Raqqa is a very ancient city, with an Arab majority where Kurds and Assyrians have always coexisted, with a desert climate but tinged by the intense blue of the Euphrates River and the green vegetation of its banks. When we visited in 2018, 90% of the city had been destroyed due to the war. I remembered very well the square from which the YPJ Command had announced the end of the Battle of Raqqa and its liberation. That square had been used by Daesh to spread its message of terror, placing decapitated heads around it, and people caged in its center. The same square that had been a symbol of the deepest brutality of our century for four years, now became a symbol of liberation and hope.

The second time I visited Raqqa was a few months ago. Seven years later, the city seemed different. From its ruins, Raqqa had risen again. The life, noise and color bore no resemblance to the silence, mistrust and sadness that permeated the first time. Raqqa had awakened from a nightmare that had been too long, and which was not easy to forget. With great effort and determination, the former Daesh capital had become the administrative capital of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria, led by women, and with representation from all ethnic and religious communities. We had the opportunity to visit the Zenobia center, the women’s movement of the Arab regions, or liberated regions, as they called them. Arab women, like Kurdish women, were leading the transformation process of their society, carrying out awareness and sensitization work, and training and organizing other women. The center was adorned with small and numerous flags of Abdullah Öcalan, leader and founder of the democratic nation paradigm on which the Rojava Revolution is based; a paradigm within which the Arab women of Raqqa had found the possibility to exist. Images of Arab and Kurdish women who had been martyred by attacks from Turkey or jihadist groups could be seen in the room where they received us. Those women, who had lived under Daesh’s yoke and continued to rebel against the classic and traditional roles their community expected of them, were happy, strong and determined to continue insisting on freedom and dignity.

In recent days, with the attacks carried out by the groups of the Transitional Government of Damascus and Turkey in the region, and with Raqqa once again under HTS control, a new way of naming Daesh’s Salafist ideology, with all the images and information arriving from there about the return of the nightmare they were trying to forget since 2017, I constantly ask myself: What has become of them?

What is being attacked today, in addition to a people and a land, is a way and culture of life, dignity itself and the beauty of coexistence. But if Rojava and Raqqa have demonstrated anything in these years, it is that once women open their eyes, there is nothing that can close them again; once women have decided to live in freedom, they will always find a way to get there; there is nothing that can stop the strength and will of women.

I wanted to take advantage of this short article to share part of the interview conducted in 2019 with Cihan Sheik Ahmed, YPJ Commander and spokesperson of the Battle of Raqqa, published in the book Woman Life Freedom: In the Fire of the Women’s Revolution in Rojava. Cihan is a Kurd from Raqqa:

“For me it was a great experience to coordinate the war as spokesperson. I wrote my name in history representing the YPJ. I’m really happy. When the jihadists entered Raqqa I was there. It was like a wound. I was wounded in Raqqa. We had to leave. But in my head there was always the dream of returning to Raqqa, of liberating Raqqa. When the Raqqa front started it was natural that I participated. Because I know both the territory and the people. The people of Raqqa called us; they knew the Syrian Democratic Forces and the pain they suffered with Daesh had reached the highest level. Therefore, our start of the front was on one side for the people and on the other side revenge for the Yazidi women. Raqqa was a peaceful city. There are Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians… Our neighbors were from everywhere; Muslims, Christians. There were no differences among us. That city that is always beautiful in your imagination is now a place where women are sold, are raped. My family lived for a year in Raqqa under Daesh. The pain of the family and the people was the main reason to go liberate the city, along with the call of the people.

In Raqqa the reality was that there were women both in coordination, in combat and on the most advanced fronts. Our comrades also fought, I’m not saying they didn’t. But, to this day, all the wars in the world and in history were always carried out with the man’s mentality, and the war that men make is very different from the war that women make. The war that men make brings with it more destruction. It brings power. But the war that women make brings life with it. I was in Raqqa as spokesperson. Maybe at first they didn’t know us in the ideological sense, because we went directly to the front, but people saw in the women, in their struggle and in their sacrifice, the revolution of what we now call the revolution of northern and eastern Syria. We say that our revolution is for all of Syria, although previously the people of Manbij, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, were far from us. They didn’t like us much. On the front, women, men, girls or elderly women, when we moved them to security zones, saw our strength, that is, they saw life.

In the women of our Arab population, something very strange happened, because our Kurdish and Arab cultures are different from each other. In addition, we as Kurdish society have a heritage, we know the movement, and there is a sensitivity. Therefore, for years, we have always developed our search for freedom. This has always been in the Kurdish people. But in our Arab society, especially in women, it had not occurred. They learned about it after the liberation of these cities. At first, when young Arab women came to join us, they said, “give us weapons so we can take revenge on Daesh”. They had killed their father, or their mother, or their brother, they had cut their necks. They wanted revenge, because the pain that women have suffered with Daesh is really a very great pain. But after they arrived and joined us, the first need was for them to know themselves, to know their personality, to know their history and their existence, so they could make their decisions. That’s why we said, “our revenge is everything we can know about ourselves as women”. Our revenge is not just military. Why do I say this? YPJ doesn’t just go to war and fight against enemies. First of all, it aims to end this mentality of power that has been established in society for thousands of years; to break with the mentality of domination and build again women’s own will. When Arab women understood this reality they became stronger, in the sense of thought and confidence; it has been made known to the world that women, if they triumph mentally, are liberated. Until women are not mentally free, they cannot take up arms and fight. Daesh represents the highest level of the mentality of domination, a mentality that wants to eliminate us. If we are not united, if we do not carry out a strong struggle, if we do not make our organization bigger, we will always encounter this mentality. Daesh tomorrow will be called something else. It won’t be long before we finish with Daesh, but its mentality is still there. That’s why our struggle doesn’t end with the end of Daesh. Our struggle will end with the elimination of the dominant mentality. When we really build a free society with the color of women; then we can say that we have reached the result we want.

It was a very great triumph. On one side we fought, but on the other side we also made our organization bigger. We would take a town and all the youth would join us. They received training and participated on the front. Tribal leaders met with us, they helped us a lot, and the people were on our side. If in a war where the people are on your side, you will win; this is a reality. People said, “we are relaxed when we see that in front of a team there are women, we know that town will be liberated, that neighborhood will be liberated”. In Raqqa they said “Kurdish women”, but really they were YPJ women. For us it was a very great experience. The psychology of the people of Raqqa was different, because of Daesh’s violence. When you liberated these people, when you looked them in the eyes, you saw that the value of life, the hope for life, had died. For this reason, our Raqqa front was not only military but also social, it was a humanitarian front. How do you bring a person back to life? You listen to the children that Daesh has trained, and you know that these children have lost their childhood. War, murder, beheading, cutting off hands. When you hug them and they smile, something new is created inside them, you feel that they desire life. In Raqqa, when we arrived, people told us, “are you real?”. It was like a dream. Once, a woman approached me, kissed me and said, “this is enough for me, you are a woman who has come to liberate us”. A woman who comes to free women; a woman who comes to save women. Another woman said, “I look at you and I feel happy, I see myself in you”. True, we liberated Raqqa, we liberated Manbij, now (2019) we are liberating Deir ez-Zor, but these people have a great need for psychological help. Building a city again is not a problem, but building a person again, this is the most important thing. If we look at history, we see that all the wars that have occurred have been for power, for domination, but women fight for their existence, for freedom.”

Zenobia Women’s Gathering was founded in 2021 and is a women’s movement in Raqqa, Tabqa, Manbij, Deir ez-Zor and other areas that were liberated from ISIS.

After the liberation, women’s centres were built up and started their work to solve all social problems that are imprisoning women, such as domestic violence, underage marriage, polygamy, murder, divorce and [lack of] inheritance. The years of ISIS occupation left deep scars in the mentality of society, however even before then women were fighting against the patriarchal mentality. There are thousands of women part of Zenobia, working towards a a free and dignified life.

The organisation is named after the Warrior Queen of the Palmyra Empire. As a spokesperson of Zenobia women’s gathering said: She is a “model for Syrian women who are able to achieve the impossible and lead their society towards progress and prosperity.”

Arab, Circassian, Turkmen and Kurdish women organized together and built unity through their struggle against the mentality of male domination. Zenobia is a coming together of women, helping women gain the strength and self knowledge to become leaders in their society.

They ran academies for women to become strong, economic projects to help women become economically independent, awareness campaigns, health committees, women’s houses and more.

The occupation of the Syrian Transitional Government of Raqqa, Tabqa and the other areas that were liberated from ISIS, is not merely an administrative change, it is a violent attempt to force women back from taking roles within society. It is an attack on the gains women have made.

