suggested that I should take part in it. After the declaration of the autonomous government, I became the co-chair of the Ministry of Energy.

We worked with mamoste Gerdo, whom we lost yesterday, for three months. We worked with heval Gerdo since day one of the autonomous government. Many times he would say: we started the struggle together, and we will finish it together. He was our Assyrian friend and a very good person. He was a very good person in terms of human morality.

When we would talk about the terms of the democratic nation, I always said to him: you were our first friend who understood the democratic nation even though it wasn’t an explicit part of our political program yet. Because he understood and realized this; it was part of his nature.

He came from the city of Tirbespîyê and in this city people were living together in peace, so I was observing his nature in his relationships with Arabs and Kurds, Muslims and Assyrians. He repeated many times: ‘Serok [honorary title of Abdullah Öcalan] made us aware of it, and so we are very comfortable with it. We didn’t know that as Assyrians we had such rights; we had forgotten about it, but now we know our cultural and political rights, thanks to his prison writings.’

Gerdo always said that we must defend the project of democratic autonomy. He did so very quietly, but we worked with the spirit of a democratic nation for more than four years together. He really had the spirit of the democratic nation.

If there is one good thing about this autonomous government, it is the unity of the people. An Assyrian works with the Kurds, a Kurd with the Arabs. This wasn’t something that could have been achieved easily. This alone is a revolution.

Transforming gender relations

Hevrin had learned from her mother to be strong and revolutionary. As such, she joined the resistance as soon as the revolution began and held various positions. When she was discussing the social economy with me, she said that she would no longer be involved in the economic dimension of the movement.

After the liberation of regions like Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, she was offered to be co-president of the Syrian Future Party (SFP), which aims to establish a social consensus for peace and to eliminate the hostility that was historically generated by the Ba’ath regime between Kurds and Arabs. She brought this up casually and I could tell that she did not want to quit her job organizing the social economy of Rojava and that she did not want to participate in the SFP, but that she would not reject the offer of her comrades.

She added that she felt that she had become intertwined with the people working in the economic area and that they had managed to solve many realistic problems together. However, given that many aligned Arab tribes had not accepted the system of co-presidency, she knew she had a responsibility to take her place in the party in order to fight until such a system was accepted.

The system of having a co-chair or co-spokesperson is a praxis that provides women and men equal rights of speech and decision-making and which can be seen in every institution and organizational structure of the Kurdish freedom movement and dates back to a decision taken by a Kurdish women’s organizations in the 1990s. It is the first praxis of this nature among freedom movements in the world. Hevrin said that the adoption of the co-chair system was not easy, and that it would be an ongoing struggle:

After the declaration of the autonomous government, women’s work has become more and more prominent. All institutions of the autonomous administration are paying special attention to women’s issues, but there is always one institution focused on women exclusively..We do not encourage that women’s issues should be prioritized over general ones, but we do insist that women’s issues are taken into account in every institution.

In order to rekindle the extinguished fire in the history of women, we must intervene and support women’s organizations in every way possible. Until when? Until women and men can work together equally.

For example, the co-presidency system is not accepted in many regions. It has not been sufficiently internalized, even in the many institutions that we have established since the start of the revolution. In other words, to see each other as co-chairs, to know that decisions should be taken together equally, is an idea and a practice that has not yet been fully implemented in our culture.

It works very well in some places, but remember that it is not possible to change a millennia-old mentality in just two years. For example, when we talk about co-chairs, they immediately tell us that this right is only a woman’s right. The co-chair system does not exist solely for women — because the nature of women’s work is to work collectively, it therefore also assures men’s rights. Women see the co-chair system as a way of working with men, in other words, women see the right to work together also as a men’s rights issue.

For example, when we talk about co-chairing in newly-liberated areas, there is a perception that we are doing something for women, but that is not the case; co-chairing is not just for women, it is also for men. It is true, for example, that the decision to apply the co-chair system everywhere was conceived in women’s organizational spaces and actions, but from the beginning we recognized that this system would not only be beneficial for women, but also for all people in northern Syria. So, everyone has the right to act with his or her comrade.

This type of system may be perceived like this at first because there is no other example of it in the world. Sometimes I am very surprised, for example, when my male friends say, ‘Okay, let’s not argue too much, there is a co-chair system and our female friends here should not be offended.’ When I heard this, I said ‘We must accept this system not because otherwise women might get offended, but so that men’s voices do not disappear in society.’

Co-presidency does not mean destroying men, it means transforming gender relations inside our institutions and society. In single-presidency systems, the president is either a man or a woman. Therefore, in order to achieve real transformation in autonomous government, it was necessary to decide on the co-chair system.