The statement made by Zenobia in Dec 2025 against the attacks happening to minorities within Syria, they stated that Syria “will not be built by force or exclusion, but through dialogue, justice, and respect for the will of its people, and that women will remain the voice of wisdom and guardians of the country’s unity and peace.”This was true then and it is true more than ever now!

Now, since the taking over of Raqqa and Tabqa by a jihadist government we are unclear of the future of Zenobia, but what we know it that Arab, Kurdish, Assyrian and all the women of the world will continue to work together, for a free and meaningful life.

Some months ago we had the opportunity to meet and talk with the friends of the “Zenobia Women’s Gathering”. We talked about their struggles, how women become strong and the meaning of organizing as women in unity in women’s communes. We want the voices of the women of Zenobia to continually be part in our common struggle, especially as they are being silenced right now. We want their will and struggles to be known and heard, as there values and goals are being heavily attacked. We stand with the women, that are being murdered and attacked right now, and by making their words known, we want to articulate that our common struggle continues, as long as all women in the world are not stopped anymore from growing and can overcome the walls that condemns them from living their truth. Zenobia was founded in 2021 and named after the warrior queen of the Palmyra Empire, Zenobia. In Manbij, Tabqa, Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa women’s centers were built up and started their work to solve all social problems that are imprisoning women, such as domestic violence, underage marriage, polygamy, murder, divorce and inheritance. Arab, Circassian, Turkmen and Kurdish women organized together and built unity through their struggle against the mentality of male domination. The years of ISIS occupation left deep traces in the geography of this land, and in the mentality of society. Facing them as women means that the struggle for freedom includes many battles. In order to oppose the rules and traditions, the first step is to strengthen one’s will and to get to know oneself, which brings the taste freedom to women.

Interview taken on the 20th November 2025 in Raqqa. It is a translated version from Arabic into English.

What are you working for in Zenobia?

Noora: We are working here in Zenobia to improve [the situation of] women and to empower women in all the fields of life – in politics, economics – in every way. We are working to break the barriers inside, for every woman to know her truth and to make sure that she can be strong to take her gains. These days women are suffering from old traditions. From a lot of things. First of all, the violence, like sexual and physical. Also, women are forced to adopt thoughts that they don’t want, but that she must adopt these thoughts, because the men authority is forcing her to. Here, it is our job: to make every woman stronger, to be successful, stronger, so that she can have a better life than before. That’s it.

In what ways can women become stronger?

Noora: There are many ways. First of all, we visit women in their homes and give lectures to raise their consciousness about what they want and the rights they have. Every women needs to ask for her rights. You have the right to live. You have the right to learn. You have the right to do a lot of things. But in the right way. So we are making women conscious, so they know what they want for the future and so they can break the barriers inside their own hearts. You know, many women are afraid to ask for their rights because of the society. So, we are making them stronger. So, they can ask for their rights.

Leila: I want to add some more things we do to make women more conscious. First of all, the visits.We [also] have a project for giving lectures in Academies. We have Academies for women with a lot of programs. Some of them are closed. Closed means women come to the academy and stay there for one or two month, but without going home. And some of the programs are opened. That means that the program begins at 9.00 in the morning and goes until 3.00 in the afternoon. We do this because many women can’t [join the closed programs], because of their families and circumstances. Many families would never let their daughters go and sleep outside of their home. We want all women to be able to come to the Academy and take part in the lectures, to get to know themselves more, to be empowered and strengthened and to improve their social life and to improve their strength. All of this, from the academies and the lectures.

Can you tell about the changes in the women’s personality from the beginning to the end of the academies?

Noora: When coming to the Academy many women have a lot of difficulties. As we said before – the society, her brother, her father, men authority makes life hard for them. Women can not study, can not learn – but when they come to the academies, it is like entering a new world. She becomes stronger and it is like a shining on the women’s life, as she was living in darkness all of these years. In the academies, we support the women to get to know herself, her real self. That means they discover things in themselves they didn’t know they had, like abilities, preferences, hobbies. After the academy the women are more talented, more strong, more powerful and more confident in themselves. […] We keep supporting the women even after the academy. Because a lot of women are not confident in themselves, they cannot face the oppression on them. But when they are more strong [this changes]. And it’s a great thing that, these days, we find a lot of women going through the academies, they become teachers, they become leaders, like our friends here, we became leaders. [for the works of Zenobia.] So it’s like this for now, but we want to be able to make and give more. Not only for women here, but in all of Syria and all over the world.

How do the women come together and support each other in becoming stronger in your academies?

Noora: It’s about the spirit of friendship. All the women, when they come together as different personalities and from different environments, they become friends. They gain from each other with the touch between them. Even the teachers interact with each other as friends. As friends we do everything together and support each other in every way. It’s also possible to gain from each other’s personalities, like someone is very quiet and someone else very hard and often angry. By time, this angry person becomes more calm and the quiet person becomes more confident. They gain from each other. At the end of the academies the women cry when they separate from each other. They found each other in a group among friends, like families. They keep in touch with each other because they feel that they have a family, that they have support. They have someone that makes them more strong and more powerful. That’s it, the friendship spirit is the most important.

To continue this spirit of friendship: The system of self-governing in North-/East Syria is based on communes, as the smallest entities for society. When you hear the words “women’s commune”, what comes to your minds first?

Asma: Our system of communes has two parts: a general one and an autonomous one, for women only. The communes connect all the councils and committees. As women, we are the only ones that can understand other women. That’s why [it is important] to have autonomous communes for women only. The job [of the women’s commune] becomes protecting women. That means to know every woman in the neighborhood and ask for her circumstances, to know if she is under violence or anything that is hurting her. And to let her know that she can give her voice to the commune and councils and be heard. We have autonomous self-defense committees and health communes. [These topics are also connected:] Self defense is to protect women’s health. We are working on this project these days. We hope in the future [this system of communes] will be more in all of our community. We hope that even in all of Syria, there will be communes for women, specifically for women, to improve women’s life all around Syria. Because women in Syria are under a lot of violence, a lot of exclusion from politics in every way. They are excluding women from politics, from working, from economics, from everything. Women do not take part and are suffering. We hope that we can reach all those women and support them by building communes. We hope by the beginning of the year, in 2026, to start a [phase of strengthening and empowering the communes]. It will need some time, but we are working on it. Communes for women are so important. […] A lot of women are living in villages. The job of the women’s commune is to also reach those women.

What are the biggest challenges with building up these women’s communes?

Leila: The biggest challenge is the traditional culture of this area and above this, after ISIS came – it’s mentality, which is spread among men. Men can’t accept that women form a commune or can become powerful. Or that women can do a man’s job – it’s not accepted for them. So it’s hard, we need to change men’s minds, to convince them that women can be in these positions of power. This is the biggest challenge and we can’t say it’s easy. But we can [change], always. Even after ISIS and all of this mentality – and it’s such a hard mentality – we can [change]. We are working hard for this. We hope that we can change. Also the women’s mind are touched by this. These thoughts of ISIS are so horrible, so we hope to change.

How do women overcome/address the mentality built up by ISIS?

Leila: It’s one of the biggest challenges. But as we said before, about the difference in women before and after an academy. When women are more powerful and more confident with their thoughts and themselves, they will not fear anything, even not the mentality of ISIS. Most of them [the women after the Zenobia academies] are now in positions of power, in institutes, on committees, positions of power, powerful positions and political positions. They start as a communal person, as women in the communes. And they can get women, they will get any woman, because they are not fearing anymore. Her thoughts change. This fear is always and was always inside the woman, not outside of her. You know, women are the enemy of themselves, because they don’t know what they want and don’t know their rights. Or if she got rights, or if she can do anything. She didn’t know all of this. She was like, living in the darkness for all of these years. [After the academies] she knows now that she’s powerful. She knows her rights, she know her gains, and she can protect even her gains. She got [this] from knowledge, from strength. She can protect herself and her gains. That’s what she does now. And then she tries to spread throughout all of the women to try to make more women like her. After becoming knowledgeable and strong, a woman begins to compare between her life and the mentality of ISIS. They will find the difference and reflect how she can actually live when there are rights. That brings woman to take a decision, to be strong and support more women to get rid of these thoughts and mentalities of ISIS that still live on. That’s why we as Zenobia even work with the women in ISIS camps to change women’s mentalities, to help them to get to know themselves and to compare their lives before and now. What the mentality of ISIS gives to women and how democratic thoughts give them their rights, their gains. In the mentality of ISIS, women don’t have a personality and are nothing for real. This mentality, becomes real when it is implemented. To change this is a difficult task. […] You can’t wait for someone to set you free. You must set yourself free.

What role are women playing in building up Raqqa today?

Leila: These days more and more women here in Raqqa work in a lot of positions. Women are building up Raqqa again – cleaning up Raqqa from what happened, after ISIS. One of our mayors, Leyla Mustefa, was the representative of the council of Raqqa. She was one of the nine mayors in the world – cleaning up Raqqa from what happened, after ISIS. You know the destroyed buildings and all of this. In every institute there is an office for women now, especially for women, to protect them within work. Women here are the biggest part that helps to build Raqqa, so it becomes more beautiful every day. These days, Raqqa became such a beautiful city. It wasn’t like this before because, you know, it was 90% destroyed. That’s the role of woman. Women worked a lot here. More than men. They worked a lot. That’s what they do here.

You talked about the women in the villages. How do you see the relationship between women and nature?

Leila: There’s something common between women and nature. Women were working on the fields, we’re daughters of nature. Women are making everything for themselves. You know, there were always more women working on the fields than men. So that’s why nature is so mixed with the women’s mentality. […] Women’s roots are between fields and trees. Every woman has roots like a tree, and they are strong roots. But we hope they become stronger and stronger with time. Women who live in the villages are stronger. That’s why you find a lot of differences between women in villages and women in cities, because of their relationship with nature. It makes them stronger. You see their bodies, their hair, their skin. Everything is different. Even their minds are. So they have strong personalities because of the nature and clean air. They don’t eat something like food in cans. Her mind is cleaner because of the nature, because of the clean air. In the cities we all are living a fast life, everything is fast. They are on the fields with the calves and everything – they do everything that men do, not like in the city. Here, the authority of men is stronger, you know, because they think women can’t be powerful. They think women are not strong. If they want a lawyer, they don’t want a woman as a lawyer. They want a man. She can’t defend me because she’s a woman… But, you know, a lot of successful lawyers were women.

Earlier you spoke about self-defense. What does this involve? I mean, I guess I would say I can’t defend myself just by myself, I need a commune. I myself am also on a big search, because I realized I’ve had very little self-defense throughout my life. This is one reason why I wanted to come to this revolution here in Syria.

Leila: For self-defense, first of all, women must know their rights. You as a woman, you should know your rights and break the barriers inside your heart. Do not be afraid. Don’t be afraid to know. Women are afraid to ask for their rights and this fear kills their voice. We need to set them free from the barriers inside of themselves. These are not walls within the society or like walls in a room. It’s inside the woman. So we need to help women to break the barriers inside of her heart, to know how to get out of there. Then, she must refuse to be under violence, to say no. Women think that they can’t say no. The first thing is, you can say no. Maybe it’s not easy always, but it’s easy when you know that you have to be strong and you know what you want. So first of all, you can say no. You can say no. Then we said, do not be afraid. In our academies there are lessons about self-defense. It’s necessary to learn both physically and mentally, because some of the violence is not by hands, but by words or thoughts. Forcing your own thoughts on someone is violence. Forcing a woman to stay at home, to not leave the house – it’s violence. Then there is also sexual violence. So as I said, at first you have to decide to say no, to not accept this anymore.

Earlier, you said that it’s, not just important to support women here, but in the whole of Syria and the whole world. Why is it important for you to support a woman on the other side of the world?

Asma: Well, because they are also women. We are women for each other. If she is in Darfur, in Africa, in Pakistan. You know, also in Pakistan, women are being sold. They are selling girls underage, to be a slave, to make a woman from her childhood as a slave. In Iran women are also suffering from Islamic thoughts. We are not looking from only our point-of-view in Rojava or Syria. We are looking for all woman in the world. Everywhere women are suffering, even in Europe. As a women’s gathering, we can be the biggest gathering in the world by joining all of the women in all of the world. And we are seeking that. Here, there are women in the military, as warriors. And, you know, women can be warriors all around the world. Women should not just be slaves for the authorities.

I also have a question regarding the women’s communality: How do you manage to bring women from different religions, ethnicity and cultures together?

Leila and Noora: You asked how the relationships are, how we gather all the women – Assyrian, Syriac, Arabic. They are all gathering because of the mentality. We, as women, all have the same goal. We are as women. We are not looking at you as, “you are Kurdish” or Arabic or whatever. […] Its the spirit of friendship, as I said before. We are working as a team, not as individuals, because we have the same goals, the same mentality. That’s what brings us together. It’s easy to understand each other, because we share a mentality. Also between us and you, we have the same goals, the same thoughts about women. We all want to struggle for women, that’s why. We don’t deal with it like, you know… We deal with you as a woman first and a human second. You are a woman and human. We don’t look for your race or your religion, or anything else. The point where we’re all together is that we are all women and want to struggle for women. You are from Britain, from Germany, and we come together as women for women.

Can the unity between women help to overcome separations in the whole of society like this?

Asma: That’s true, that’s true. We did not have a lot of separations before ISIS came and brought its mentality. I always drink my coffee in the morning with my neighbor. I don’t think about the fact that she’s Kurdish and I am Arabic. She comes to my home, I visit her, and we go out together. Before ISIS, kids were playing together, it was a normal life. ISIS raised these thoughts on people’s minds: “This is not Muslim. This is Muslim. This is Kurdish. This is Arabic.” Before ISIS there were not those thoughts. And now, with the Autonomous-Administration – we exclude all of these thoughts. We destroy all of these mentalities. We are all here, we are all humans, we have the same rights, we are all equal. You have rights as a human, first of all. Then as a woman, you have the right to be strong, the right to learn, the right to work, the right to say no and to say your opinion. They think that we are washing [women’s] hands, their minds somehow. It’s the opposite. They are washing their minds and making women think that her place is only in the kitchen. You can’t do all of this. That’s it. That’s a challenge for all the woman’s not only in Syria, but all over the world.

Islamic State had taken over the city in 2014 without a fight from allied Islamist groups, led by the Al-Nusra Front. In today’s context, it was primarily the founder of the Al-Nusra Front, Al-Jolani (or Al-Sharaa), who, with the support of Al-Qaeda, made the invasion of the Islamic State possible. Today, Al-Jolani is the self-proclaimed transitional president of Syria.

During a conversation over dinner in one of the high-rise buildings in the center of Raqqa, surrounded by Arab and Kurdish revolutionaries, Aziz tells me in the dim light of a flashlight how he woke up in his parents’ house on the morning of January 13, 2014, and suddenly saw the black flag of ISIS flying over the city. For him and many others, a nightmare came true, involving every form of brutality from prohibitions, arrests, torture, and murder to rape and enslavement of women.

After taking the city, Islamic State destroyed the city’s Shiite mosques. Many of the city’s Christian churches were also destroyed, and the Armenian Catholic Church was even converted into an Islamist recruitment center. Before the Syrian civil war, Christians made up just under 10% of the city’s population. The population was now at the mercy of ISIS’s brutality: public executions, extortion, and forced recruitment were the order of the day. Raqqa became the capital of the IS caliphate. Many of the attacks in Paris, Nice, Brussels, Manchester, and elsewhere were financed, planned, and organized from here.

Aziz had to go into hiding and only escaped by chance. After a night in which contacts from the SDF smuggled him out of the city, a commando unit from the ISIS secret service stood at the door of his parents’ house to arrest him. To this day, Aziz has dedicated himself to the struggle for a free and democratic Middle East and fights side by side with Kurdish comrades in northern and eastern Syria. He told us with pride how important it is for him to overcome the old divisions between Arabs and Kurds, which were created by nationalism and the Baath regime’s aggressive Arabization and anti-Kurdish policies.

On June 6, 2017, the operation to liberate Raqqa began. A multi-ethnic army, led by the SDF and involving many young people from Raqqa and the surrounding region, liberated the city after months of fighting, which military experts later described as the most intense urban combat since World War II. By the time Raqqa was liberated on October 20, 2017, hundreds of the region’s most valuable daughters and sons, Arabs, Kurds, and Armenians, had become martyrs side by side. It is also their sacrifice that laid the foundation for coexistence as what Rêber APO calls the Democratic Nation:

“While the nation-state is a form of power organization, the democratic nation represents a model of societal governance. The nation-state relies on the engineering of a uniform, homogeneous society, whereas the democratic nation is rooted in the heterogeneous nature of a multi-identity, multicultural society. The nation-state instrumentalizes identities for power, fostering conflict and pitting them against one another. In contrast, the democratic nation is grounded in the democratic relationships and solidarity among diverse identities and cultures, freeing identities from being tools of power. In summary, while the nation-state is power-centric, the democratic nation is based on the solidarity and self-governance of communities.“
Abdullah Öcalan (Manifesto for Peace and a Democratic Society, 2025)

It was also Rêber Apo who advised the Kurdish forces within the SDF to liberate Raqqa. Despite the foreseeable sacrifices, he was convinced that the brotherhood of Arabs and Kurds was essential for a new beginning in the Middle East, and that there was a corresponding responsibility to liberate the predominantly Arab areas from the occupation of the Islamic State.