For example, when the autonomous government was declared, all ministries had a presidential system; one president and two vice-presidents; now there are two co-chairs and three vice-presidents. Not only in ministries, but in all institutions.

The co-chairing first started in the canton of Cizre, then Kobane and now this system has also begun in Afrin. However, of course the Afrin cantonal assembly had also worked with a de facto co-chair system from the beginning. In fact, even this was strange, as an example the first president of the Cizre canton was a man: Abdulkerim Saruhan; in Kobane also a man: Enver Muslim; but in Afrin it was a woman: Hevi Mustafa. Hevi Mustafa had a male co-chair even though the autonomous government had not yet decided on the co-chair system yet. But because she was a woman, the co-chair system was adopted de facto. It wasn’t implemented there yet. So, this tells us is that if the president is a man, they can continue as a presidential system, but if the president is a woman, she is not allowed to be without a male co-chair.

I laughed, and she laughed too; in that moment I saw the beautiful smile of Hevrin that no doubt stays with everyone who had seen it.

Even after her death, the importance of her struggle was once again made clear: Hevrin was not recognized as co-chair of the Syrian Future Party establishment, but rather referred to as the party’s “secretary general.”

She was a woman who was a co-president in her daily practice; I have no doubt that she continued her struggle with this spirit of resistance until the day she was murdered.

Hevrin Khalaf was smiling in front of me as a co-chair; this was undoubtedly the victory smile I saw in the eyes and faces of all women in Rojava; this honorable smile that destroyed patriarchy. So defending Rojava means defending that honorable smile!

Hevrin Xelef [also spelled in various ways eg Havrin Khalaf] was the Secretary General of the Syrian Future Party, which is guided by a grassroots democratic initiative principle, and a beacon of hope for a diverse, democratic Syria. Five years ago, on 12 October 2019, the then 34-year-old was murdered together with her driver near Qamishlo in the course of Turkey’s war of aggression against the autonomous region of North and East Syria.

Members of the so-called ‘123 Battalion’ of the jihadist militia ‘Ahrar al-Sharqiya’, which is part of the SNA (Syrian National Arm’) proxy invasion force, dragged Hevrin Khalaf from her car and mutilated her body before executing her. According to the autopsy report, the politician’s body showed numerous injuries, including many bullet wounds and fractures to her legs, face and skull. Her scalp was partially detached and her hair was pulled out.

Following her murder, Hevrîn Xelef’s name was given to a square in the Guillotiere neighbourhood of Lyon, France, to the Garden of Healing in Berlin, to the bridge over the ‘Rio Rivi Freddi – Cold River’ in the municipality of Berceto in Parma, Italy, to the nursery of Qamishlo and the garden of Raqqa in North-East Syria. In 2019, she was awarded the ‘Margerita Troli Award’ given annually by the Municipality of Capoa in Italy and the ‘Young Activist’ award of the ‘Italian Coalition for the Rights and Freedom of Civilians’ (Coalizione Italiana per la Libertà e i Diritti – CILD). Hevrîn Xelef’s name was also included in the ‘Feminist Hope Archive’ prepared by the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) on 1 October 2020.

ANF spoke to a long-time companion of Hevrîn Xelef, Samira al-Aziz, who is now deputy co-chair of the Syrian Future Party. The two women met in 2011, shortly before the revolution in Rojava.

Hevrîn Xelef was born on 15 November 1984 in the village of Rêhanik near Dêrik and studied civil engineering in Aleppo. After the revolution of 19 July 2012, both women worked in the structures of the autonomous administration, Samira al-Aziz said: “Hevrîn initially worked for the energy committee and I for the education committee. Between 2015 and 2018, we therefore often met in joint committees. Hevrîn’s influence and contribution in these structures was clearly visible. She made constructive suggestions and pushed developments forward.

As co-chair of the economic committee of the Cizîrê region, she initiated projects for the economic prosperity of the people. She was future-oriented and wanted to broaden women’s horizons in particular. As Secretary General of the Future Party, founded in Raqqa in 2018, she became a political and diplomatic pioneer for justice and equality for all ethnic groups in Syria. She was a Kurdish politician who defended the Rojava revolution and motivated many women to work in politics.

She did not limit herself to the Kurdish population. She pursued projects to bring peoples together. That is why she sought dialogue with all population groups and was also in close contact with representatives of Arab tribes. She was aware of her responsibility and role and acted with appropriate care and foresight.