Today, eight years later, hundreds of thousands have returned to Raqqa, and many of the institutions of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria have their headquarters in the city. While schools, hospitals, the stadium, museum, mosques, and parks reopened in the first days after liberation, the first churches have been rebuilt in recent years, and academies of democratic civil society, youth centers of the Revolutionary Youth Movement, and many other projects have been implemented. The Zenobia organization, founded in 2016, organizes women in the region to enable them to live in safety and participate in social life. It has established numerous women’s cooperatives in Raqqa, including a large bakery and a cleaning products factory, which in turn finances many projects for women. While IS almost completely excluded women from public life, women now take on important tasks in all institutions and play a leading role in democratic self-government.

Of course, not all divides have been overcome, and particularly when it comes to women’s liberation, men and tribal elders of some Arab tribes remain skeptical of the revolution. One thing is clear, however: Arab women now have a clear perspective for a free life with a strong will. They have become a natural and fundamental part of the revolution. They are taking on responsibility in self-governing institutions, fighting in the ranks of the SDF, and are a symbol for the future of women throughout Syria.

The fact that brotherhood between Kurds and Arabs is essential for the future of the region is also underlined by the letter that Rêber Apo recently sent directly to the Arab tribes of the region from the prison island of Imrali, calling for Kurdish-Arab unity:

“The friendship between our peoples has lasted for centuries. Today, with your leadership, it takes on a new political and social significance.“ Rêber Apo emphasizes what this relationship should be based on today and how important the participation of Arabs is in defending the region: ”All people should be equal and free, live together, and govern themselves. Equality and justice must be built on this foundation. Kurds and Arabs should live together. This also depends on your support for the SDF. Your support for the SDF is of great importance and significance.” Today, at least half of the SDF fighters are of Arab descent, and the predominantly Arab regions of Raqqa, Deir Ez-Zor, and Tabqa are part of the self-administration. Women in these regions, in particular, have become pioneers of the Democratic Nation. Even though sleeper cells of the Islamic State continue to pose a security risk and media campaigns by Turkey and others target the alliances between Arabs and Kurds, a few weeks ago we sat down again with revolutionary youth, Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, Basques, Portuguese, and Germans over dinner and discussed how much the Democratic Nation in North-East-Syria has already become a reality.

Some days ago, I attended the demonstration of the Young Women’s Movement in Raqqa. Kurdish and Arab women, some in military clothing, some veiled in burkas, demonstrated together. As different as their appearances were, it became clear in the young women’s shared chants: all of these women draw their strength from Rêber Apo and organize themselves according to his philosophy of “Jin Jiyan Azadî – Women Life Freedom.” This image is the result of a serious struggle.

On the day of the anniversary of Raqqa’s liberation, we bow our heads to those who lost their lives in the liberation of the city and look with awe at the achievements of the revolution. Side by side, young people from the region in particular have overcome the divisions between Arabs and Kurds, thereby changing the fate of the entire region. Today, Raqqa is liberated, but the road to the liberation of the Middle East is still long and unpredictable. However, undeniably important steps have been taken in recent years. Rêber Apo’s vision of a democratic nation has become a reality in North East Syria and shows the way to a democratic Middle East.

Internationalists who fell during the liberation of Raqqa and in battles around Raqqa:

Ryan Lock (Berxwedan Givara)
Nazzareno Tassone (Agîr Ararat)
Muzaffer Kandemir (Doğan Kırefe)
Paolo Todd (Kawa Amed)
Albert Avery Harrington (Çekdar Rojava/Neshro Hiro)
Ulaş Bayraktaroğlu (Mehmet Kurnaz)
Ayşe Deniz Karacagil (Destan Temmuz)
Hasan Ali
Robert Grodt (Demhat Goldman)
Luke Rutter (Soro Zinar)
Nicholas Warden (Rodi Deysie)
David Taylor (Zafer Qereçox)
Fermun Çırak (Nubar Ozanyan/Orhan Bakırcıyan)
Gökhan Taşyakan (Ulaş Adalı)
Frédéric Henri Georges Demonchaux (Gabar Légionnaire)
Mehmet Aksoy (Firaz Dag)
Jack Holmes (Şoreş Amanos)
Oliver Hall (Canşêr Zagros)

The Young Women’s Union has opened a Women’s Support Center in Raqqa to help young women develop their skills.

The opening ceremony was attended by members of the Zenubiya Women’s Community, the Syrian Free Women‘s Council (Raqqa Branch), the Syrian Women’s Council, and the Council of Martyrs’ Families. The ceremony began with a moment of silence in honor of the martyrs.

Leyla El Ebid, an executive member of the Young Women’s Union in the cantons of Tabqa, Raqqa, and Deir ez-Zor, said in her speech at the ceremony that the center was opened to increase the role of women and develop their role in building society. The center will also provide opportunities for women to learn a profession.

Leyla said that the center will also offer training courses for young women in professions such as sewing, health, and computer skills. After completing their training, the young women will receive a license that will enable them to work.

The center consists of departments of education, communication, culture and arts, and sports. In these departments, young women will be able to discover and develop their strengths and talents.

Following the speech, the center was inaugurated by Itab El Def, mother of martyr Xelef El Buş.

The opening ceremony ended with dances.

The Women’s House, affiliated with the Zenubiya Women’s Community in Raqqa Canton, has become a key social center for resolving family issues. In situations where legal solutions are lacking, the Women’s House serves as a place of resolution. Offering an alternative model to the courts, the Women’s House relies on social dialogue and aims to preserve family unity.

The Women’s House was established at the end of 2017. It consists of three members and one spokesperson. It operates through 17 committees in Raqqa and its countryside. Committees are active in the neighborhoods of Rimelan, Al-Diriya, Al-Mashlab, and Madina; in the southern countryside (Al-Kesrat, Al-Akirshi); in the eastern countryside (five committees); in the western countryside (Al-Khatuniya, Al-Silhebiya); and in the eastern countryside (Al-Hikumiya, Al-Hizma, Al-Asadiya). Each committee consists of two members.

Speaking to ANHA, Newal Al-Jawhar, spokesperson for the Women’s House, stated that the aim of the houses and reconciliation committees is to resolve family issues through dialogue and mutual understanding. She said, “We record the complaints, summon the parties, and initiate dialogue to find a solution that satisfies everyone.”

According to Newal, the most critical issues addressed by the Women’s House are early marriage and drug use. Therefore, they work to raise awareness among all parties about their responsibilities towards the family and children.

A resolution mechanism

Newal Al-Jawhar explained that issues are not always resolved in the first session and that, depending on the situation, a period ranging from one week to one month is granted. During this time, several meetings are held to ease tensions. “With time and support, things improve, and many people abandon decisions they made in anger,” she added.

Not only for women

Newal remarked that the center does not deal exclusively with women’s issues, and that 30 percent of the cases are brought by men who request reconciliation. The Women’s House also handles sensitive matters such as child custody, marital disputes, financial disagreements, and inheritance issues.

Figures and statistics

In the past two years, the Women’s House has received over 2,000 family cases. Around 1,500 of these were resolved peacefully, while 700 cases were referred to the courts.

Newal Al-Jawhar concluded: “Today, women turn to the Women’s House with confidence because they find solutions here that protect their dignity and their families. Our goal is to reach agreements that foster understanding and preserve family unity. Agreement is our principle, and when it is achieved, it is a success for all of us.”

During the July 19 Revolution, known as the Women’s Revolution, women from the Kurdish, Arab, Syriac, Assyrian, Armenian, Circassian, and Turkmen components in Rojava and North and East Syria rose up against the actions of the authorities based on a patriarchal and sectarian mentality.

We present to you in this file the results of women’s efforts and activities, and the achievements they accomplished during the revolution, on the occasion of March 8, International Women’s Day.

The social contract

After the announcement of the Autonomous Administration of al- Jazira Canton on January 21, 2014, Kobani on January 27, and Afrin on January 29, 2014, the Legislative Council of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria met in the city of Amuda in the same year and ratified the Rojava Social Contract, which preserves the military, political, and social rights of women. The system of co-chair was adopted as a fundamental principle in all institutions of the Autonomous Administration.