She interacted with young people and women in a very good and loving way. She was a young woman herself and was a master at making others feel valued. Her brutal assassination still hurts as much today as it did on the first day. She believed in a free and united life for the people of Syria and fought for it until the last moment. Now it is our task to continue her fight. Women must organise themselves to play a leading role in the unity of Syria.”

Ahrar al-Sharqiya massacred many civilians, including Kurdish politician Hawrîn Xelef. Abu Hatim Shakra, one of the commanders of the Ahrar al-Sharqiya group accused of committing war crimes by the UN, graduated from the Artuklu University in Mardin on 6 June 2023, where he enrolled under the name Ahmed İhsan Fayyad al-Hayes. The same name was also on the agenda with his voting in the elections held in Turkey on 14 May 2023.

A tree nursery named after Hevrîn Xelef was opened in Qamishlo on Sunday. It is a joint project of the Directorate General of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Forestry Committee. Preparations for this took months, and around twelve thousand seedlings have been grown so far. These are now being planted for the reforestation of Rojava.

At the same time, the garden also created a place of perpetuation of remembrance, it was said. The date of the inauguration of the tree nursery was not chosen by chance by the responsible committees, but was determined for this day. For days now, celebrations have been taking place in the autonomous region of northern and eastern Syria on the occasion of International Women’s Day on 8 March.

The traditional red opening ribbon was therefore purple and was cut by Hevrîn Xelef’s mother, Suad Mistefa. She was visibly touched and moved. In a greeting to the numerous guests, among them members of civil society, political parties, the ecology movement and the women’s umbrella organisation Kongra Star, Mistefa wished “the revolutionaries, mothers, prisoners and fighters of this world” all the best for Women’s Day.

Hevrîn Xelef

Hevrîn Xelef (also Havrin Khalaf) was the general secretary of the Syrian Future Party (Hizbul Suri Mustakbel), which is guided by a grassroots initiative principle, and a beacon of hope for a diverse, democratic Syria. On 12 October 2019, at the age of 34, she was murdered together with her driver near Qamishlo in the course of the Turkish war of aggression against northern Syria. Members of the so-called “Battalion 123” of the jihadist militia “Ahrar al-Sharqiya”, a grouping involved in the invasion under the umbrella of the proxy invasion corps SNA (“Syrian National Army”) founded by Turkey, ambushed Xelef, dragged her out of her car and mutilated her body before executing her. According to the autopsy report, the politician’s body had numerous injuries, including many bullet wounds, fractures to her legs, face and skull. Her scalp was partially detached because her hair had been pulled.

In the midst of the successive events in the north and east of Syria, a major role for women has emerged in closely monitoring the situation, and finding a way out for women so that they do not fall under direct influence, as women in any conflict are exposed to egregious violations, and global statistics on violations of human rights indicate that women are the targets in the first place.

In order to reduce losses to a minimum, and direct women’s energies to protecting themselves and identifying themselves, their history, strength and capabilities, women in northern and eastern Syria worked on the local and regional arenas, to hold the Turkish occupation accountable for its crimes in the occupied areas, and to deliver the message of women in the Rojava revolution, which is called the Women’s Revolution, to the rest of the world’s women to join the convoy of revolution available.

Economy

• In support of women’s economy aimed at developing women financially and morally, the Women’s Economy Committee in North and East Syria has implemented many projects, opening projects that support and develop its economy, such as factories and ovens [bakeries].
• On January 1, extensive meetings were held in the context of achieving self-sufficiency for female migrants from Serêkaniyê by opening economic projects to support them. 5,800 dunums [decares] of agricultural land were allocated to women in the form of an association. For the cultivation of seasonal varieties of wheat and barley, the association included 78 displaced women.
• On January 2, the Women’s Economy Committee allocated an area of ​​7 hectares for onion cultivation, 12 hectares for garlic cultivation, three hectares for pea cultivation, two hectares for faba bean cultivation and five hectares for potato cultivation, which are grown for the first time in the villages of Kar Kendal and Mulla Marza in the Derik district in Qamishlo canton.
• On January 16, Potato was grown for the first time in Al-Hasakah canton, by the Women’s Economy Committee in Al-Hasakah.
• On May 30, the Economy Authority in Al-Jazira Region inaugurated the Women’s Department, Zozan factory for cheese and dairy, in Derik district, Qamishlo canton, which is the first of its kind in the region, and the second in the north and east of Syria.
•  On June 1, the Free Women’s Foundation in Syria opened an office in the city of Manbij to develop the role of women intellectually and economically.
• On November 8, the Women’s Office in the People’s Municipality in Raqqa opened a laboratory for detergents, the first of its kind, at a cost of nearly $4,000, to be a rare project and a first-of-its-kind experience for women in the region.