The social contract was amended on December 29, 2016, and issues of freedom, justice, equality, education, health, environmental protection, women’s freedom, and the protection of women’s and children’s rights were fundamental in this social contract, with women’s representation in these areas reaching 40 percent.

In the context of people’s rights and women’s proposals, the Democratic Autonomous Administration amended the social contract again and ratified the new social contract on December 12, 2023. According to the contract, the representation of women in the public justice system in the region was set at 50 percent.

In 2024, preparations began for a social contract specifically for women, and work on it is still ongoing.

Women’s Authority

Women’s Authority is one of the bodies affiliated with the Executive Council of the Autonomous Administration. Its work involves addressing women’s social, economic, cultural, political, and legal issues, and it operates based on social justice and the democratic family.

The Women’s Authority includes the Women’s Protection Office and the Children’s Protection Office.

At the level of al-Jazira canton, the Amara Office was opened to provide psychological support to women who are subjected to extortion and abuse. Additionally, between 2022 and 2023, 7 centers named “Ahlan Simsim” were opened to develop children’s skills.

Women’s organization

With the aim of standing against all forms of violence and social problems and liberating from prevailing systems, and based on the principle of “Organize yourself according to the ideology of women’s liberation,” the Kongra Star was established as a union before the revolution in 2005, and it continues to manage community organization now under the name Kongra Star.

Kongra Star took the initiative to establish the first women’s councils and centers and organize them in the liberated regions of North and East Syria from ISIS mercenaries (al-Tabqa, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor). In 2021, the establishment of the Zenobia Women’s Assembly was announced, with its centers located in al-Tabqa, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and Manbij before being occupied by Turkey and its mercenaries in late 2024. It is concerned with organizing women on all levels, in addition to addressing social issues such as violence, child marriage, polygamy, murder, divorce, and inheritance.

Many institutions to combat the patriarchal mentality

To combat violence against women in North and East Syria, the Sara Organization for Combating Violence Against Women was established in 2013.

The Center for Research and Protection of Women’s Rights was established in 2020 with the aim of providing legal support to women and documenting the ongoing violations against them.

The Free Women’s Foundation in Syria was also established in 2014 with the aim of developing and empowering women in the economic, cultural, social, and health sectors.

The Women’s Environmental Platform was established in Rojava in 2022 to promote environmental awareness.

Alongside these organizations, many women’s councils have been established in the region. In 2019, the Women’s Council in North and East Syria was established, and in 2017, the Syrian Women’s Council, the Women’s Council in the Democratic Union Party (PYD), and women’s councils and offices in the Future Syria Party, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), and the Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEM) were established. These are important and significant organizations in the region.

Women’s unions for the Syriac, Armenian, and Yazidi communities were also established in the region, along with the Young Women’s Union and the Women’s Media Union (YRJ), as well as several associations and civil society organizations dedicated to women.

Women’s House

In order to protect women’s rights, combat violence, prevent child marriage, address harassment and rights violations, and tackle all social issues in various cities, as well as to solve social problems according to the model of a democratic and ecological society and to liberate women, the first women’s house was opened in the city of Qamishlo on March 20, 2011, under the auspices of the Star Union (now the Kongra Star). Today, there are 39 women’s houses in North and East Syria.

Also, in the cities of Qamishlo and Hasakah in 2019, under the auspices of the Syriac Women’s Union, the Ishtarot House for Women was established with the aim of finding solutions to the problems faced by Syriac, Armenian, and Chaldean women.

Women’s Justice Council

The Women’s Justice Council was established in 2016 and operated throughout North and East Syria. Under its umbrella, the Women’s House, the Justice Bureau, the Reconciliation Committee, and the Academy were organized.

After the expansion of the liberated areas, the Women’s Social Justice Council in North and East Syria was announced at al-Jazira Conference for the Women’s Justice Council (2018).

Family law

The Women’s Law, which guarantees women’s political, economic, and social rights without relying on patriarchal or masculine mentality and achieves justice and equality, was issued on October 27, 2014, under the auspices of the Kongra Star and consists of 26 articles. However, due to the absence of specific penal laws, the penal code of the Damascus Government was adopted. The Women’s Law was completed in 2016 with the approval of the criminal and penal laws.

In 2019, at the first conference of the Women’s Council in North and East Syria, which included 62 women’s organizations and independent women, the Women’s Law was discussed as principles for women, and a decision was made to issue the Family Law.

The Family Law consists of 6 titles: marriage, divorce, effects of divorce, alimony, kinship, and family-related crimes, and it includes 41 articles. The law stipulates a prison sentence of 10 years for those who commit crimes of killing women. The Family Law was approved for the first time in 2023 in the al-Jazira region, and it protects women, children, and family members.

The security and military field

The Internal Security Forces – Women took over women’s security practically in 2012 and was officially established in 2014. It includes the Syriac Women’s Protection Units (Sutoro), the Assyrian Internal Security Forces (Natura), and women also have a place in the traffic department.

The Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) were established in 2013. Additionally, women take their place independently within the councils of Kurdish, Arab, Syriac, Assyrian, and Armenian components affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces.

In order to protect the community security-wise and prevent the proxy war being waged in the region from abroad, the Community Protection Forces for Women were established in 2016.

Golden Crescent Movement

The Hilal Zerin Movement for Women’s Culture in North and East Syria was established in 2016, and today it has 5 centers distributed across the region’s cities. Under the umbrella of the movement, the Shahida Berxwedan Studio and the Women’s Cinema operate as two institutions managing artistic works such as films, music videos, and song releases.

In 2024, the Hela Zerin Movement for Women’s Culture in North and East Syria inaugurated the Higher Institute of Arts in the city of al-Hasakah.

In 2020, the movement also opened the Martyr Noyla School of Fine Arts and established a children’s music band of the same name.

 After the liberation of Manbij in 2016, Tabqa in 2017, Raqqa in 2018 and Deir ez-Zor in 2019, the first women’s councils and centers were established in these cities under the leadership of the Kongra Star, as women organized themselves within them. So a conference was held in Raqqa cantons on June 1, 2021, in which 150 women participated, and resulted in the announcement of the Zenobia Women’s Gathering.

The name of the Zenobia Women’s Gathering came from the warrior queen of the Palmyra Empire, Zenobia, and this empire is described in historical references as “a symbol of women’s loyalty to the land and people” and was founded in the city that ISIS mercenaries tried to destroy.

Furthermore, Arab, Circassian, Turkmen and other women from other components, in the gathering centers in Manbij, Tabqa, Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa work to solve all social problems such as violence, underage marriage, polygamy, murder, divorce and inheritance, and they are waging an organized struggle to change the mentality of male dominance.

248 women work in the 4 gathering centers (Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor) and within its 11 committees (justice, training, families of martyrs, economy, press, protection, diplomacy, finance, media, health, culture and art).

Resolving more than two thousand cases

According to the gathering’s work results from January 1 to October 31 of this year, 2044 cases were resolved out of 4605 cases, while 478 cases are being followed up and 981 ones were referred to the Court of Justice.

The Gathering Council member, Gian Derik spoke to ANHA agency about the gathering’s activities.

Gian Derik pointed out that the establishment of the Zenobia Women’s Gathering came in light of women’s needs.

“Zenobia exists wherever there are women and children, our gathering plays an active role in confronting problems and society sees it as a best choice for the solution,” Gian Derik said.

She added,” We work in cooperation with the judiciary and the Internal Security Forces, and in the event that any woman is subjected to violence, we first transfer her to the hospital, and we receive a medical report of the beating, then we present the case to the Public Prosecution to begin the trial procedures.

Derik explained that the goal of the Zenobia Women’s Gathering is the  struggle against all forms of violence. She concluded her speech by saying: “To support each other, we must organize ourselves better. Women deserve freedom, and they have sacrificed in all fields. The women who fought ISIS founded Zenobia. On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, we will increase the pace of our struggle according to the philosophy (Women, Life, Freedom).

One month after the fall of the Assad regime and the takeover of the government by Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), Syria is standing at a crossroads. The fall of the Assad regime was celebrated in Syria and all over the world, but doubts remain over whether the new regime will be more progressive, with many pointing to the fact that HTS is a successor to the jihadist Al-Nusra Front, which is known for its crimes and violence against women and minorities.

The decision by the new interim government to remove Queen Zenobia’s name from the country’s national curriculum has exacerbated the concerns of many women in Syria, who feel the role and importance of women in the history of Syria will be made invisible and that the violence and oppression against them will continue.

Medya News conducted an exclusive interview with Khoud Al-Issa, spokesperson of the Zenobia Women’s Gathering, which is an independent women’s organisation working in Raqqa, Manbij (Minbîc), Tabqa (Tebqa), Deir ez-Zor (Dêrazor) and other areas liberated from ISIS in North and East Syria. The organisation is named after Queen Zenobia, the third-century ruler of the Palmyrene Empire, which Al-Issa describes as a “model for Syrian women who are able to achieve the impossible and lead their society towards progress and prosperity.”

Khoud Al-Issa highlighted that in today’s context, Zenobia’s legacy “challenges stereotypes that try to limit the role of women, and encourages women to claim their rights and actively participate in building Syria’s future.” Outlining the current situation of women in Syria, she explained that women are “greatly affected by the ongoing wars and conflicts”, as they are exposed to “physical and sexual violence, forced displacement, loss of loved ones, extreme poverty, and denial of education and healthcare,” while also caring for their families under these difficult circumstances.

The Zenobia Women’s Gathering has also faced immense challenges since the escalation of the war in Syria. Recently, three of its members—Qamar al-Sud, Aisha Abdul Qader and a woman known only as Iman were killed in Turkish-led attacks on the town of Manbij. Karam Ehmed Al-Shehab Al-Hemed was killed in a Turkish drone strike targeting a civilian car convoy en route to a demonstration at the Tishreen Dam [on 10 January, 2025]. Their martyrdom highlights the sacrifices women continue to make in the region, both for their rights and for the preservation of their legacy.

Enjoy reading the full interview, originally conducted in Arabic, translated and slightly edited by Medya News:

Can you introduce your organisation and its main activities?

We are Zenobia Women’s Gathering, an independent women’s organisation working in Raqqa, Manbij, Tabqa, Deir ez-Zor and other areas liberated from ISIS. Our main goal is to empower Syrian women in all aspects of life, whether social, economic or political. We believe that women are the foundation of society and an active element in building the future of Syria.

Our main activities include:

• Awareness and education programmes: We provide workshops and trainings on women’s rights, reproductive health, gender equality, combating gender-based violence, and other important topics.
• Psychosocial Support: We provide psychosocial support services for women affected by war and conflict, including individual and group support sessions.
• Economic Empowerment: We offer vocational training programmes and microenterprise projects to help women gain new skills and become economically self-reliant.
• Advocacy: We work to raise women’s voices and advocate for their causes in local and international forums, and seek to change discriminatory laws and practices against women.
• Cultural Activities: We organise cultural and artistic events aimed at enhancing the role of women in society and highlighting their historical and cultural contributions.

Why did you decide to name your organisation Zenobia?

We chose the name Zenobia in honour of Queen Zenobia, a symbol of strength, determination and will. Zenobia was the Queen of Palmyra, who ruled a powerful kingdom in the region. She was a strong and courageous woman who led her own armies and worked to develop her kingdom in various fields. Zenobia is a model for Syrian women who are able to achieve the impossible and lead their society towards progress and prosperity.

What historical importance does Zenobia hold for Syrian women, and what is her legacy in today’s context?

Zenobia is a great source of inspiration for Syrian women. She reminds us that Syrian women have always been able to be leaders and influencers in their society. Zenobia’s legacy represents the power of women and their ability to challenge and change, a vital legacy that we must preserve and pass on to future generations. In today’s context, Zenobia’s legacy challenges stereotypes that try to limit the role of women, and encourages women to claim their rights and actively participate in building Syria’s future.

How do you interpret the removal of Zenobia’s name from the new school curriculum?

Removing Zenobia’s name from the new curriculum is an attempt to obliterate women’s history and their role in building Syrian civilisation. This measure reflects a narrow and biased view of history and aims to marginalise and exclude women from the public sphere. We consider this measure to be a serious setback in the march of development and progress, and we will work hard to restore Zenobia’s name to the school curricula to be a source of inspiration for future generations.

In light of recent curriculum changes, how does your organisation plan to preserve the legacy of Zenobia and advocate for women’s historical contributions?

Despite the proposed curriculum changes, we will not stop working to preserve the memory of Zenobia and the role of women in history. Our plans include:

• Organising cultural events: We will hold seminars, conferences and workshops to talk about the life and achievements of Zenobia and other prominent Syrian women.
• Production of educational materials: We will develop alternative educational materials (books, films, multimedia) on the life of Zenobia and the role of women in Syrian history.
• Using media and social media: We will work to disseminate the stories of inspirational women through various media platforms to promote awareness of their role in society.
• Cooperation with other organisations: We will cooperate with other feminist and cultural organisations to unite efforts in preserving women’s memory.

How are women impacted by the ongoing wars and conflicts in Syria?

Women in Syria are greatly affected by the ongoing wars and conflicts. They are exposed to physical and sexual violence, forced displacement, loss of loved ones, extreme poverty, and denial of education and healthcare. Women face additional challenges in conflict zones, such as restrictions on movement and expression, and discrimination in accessing humanitarian aid. In addition, women bear additional burdens in caring for their families under difficult circumstances.

What message would you like to send to the international community about the challenges facing women in Syria?

Our message to the international community is to take serious and urgent steps to protect and empower women in Syria. We call on the international community to:

• Provide humanitarian support: Provide humanitarian assistance to women affected by the conflict, focusing on their specific needs.
• Combat sexual violence: Support efforts to combat sexual and gender-based violence.
• Supporting education and economic empowerment: Providing education and vocational training opportunities for women and girls.
• Political Participation: Support women’s participation in the political process and decision-making.
• Accountability and justice: Hold perpetrators of sexual violence and human rights violations accountable and provide support to victims.
• Not giving up on Syria: Continue to support the Syrian people and seek a just and inclusive political solution that guarantees the rights of all Syrians, including women.

We believe that Syrian women are capable of building a better future for Syria. We, in the Zenobia Women’s Gathering, will continue to work hard to achieve this goal.

The significance of Kobane

In the wake of the people’s uprisings against despotic regimes in North Africa and the Middle East, the protests against the Assad regime in Syria also began in spring 2011. The Kurds in Rojava (Western Kurdistan), who had been oppressed for decades by the nationalist policiesof the Ba’ath dictatorship, demanded both a fundamental democratisation of Syria and recognition of their political and cultural self-determination. On 19 July 2012, the people of Kobane urged the Syrian military and the state apparatus to withdraw from the city. This was the beginning of the Rojava Revolution. Municipal and women’s councils set up by elected commune representatives took over the organisation of society’s affairs. This laid the foundations for the Democratic Autonomous Administration, which is based on the principles of grassroots democracy, ecology, women’s liberation and cultural and language diversity. Shortly afterwards, the Kurdish people in the regions of Efrin and Cizire followed Kobane’s example. In January 2014, the canton of Kobane was proclaimed as one of three self-administered cantons of the Democratic Autonomy based on the Social Contract of Rojava.

A review of the attacks on Kobane

The attacks on the Democratic Autonomous Administration in Kobane, which continue to this day, began with the major offensive of the ‘Islamic State’ (ISIS) in September 2014. Then as now, Turkey played a leading role. Thousands of ISIS mercenaries, militarily trained, equipped and led by Turkey, crossed the border into Syrian territory to attack Kobane. In October 2014, ISIS, armed with heavy artillery, depopulated and occupied a large part of the city of Kobane and 300 surrounding villages. More than 300,000 people were displaced. Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan declared at the time: ‘Kobane has fallen’. With the genocide and feminicide in Shengal and other heinous crimes against humanity, ISIS had spread such fear that it was considered ‘invincible’.

But this myth was shattered for the first time by the determined resistance of the YPJ and YPG women’s and people’s defence units in Kobane. The self-sacrificing actions of the YPJ fighters Arin Mirkan and Rewan Kobane became a symbol of this resistance. As a result of 134 days and nights of united resistance by the people of Kobane and all parts of Kurdistan, as well as strong international solidarity, the attacks were continuously repelled. Finally, on 26 January 2015, the city was completely liberated. This marked the beginning of the end of ISIS’s reign of terror in large parts of Syria and Iraq.

After the liberation, the people immediately returned to the town and villages of Kobane. They rebuilt their Autonomous Administration and their town, which had been completely destroyed by the war. Kobane is seen as proof that collective resistance and the will for freedom can change the course of history. But the attacks by the Turkish state and its mercenary groups have continued unabated. Turkish border guards have repeatedly shelled fields, villages and facilities in the Kobane region, destroying infrastructure and killing or injuring dozens of civilians. In particular, Turkey has carried out drone attacks against women’s activists, employees of the autonomous city administration and members of the YPJ/YPG self-defence forces.