Diplomacy

• On June 22, a delegation from Catalonia, consisting of “Ilulia Regovat and Ruben Wagensbeeg, members of the Catalan Parliament, Laura Preeze, a member of the Barcelona city council, Montes, a member of the political and social organization Omnivim, Kifer Meckel, a member of the Movement for International Justice and Dignity for Refugees, and John Kerlt” visited journalist and director of documentaries on social issues.” Kongra Star Center in Qamishlo canton.
• On June 29, Rojava women in Germany announced the organization of the “Star Europe Conference” during the first conference held under the slogan “Women’s Revolution is a guarantee of a free life”.
• On June 29, the first founding conference of the Yazidi Women’s Union was held in Rojava in Al-Shahba canton, in the presence of 300 Yazidi women from Al-Jazeera and Afrin regions, under the slogan “With the thought of a democratic nation, Yazidi women will win in Rojava.”
• On September 21, the French city of Lyon honored the Kurdish political activist and former General Secretary of the Future Syria Party, the martyr Hevrin Khalaf, by naming a square in France after her.
• On November 30, a delegation of women from north and east Syria visited the Basque Country, at an official invitation from the region, the municipality of Duranco and the non-governmental organization “Suargi”, with the aim of strengthening relations between the two peoples.
• During the year 2021, the Yazidi House in Al-Jazeera region received 12 Yazidi women from the administration of Al-Hol camp, who were captured during the attacks of ISIS mercenaries on Shingal.

Organization

• On January 6, the official broadcast of the Women’s News Agency “JINHA”, which aims to find a new form and pattern for women’s representation in the media, in the face of “women’s lack of representation” began.
• On January 17, the Coordination of Kongra Star in Rojava launched the second phase of the campaign “No to Occupation and Extermination, Together We Protect Women and Life”, with the aim of shedding light on the violations practiced against women and families by the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries in the occupied areas.
• On February 5, it was approved that the women’s coordination would become part of the General Council in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, in order to find a suitable ground for resolving the obstacles and difficulties facing women within the administration.
• On March 6, Afghan, Iranian, Arab and Kurdish women held a joint conference via (online) application, and accordingly the committee announced the decisions that resulted from the conference.
• On March 25, Kongra Star set up a sit-in tent in Ari Park in Qamishlo city, to demand the disclosure of the health status of the leader, Abdullah Ocalan, and to lift his isolation.
• On April 11, the first conference of the Women’s Council was held in North and East Syria, under the slogan “The Women’s Revolution to Ensure a Free Democratic Society”, in which 21 members of the Women’s Council were appointed, seven of whom are members of political parties in North and East Syria.
• On May 26, the second conference of the Women’s Council was held for the families of the martyrs in northern and eastern Syria, under the slogan “The struggle of the free woman is to protect the values ​​of the martyrs and ensure the Rojava revolution.”
• On June 1, the establishment of the “Zenobia Women’s Gathering” was announced during the first founding conference held in the city of Raqqa and the election of an administration for the four regions “Tabqa, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Manbij“, which is the main pillar of the hopes and aspirations of Syrian women.
• On June 18, the first conference of the Free Women’s Stand in Syria was held.

Culture and Art

• On January 8, the new center for Jineolojî (women’s science) was opened in al-Shahba canton, after a 3-year hiatus due to the Turkish occupation’s attacks on Afrin.
•  On 1 and 2 March, the Women’s Literature and Art Festival was organized, with the aim of encouraging them to express their culture and history.
• On April 3, a center for geology studies and research was inaugurated in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in the city of Aleppo.
• On June 25, the Women’s Authority in the Jazira region inaugurated the “Child Protection House” in the Al-Msherfa neighborhood of Al-Hasakah city, with the aim of providing the necessary care for children.
• On August 5, the Golden Crescent Movement in northern and eastern Syria inaugurated the Kazwan Center for Women’s Culture in the city of Al-Hasakah, with the aim of rehabilitating women from the technical side.
• The Education Authority in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria has included the Jineolojî subject in the new 2021-2022 curriculum again, after making amendments to it to suit the nature of the region.

Violations of the Turkish occupation against women in the occupied areas

• From January 1 to November 30, 13 women and 13 children were killed, and 75 women, 5 minors and a baby girl were kidnapped, according to statistics from the Human Rights Organization Afrin – Syria.
• On January 30, the second forum was held on the violations committed by the Turkish occupation and its mercenaries in the occupied canton of Afrin, under the auspices of the Organization for Research and Women’s Rights in Syria, a Human Rights Initiative organization, the Rojava Center for Strategic Studies, the Human Rights Organization Afrin – Syria and the Human Rights Organization in Jazira.

Programmes to combat violence against women

• In May, Kongra Star and the Women’s Council of the Future Syria Party from North and East Syria joined the campaign led by the Kurdish Women Relations Organization to oppose the policies of extermination against women under the title “We weave a protection network for life, stop the political extermination of women, and to revive  the pioneers, we will not allow new massacres against women,” in which 74 women’s organizations around the world participated, in addition to 181 women’s activists.
• July 30 and 31, the Second Women’s Conference in the Middle East and North Africa was held under the slogan “With women’s unity we will achieve the democratic revolution” in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. Its sessions focused on the events in the Middle East and North Africa, including wars, conflicts and disputes in which women were victims of the first degree, in addition to the repercussions of these crises on women, including displacement, captivity, assassination, and high rates of violence.
• On October 30, the Women’s Authority in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria announced, during its monthly meeting, the approval of a draft internal system for the Center for the Protection of Abused Women. The draft consists of 12 articles.
• On November 19, the third conference of the Women’s Council for Social Justice was held in the region of Al-Jazira, and a number of decisions were taken to reduce violence against women.
• On November 20, the women’s movements in northern and eastern Syria announced a program of activities for the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and it continued until December 10.
• On November 30, thousands of men in Al-Jazeera region took part in massive rallies calling for the elimination of violence against women.

In addition to the central Assad-led government, both the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and various opposition groups control territory in the country— and will likely have some say in its post-war future. Yet their respective policies on women’s rights and representation are vastly different— an important distinction to make in assessing the country’s progress and determining international support.

Leadership and Representation

Women in the Autonomous Administration and the Syrian Democratic Forces hold senior leadership roles across policy functions and at all levels of their institutions. Ilham Ahmed, the co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council, acts as the region’s de facto head of state, speaking before the U.S. Congress and meeting U.S. President Donald Trump last year. Further, the SDF operation to liberate Raqqa from ISIS control was led by a woman commander, Rojda Felat.

With the exception of women-only institutions, every deliberative body operates under a co-chair system, where all leadership positions are held jointly by one woman and one man. Offices and commissions within the Executive Council of the Administration, equivalent to cabinet departments, also use this system.

The Syrian opposition, however, lacks senior female leaders. In 2012, an early conference of the Syrian National Council elected no women to its 41-member decision-making group and the Syrian National Coalition has never had a woman president. In fact, the first woman to serve as the head of any opposition local council was only elected in 2018.

These disparities in senior leadership are reflected across the political structures of each faction. The Autonomous Administration’s constitution mandates that elected bodies and political parties, from the highest levels of the Administration to the smallest neighborhood commune, be made up of at least 40% women. Autonomous women’s organizations, like the Women’s Council of North and East Syria, exist in parallel to every mixed-gender institution, making the percentage of women actually serving in government slightly higher than men. These institutions have the ability to overrule and advise mixed-gender institutions on issues of women’s rights.

The Autonomous Administration’s constitution mandates that elected bodies and political parties, from the highest levels of the Administration to the smallest neighborhood commune, be made up of at least 40% women.

In contrast, a 2016 report from the Syrian Feminist Lobby quoted a study of 105 of the 427 local councils in opposition-held Syria at the time, which found that just 2% of their members were women. Just two women, including the Vice President, serve on the 23-member Political Committee of the Syrian National Coalition, and just 10% of the members of the Coalition’s General Body are women.

Based on this data, the Autonomous Administration would fall into the Middle East Women Leaders Index’s categorization of Ascending Representation— meaning women’s participation and leadership is high at all levels of government and across all policy areas. The report accurately classifies the Syrian government in the category of Aspiring Representation— meaning that women’s participation outside of traditional roles is still low. Despite claiming to represent a new future for the country, the Syrian opposition falls into this category as well.

Legal Status and Protections

New laws implemented by the Autonomous Administration contrast favorably with opposition laws and policies on women’s issues. In North and East Syria, the Women’s Laws address inequities in personal status that existed in Syrian law, and explicitly ban and criminalize child marriages, domestic abuse, and other forms of social inequity and gender-based violence. The region’s constitution states that “men and women are equal in the eyes of the law” and “guarantees the effective realization of equality of women and mandates public institutions to work towards the elimination of gender discrimination.”