An incomplete chronology of attacks on the Kobane region since June 2015

• On 25 June 2015, ISIS again attempted to occupy the town and villages of Kobane, massacring 252 residents, including 64 women and 35 children. The YPJ/YPJ defence forces and Asayish security forces managed to repel this attack.
• On 23 June 2020, Zehra Berkel and Hebun Mela Xelil, board members of the women’s umbrella organisation Kongra Star, and 60-year-old Emine Veysi were murdered in a drone attack by the Turkish army on Emine Veysi’s house in the village of Helince near Kobane.
• On 20 October 2021, a vehicle was bombed by a Turkish army drone in front of the Judicial Council building in the centre of Kobane. Two employees of the Autonomous Administration died and four others were injured.
• On 23 October 2021, three YPG members on their way to Kobane for medical treatment were killed in a drone strike on a car.
• On 25 December 2021, 7 members of the youth movement – Nujiyan Ocalan, Viyan Kobane, Rojin Ehmed Isa, Merhef Xelil Ibrahim, Walid Mihemed Menle and Mesud Ibrahim – were killed in a drone attack by the Turkish army on a house in the centre of Kobane.
• On 20 April 2022, 3 members of the YPJ Women’s Defence Units – Ranya Henan, Rodin Ebdilqadir Mihemed and Cihan Nidal Eli – were killed in a Turkish drone strike on their car.
• On 11 May 2022, 53-year-old Ekrem Ustek was killed in a drone strike in Kobane. He had been imprisoned in Turkey as a political prisoner. After his release, he took part in the defence of Kobane against ISIS in 2014.
• On 21 July 2022, two commanders of the YPG People’s Defence Units were killed in two drone strikes on the centre of Kobane.
• On 19 and 20 November 2022, the town and surrounding villages of Kobane were bombed by the Turkish army. Among others, TV reporter Mihemed Cerade was injured and the school in the village of Goran was destroyed.
• On 19 November 2022, the Turkish Air Force bombed the Covid-19 hospital in Kobane.
• On 28 November 2022, the regional health centre in the village of Qeremox, east of Kobane, was destroyed and put out of operation by Turkish air strikes.
• On 12 February, 25 April and 11 May 2023, a total of 4 members of the SDF Defence Forces lost their lives in Turkish army drone attacks on cars in the Kobane region.
• On 6 October 2023, the Turkish air force bombed the hospital run by the NGO “Doctors Without Borders”, a forest and a concrete factory in Kobane. In further attacks between 4 and 24 October, three civilians were killed and eight others injured in the Kobane region.
• On 25 December 2023, the Turkish state bombed the Kurdish Red Crescent hospital and a car service shop in Kobane. The following day, the Turkish state bombed 7 Asayish checkpoints on the access roads to Kobane.
• On 14 January 2023, the Turkish army bombed the villages of Shekhlera Jorin, Zormixar and Ehmet Munur, a cement factory, grain silos and the power station in the area of Kobane. As a result, 150 tonnes of grain were destroyed. The electricity supply to the city and 660 villages was cut. The fire brigade was bombed again while
  fighting the fire.
• On 25 January 2024, Turkish drones bombed the villages of Koran, Xerbisan and Qeremox in the Kobane region. Local resident Maruf Xelil Mihemed was injured.
• On 6 April 2024, YPJ commander Sorxwin Celal and Arin Kobane, who had been fighting against IS, were killed in a Turkish army drone attack on their car.
• On 18 April 2024, Kobane residents Ali Mustafa Osman and Halima Mihemed Osman were injured in a Turkish drone strike on their car in the village of Enbet, east of Kobane.
• On 30 June 2024, 24-year-old farmer Yehya Ibrahim Eli was seriously injured by a Turkish army kamikaze drone attack while working in the fields between the villages of Bexdik and Kultepe.
• On 15 October 2024, the Turkish army again shelled the villages of Shekhlera Jorin, Zormixar and Ehmet Minur with artillery.
• From 23 to 27 October 2024, the Turkish army repeatedly attacked Kobane with fighter jets, drones and heavy weapons. The attacks targeted infrastructure, a food factory, grain stores, water and electricity plants. At least seven workers were injured in the attacks.
• On 8 and 9 December 2024, Turkey, together with mercenary troops from the Turkish-controlled ‘Syrian National Army’ (SNA), launched a major offensive to capture the Karakozak-Euphrates Bridge, the M4 highway and the Tishrin Dam south of Kobane. Three members of the Asayish security forces in Kobane, Hesen İbrahim, Suhel Beki, Hesen Nesan and Mihemed Emin Hemo, and two children were killed in the village of Kon Eftar, south-west of Kobane. YPJ fighters Berfin Mihemed and Zeyneb Welat were killed by a Turkish drone strike while defending the Qereqozaq bridge.
• On 10 December 2024, 12-year-old Mehmud Shex Eli and 25-year-old Ebdullah Mehmud Shex Eli were killed in an NSA attack on the village of Ceida Mezin, south-west of Kobane. Two other children, aged 10 and 8, were injured in the attack and required hospital treatment.
• On 11 December 2024, the SDF agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire with the Turkish-controlled SNA mercenary force. However, attacks by the SNA and the Turkish army continued unabated. 6 SDF members were killed in a Turkish drone attack near the Qereqozaq bridge. A civilian vehicle carrying eleven people was machine-gunned by SNA mercenaries as it crossed the bridge. Sixty-year-old Zahide Kusi was killed. Eight-year-old Ciwan
  Berkel was wounded. The Tishrin dam was also attacked again by SNA ground troops and the Turkish air
  force. Fierce fighting broke out. An ambulance carrying the wounded was attacked by the Turkish air force on the road between Tishrin and Sirrin. One of the wounded and the driver of the ambulance were killed. A nurse and another casualty were seriously injured.
• On 12 December 2024, the Turkish army bombed the Tishrin Dam with tanks and drones. International observers warned that the attacks could cause the dam to burst and lead to a serious humanitarian crisis.
• On 14 December 2024, the Turkish army deployed another large contingent of troops, heavy artillery and tanks in the Pirsus region on the border with Kobane.
• On 19 December 2024, Cihan Bilgin, correspondent for the ANHA news agency, and Nazim Dashtan, journalist for the ANF news agency, were killed by Turkish drone fire in the Kobane region while covering the fighting at the Tishrin Dam and Qereqozaq Bridge. The driver of their car, Eziz Hec Bozan, was seriously injured.
• On 20 December 2024, SNA forces shelled the area around the Qereqozaq Bridge and an asphalt factory south of the city of Kobane.
• On 22 December 2024, a 12-year-old child named Nasim Xelil and his 35-year-old mother, Sewsen Xelil, were killed by heavy artillery shelling by SNA mercenary forces on the village of Jadah in the Kobane region.
• On 23 December 2024, the Syrian Democratic Forces (QSD) launched a counter-offensive on the Euphrates in response to the ongoing attacks by the Turkish army and the SNA. The QSD attacked several SNA bases and liberated several villages near the Tishrin Dam.
• On 25 December 2024, YPJ commander Ronahi Yekta, who had played an important role in the defence of the Tishrin Dam, was killed in a Turkish drone strike.
• On 31 December 2024, Turkish artillery shelled the Qereqozaq bridge and the village of Bir Hiso in the south of Kobane. Residential buildings were destroyed or severely damaged by shells. More than 25 hits were recorded in the early hours of the morning alone. The attacks continued the following day. In the Kobane region, a teenager was injured when Turkish border guards indiscriminately machine-gunned the village of Qeremox.
• On 1 January 2025, Turkish attack drones bombed a sugar factory in the town of Dair Hafir, west of the Euphrates. The factory was rendered inoperable by the attack.
• On 6 January 2025, the Turkish army bombarded the villages of Seve and Cade on the southern outskirts of Kobane with artillery fire.
• On 8 January 2025, a Turkish drone attack targeted a civilian convoy travelling from Kobane to the Tishrin dam. Kerem Ehmed El Shihab El Hemed, a member of the Zenubiya Women’s Gathering, and members of the youth movement Zozan Hemo and Azad Ferhan Mihemed Hesan were killed. 15 other people were injured. Mistefa Ebdi and Eli Shasho lost their lives in another Turkish attack by a combat drone on the village of Girke near Kobane.
• On 10 January 2025, the grain silo in the village of Sirrin, 40 kilometres south of the city of Kobane, was bombed for the second time by the Turkish Air Force.
• On 11 January 2025, a Turkish fighter jet bombed a house in the village of Al-Masrab, near the town of Sirrin. Two sisters, aged 12 and 13, and their 37-year-old father were killed in the attack. Five other children aged between one and ten were injured.
• On 12 January 2025, Turkish warplanes bombed the village of Gire Berkel near Kobane four times. The small town of Sirrin and villages near the Tishrin dam were also repeatedly bombed by the Turkish air force.
• On 13 January 2025, villages in the south of Kobane and a cement factory near Sirrin were again bombed by Turkish army drones, fighter jets and artillery. An ambulance belonging to the Kurdish Red Crescent (Heyva Sor a Kurd), travelling from the Tishrin dam towards Kobane, was missed by a few metres by a drone bomb.
• A family was buried in their own home during Turkish air strikes on rural Sirrin, south of Kobane, on 14 January 2025.
• On 15 January 2025, the Turkish occupying state repeatedly bombed a civilian convoy on the road to the Tishrin Dam. As a result, one person was killed and 14 were injured. On the same day, the Turkish occupying state targeted the place where the people gathered to protest. Omer Hisen Derweş, Osman Mustafa Ibrahim and Basim Omer were killed and 19 other civilians were injured, some of them seriously.
• On 16 January 2025, the Turkish state continued its attacks against the civilian population. Warplanes repeatedly bombed the vigil at the Tishrin Dam. One of the activists involved was killed and 17 people, including 3 journalists, were injured.
• Also on 17 January 2025, the village of Sirrin and the surroundings of the Tishrin Dam were bombed by drones of the Turkish occupation state.