Women who face discrimination or violence have significant institutional and social recourse. Women’s NGOs, like the Free Women’s Foundation and the Sara Organization for the Prevention of Violence Against Women, operate openly. Institutions known as “women’s houses” provide community-based mediation for domestic disputes and protection from unsafe home situations. Jinwar, an all-women’s village, is home to women who have lost their husbands in war, experienced sexual violence, and otherwise require support.

In opposition-held regions, no pretense of formal legal equality or legal protections is made. HTS, which controls much of Idlib, excludes women from political bodies and limits their basic freedoms, running gender-segregated schools,enforcing conservative dress codes, and forcing women whose husbands have been killed in the ongoing conflict to move in with a male “guardian.” These policies are enforced by ISIS-like morality police. Activists and civil society organizations that resist them face persecution, and must operate in secret; there is no legal resource for domestic violence, forced marriage, and other gender-based violence under religious law.

In opposition-held regions, no pretense of formal legal equality or legal protections is made. HTS, which controls much of Idlib, excludes women from political bodies and limits their basic freedoms…”

A recent UN report condemned the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army’s treatment of women in areas it has taken over, warning that “by targeting almost every aspect of Kurdish women’s lives…armed groups generated a palpable fear of violence and duress…[which] resulted in an undermining of women’s ability to meaningfully participate and contribute to their community.”

The report stated that these actions— like the assassination of Hevrin Khalaf, a former economy co-minister and then co-chair of the Syria Future Party targeted by Ahrar al-Sharqiya militants in October— constituted a concentrated attempt to “dismantle” the Autonomous Administration’s efforts to advance the status of women.

As the Index notes, laws and policies that regulate the lives of women and girls can either prepare them for political participation and leadership or act as obstacles to it. It is clear that the Autonomous Administration has done the former— while opposition groups have not been willing to implement such protections, and have even gone so far as to seek to force women out of public life altogether.

Why does it matter?

The Autonomous Administration provides a tried and tested blueprint for women’s political empowerment, a policy priority the opposition lacks. The gap in political and social opportunities for women between areas controlled by each faction is shocking. In areas that the SNA has captured from the SDF, like Afrin, Ras al-Ain, and Tel Abyad, the deterioration of women’s rights and basic personal safety is notable.

However, this dynamic has not factored into discussions on the country’s future, or determination of which factions deserve political and diplomatic support. Opposition groups that marginalize women have not faced any consequences for their actions— and the Autonomous Administration’s empowerment of women has not been discussed as a model for the rest of the country or a project that deserves support. Greater understanding of the fundamental differences on this issue, and the unique advances the Autonomous Administration has made, is essential for ensuring that women can play the role they deserve in all aspects of Syria’s future.

Kongra Star hosted a significant festival of art and cultural expression in the city of Qamishlo to Mark the occasion of International Women’s Day. Thousands of women participated in the event in traditional regional clothing. The event was intended to express solidarity with all women of the world.

Two conferences were held in Hasakah and in Darbasiya on violence against women. Presentations at the conferences focused on political violence against women, which prevents women from entering public life, participating in public affairs, and seeking political office. These events were hosted by the Women’s Councils of the two cities and were attended by officials of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) as well as advocates and intellectuals.

Syrian women make their own history, said Amina Omar, co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council. Omar said that history was not fair to the struggle of Syrian women, starting with the Ottoman occupation and ending with the Ba’ath Party’s rule. She called on all women to join hands and write the history of women’s struggles, continuing through to today’s revolution in North and East Syria, which is on the vanguard of women’s liberation movement.

There was a commemoration of International Women’s Day in Jinwar, the all-women’s village built by and for women. The mother of Hevrin Khalaf, a Kurdish woman politician who was murdered by Turkish-backed militia members as part of the October 2019 Turkish military invasion into North and East Syria, was present at the event and shared a few words of resistance with the attendees. Khalaf has become a symbol of martyrdom for women in the region. 

A festival in Ramelan took place in order to celebrate women and especially the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) of the Syrian Democratic Forces for International Women’s Day. Tribute was paid to the YPJ soldiers, and the soldiers participated in music and dance.

A conference was hosted by the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria to commemorate International Women’s Day. A variety of views were aired on the current state of the women’s movement and what can be done to further empower women.

The AANES officially congratulated all women workers of the region, offering flowers to women to congratulate them for their efforts. 

After months of negotiations with the U.S. on joint implementation of a “safe zone” in Northeast Syria, on 9 October key NATO member Turkey commenced unilateral incursions into the area. Its so-called “Peace Spring” operation began with the Turkish army conducting intense airstrikes and cross-border shelling on strategic military and civilian targets. This was then followed by the withdrawal of U.S. troops as Turkey’s Syrian partner factions pushed across the international border. They did so to wrest control of border-lying territories from the Syrian Democratic Forces (S.D.F) – a Kurdish-led, multi-ethnic ally of the U.S. in Syria since 2015. Turkey and its allies accuse the S.D.F of complicity in the severe destruction caused by the US’s campaign to remove the Islamic State extremists from Raqqa city.

The Turkish military and Syrian groups it has trained, equipped and coordinated – the latter operating under the umbrella of the Syrian opposition’s “National Army” – are reported to have committed a series of human rights violations since the operation began. Ranging from summary executions, unlawful attacks, impeding humanitarian access and looting, a recent Amnesty International report considers both Turkish forces and their partners to have “displayed a shameful disregard for civilian life,” finding “damning evidence of war crimes.”

Familiar violations reinforce evidence of Turkish-backed demographic change

These violations, however, should come as no surprise given the existing evidence base for similar crimes committed by the same, or related, actors in Syria’s northwestern region of Afrin. Over more than a year and a half, I have researched the widespread rights violations committed against locals in this Kurdish-majority region following the January 2018 launch of Operation Olive Branch there, another military campaign by the Turkish Armed Forces and their Syrian allies. In a study published by Germany’s Friedrich Ebert Stiftung on housing, land and property, all of my interviewees from Afrin claimed to have experienced violations at the hands of National Army factions. Amid fear of arbitrary persecution, one source stated: ‘it feels like the factions are competing for who can act the worst.’

With striking frequency during the last month, I have received reports about many of the same violations being reproduced in territories of Northeast Syria that have come under the control of Turkish-backed National Army factions. Indeed, Ahrar al-Sharqiya, a group infamous for committing violations in Afrin has already been accused of killing the prominent Kurdish politician and women’s rights activist, Hevrin Khalaf, in Northeast Syria. As inhabitants there fear an “Afrin scenario” playing out, surprisingly little has been made of these parallels within the extensive international commentary on recent events. Recognising similar patterns of violations committed in different regions of Northern Syria reinforces evidence that Turkey is advancing a strategy of demographic change.

Turkey has long considered the Syrian Kurds’ autonomous governance project on the other side of its border as a national security threat and intervened to counter what it calls an emerging ‘terror corridor.’ However, the intervention of Turkey as an external state actor with a history of forced displacement against its own Kurdish population, introduces a distinctly ethnic dimension to the analysis of these developments.

Eliminating services and instilling fear to precipitate displacement

Prior to the launch of the respective Peace Spring and Olive Branch operations, both Northeast Syria and Afrin had been administered by Kurdish-led actors since 2012. These areas had been largely spared the severe destruction seen elsewhere in the country and their stability had attracted displaced Syrians in large numbers. Just as from Afrin, the recent Turkish-backed incursions have expelled hundreds of thousands of locals in Northeast Syria.

Within their operations, the Turkish military and allies have targeted public service installations, including medical facilities in both Afrin and Northeast Syria’s Serê Kaniyê/Ras al-Ayn town. The recent Turkish targeting of Allouk water station in Northeast Syria, cutting drinking water access for some 400,000 people, is reminiscent of similar actions in Afrin that also maximised displacement. The chaotic ‘rule of the jungle’ that characterised post-Olive Branch Afrin has been replicated in Northeast Syria with instances of kidnap for ransom, arbitrary killing and intimidation.

Another consistent practice is combatants from the National Army documenting themselves while committing gruesome war crimes. The notorious video of National Army members standing over the mutilated corpse of Kurdish female fighter Barin Kobani quickly became emblematic of the savagery associated with Operation Olive Branch in Afrin. From mid-October, videos of National Army factions executing captives from Northeast Syria circulated widely on social media. The reproduction of these scenes, as well as reports of white phosphorous as a novel weapon in the Turkish arsenal, served to spread fear among the local population, inducing further civilian flight.

Occupation and relocation

Such actions effectively emptied homes of their original owners, and paved the way for Turkish-facilitated relocation to Afrin of opposition-linked fighters and their families. Amnesty International has described Turkey giving ‘free rein’ and ‘turning a blind eye’ to its Syrian partners’ violations, with locals strongly perceiving this as a reward for their participation in the operation. With Arab and Turkmen IDPs now representing the majority in some almost exclusively Kurdish locations of Afrin, there is clear evidence of violations coinciding with demographic engineering.

Worryingly, the initial signs of this process have already begun in areas of Northeast Syria under Operation Peace Spring. In Tell Abiad town, for instance, competing armed factions stake their claims to houses on an ad hoc basis by simply spray-painting their names and word “reserved” on buildings. There have also been documented reports of property looting in both Serê Kaniyê and Tell Abiad.

Hopes that the U.S. would exercise leverage following years of military presence in Northeast Syria to place conditions upon Turkey’s intervention appear tragically misplaced. Instead, with Turkish President Erdogan making increasingly explicit references about plans to relocate the Kurds from Northeast Syria, alongside reports of Turkey forcibly returning Syrian refugees, the fate of Afrin looks set to repeat.

Havrin Khalaf, or Hevrîn Xelef, was born in 1984 in Dêrik city of northern Syria. She grew up as a child in a socially and politically engaged family. Four of her brothers and Havrin’s sister Zozan joined the liberation struggle and fell in the ranks of the Kurdish freedom movement.

Her mother Sûad participated in many popular assemblies of Abdullah Öcalan. What she learned here also had a great influence on the education and personality development of Havrin. After completing her education in Dêrik, Havrin studied agronomy in Aleppo. After completing her studies, she returned to Dêrik. With the beginning of the revolution in Rojava, Havrin participated in the struggle for freedom and in the work of the youth movement. A short time later, she began organizing civil society development activities and took on senior roles in the Qamishlo Economic Council. With the proclamation of the Democratic Autonomous Administration, she took over responsibility as deputy co-chairperson in the Energy Committee of the Democratic Self-Government in the Canton of Cizîre. In 2015, she played an important role in improving and strengthening the energy supply and economic work in the canton of Cizîre.

Her work paid particular attention to the economic needs of women and the development of women’s economics. In 2018, Havrin participated in the process of setting up and founding the Syrian Future Party with the aim of advocating for the interests of all Syrian population groups and a democratic renewal of Syria. At the founding of the Syrian Future Party on March 27, 2018 in Raqqa she was selflessly committed to the task of Secretary General. Speaking on the occasion of the 8th anniversary of the popular uprising in Syria, Havrin expressed her conviction that the political crisis in Syria cannot be resolved by war. She said, “Eight years have passed. The popular uprisings against the crisis and the struggle of the peoples of Syria have been widely sacrificed and turned into a war. The ongoing crisis in Syria, which is the reason for the displacement and murder of the population, cannot be settled without a political solution.”

In each of her speeches, Havrin emphasized the importance of dialogue among the various Syrian political forces and communities. She insisted that the peoples should determine their own future and shape their own political and social life together. Through her political struggle, Havrin called on all circles of society and political actors to participate in a democratic solution to the crisis in Syria.

With the beginning of the Turkish occupation war against the territories of the Democratic Autonomous Administration in northern and eastern Syria on October 9, 2019, Havrin resolutely continued her political struggle. In an ambush by members of a jihadist killer gang allied with Turkey, she was executed.

Havrin Khalaf has played an unforgettable role in the women’s revolution of Rojava and the community of peoples with her life and work. To commemorate her is to defend more resolutely than ever the women’s revolution in northern and eastern Syria and to continue her sparks in all the countries of the Middle East and the world.

The obituary for Havrin Khalaf was originally published on the website of the Women Defend Rojava campaign by the Kurdish women’s movement Kongreya Star.

Under the slogan “Women Are the Base of Healthy Economy, Economy Means Women’s Effectiveness in the Society”, the 1^st conference of Women’s Economy in North Syria events have been launched.

The conference is being held in Dijla Center For Culture and Art in Dêrik city, 150 delegates from Cizîre, Kobanî cantons and Manbij and Girê Sipî (Tel Abyad) cities, in addition, representatives from all north Syria are participating in the conference.

The hall was ornamented with Kurdish leader photos and freedom martyrs and slogans like, “Women’s Economy Protects Society and Environment”, and “Economy Is Women, Women are the Source of Life”.

The Co-Governor of the Cizîre canton, Haifa Arabo, the Democratic Autonomous Administration delegation, including DAA chancellor Mizgin Ahmad, Amina Omar head of the Women’s Body, Shamiran Koria, deputy of the Executive Council’s head, Co-Chair of the Economy Body Hevrin Khalaf and Ramziyah Muhamad, the Co-Chair of the Monetary Body and the spokesperson of Kongra Star Avin Swed have participated in the conference.

After holding a minute of silence, a divan was formed consisting of five members, then the opening words were delivered by the Co-Chair of Economy Body, Hevrin Khalaf.

The conference is supposed to continue over two days, many speeches will be delivered by the participants, in addition to reading the economic policy draft and discussing it, many other issues related to women economy will be discussed too.