Why is Kobane being targeted again by Turkey?

In parallel with the advance of the paramilitary jihadist HTS groups in Syria, Turkey has also been coordinating new attacks by NSA jihadists and the Turkish army on the areas of the Democratic Autonomous Administration since 27 November 2007. Following the displacement of some 200,000 people from the Til Rifat-Sheba region and the violent occupation of Minbic, Turkey has declared the Kobane region a particular target. In order to cut the link between Kobane and the city of Reqqa and the Cizire region, the Turkish army has also been intensively bombing the districts of Ain-Issa and Til Temir for weeks. In addition, on 13 December, the Turkish army, together with NSA jihadists, launched a major attack on the Qaraqozak Bridge and the Tishrin Dam on the Euphrates in order to encircle the city and cut off the electricity and water supply to the entire region. The regions of Tishrin and Qereqozaq are among the most strategically important points in northern Syria in military, political, economic and infrastructural terms.

The continuing attacks have been repeatedly repelled by SDF and YPJ units. However, Turkey has stationed large contingents of troops along the border to launch another occupation attack on Kobane. The Turkish government cynically calls its plan, which is accompanied by renewed massacres, destruction and ‘ethnic cleansing’, the ‘establishmentof a security zone’. On 17 December, the commander of the SDF, Mazloum Abdi, publicly proposed ‘a demilitarised zone in the city of Kobane with a redistribution of security forces under American supervision and presence’ in order to ‘address Turkey’s security concerns and ensure lasting stability’.

However, the Turkish army and its NSA ground forces have continued to intensify their attacks and threats. In contrast, the people of Kobane, the Defence Forces and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria have once again demonstrated their willingness to defend Kobane and the Democratic Autonomous Administration. On 8 January 2025, the first civilian convoy to protect the Tishrin Dam left Kobane with hundreds of cars. Despite the deadly drone attacks on the convoy and the continued bombing of the area around the dam, thousands of people from Kobane and other regions of the Democratic Autonomous Administration continue their constant vigil at the dam. New people are arriving every day to prevent the bombing from causing the dam to burst, which would trigger devastating floods and a humanitarian and ecological disaster with repercussions in northern Syria and Iraq.

The vigil participants’ message is: “The defence of Qereqozaq and Tishrin is the defence of Kobane!” The people in Northern Kurdistan are also aware of this and support the resistance with vigils and demonstrations along the border. International mobilisations and declarations of solidarity make it clear that the defence of Kobane and the Rojava revolution is not only crucial for the future of the people of Kobane, but also has global significance.

17.01.2025
Kongra Star Information Centre

L to R: Buthina Abod and Miyada al-Ahmed [July 2024]

“We’re here to be a real source of support for women, helping them understand their role in the workplace and within their families.”

RIC spoke to Zenobia Women’s Gathering, the main organization advocating for women’s rights in the Arab-majority regions of North and East Syria. Miyada al-Ahmed, the coordinator of Zenobia Women’s Gathering, and Buthina Abod, its spokesperson, outlined the organization’s development, the challenges they have been facing as well as their current work in the Raqqa region.

Miyada al-Ahmed states the mission of Zenobia: “We’re here to be a real source of support for women, helping them understand their role in the workplace and within their families.” She explains that even before the brutal violence and repression of ISIS, women lacked basic rights in the region. She notes that traditions which consider women’s role to be serving the family and producing children still hold women back: “We are working on changing the mentality. We must challenge those traditions that are creating suffering for us.”

She explains how women’s lives have improved since Raqqa’s liberation from ISIS in 2017: “Women have been successful in all fields of work, including politics. Zenobia trains, educates and empowers women to work. Additionally, several economic projects have been created to provide job opportunities for women, such as picking olives and growing wheat. The goal is for women to be able to rely on themselves and be financially independent.”

Zenobia was officially founded in June 2021. Buthina Abod tells of the obstacles faced by Zenobia in its initial years: “We had to overcome extraordinary challenges to achieve our goals. We had to start from scratch, since all buildings and infrastructure were destroyed. Raqqa was like a ghost city. In the beginning, we worked in houses. Eventually, we established a women’s administration for our organisation.” Since then, the organization has grown and established offices in the Raqqa, Tabqa, Manbij and Deir ez-Zor regions. It is divided into different committees, working on topics such as archive and media, education and awareness, training, finance, relations and health.

Buthina Abod points out that the core of Zenobia’s work is furthering women’s rights in the region by empowering women: “The ideology of ISIS has influenced women’s mindsets. For example, women were led to accept underage marriage and polygamy. As a women’s organization, our responsibility is to change their mentality and show them that these practices are harmful. To this end, we have conducted awareness campaigns. We share information about marriage and divorce, how to raise children and how to foster a safe and healthy community.” The awareness campaigns have led to a boost in the numbers of women participating in the work of Zenobia: “Our numbers are growing steadily. Regularly, new people join us and become familiar with what we stand for.”

Combating violence against women and all kinds of abuse is another essential part of the work of Zenobia.For instance, they took on the case of honor-based violence in Tel Samen IDP camp (in the Raqqa region), a video of which went viral in February 2024. At least two sisters were accused of having extra-marital relations and were heavily beaten by their uncle and cousins. Buthina Abod states that: “Zenobia filed a complaint against the perpetrators of the attack, and they are now in prison. We also helped, treated and protected the women victims in a women’s house.”

Miyada al-Ahmed recounts the development of women’s houses since their beginning, and how the attitude of society towards them has changed: “In the beginning, we faced difficulties in how we were perceived. It was needed that women come to us to report problems so that we can help them. Many husbands did not want us to come into their homes to resolve issues. Men were under the impression that we were a court and that we were coming to hold them responsible.

“However, this has changed. Now, even men come to ask us for help when they are facing marital problems, like families interfering in their relationships. We explain that it is wrong to divide a family when both parties do not want that. When families are torn apart by internal conflict, it has a knock-on effect on society as a whole.”

Situation of women in the Arab regions

Women had been able to live ‘limited freedoms’ in the Arab regions in recent decades, going to school and in some cases attending university. Nevertheless, they complained that the role assigned to women in society was so subordinate and lacking in influence that they rarely felt truly self-determined. Then in 2014 came the reign of terror by the Islamist group Daesh, the so-called ‘Islamic State’, under which women lost virtually all their rights overnight.

Houda Isa Ali, spokesperson for Zenobiya, talks about the history of the region and its impact on the situation of women: “Women had high hopes for the Syrian revolution. They hoped that they would get their rights, their freedom and be able to get involved in many areas. All these hopes were dashed when the [Syrian] revolution strayed from its path. Then the IS occupation began. That was an even heavier blow for the women. They were slaughtered, sold in markets, locked in houses, forced to wear black sheets, raped and enslaved on the orders of IS.”

The foundation of Zenobiya

After the liberation of Raqqa and Deir-ez-Zor at the end of 2017 by the women’s and people’s defence units YPJ, YPG and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), some women began to come together and gradually organize themselves against the prevailing mentality. IS had not only left behind deep wounds and trauma, but also had an enormous, lasting impact on social coexistence. Although many women tore the niqab from their faces and the black abiya from their bodies to burn them during the liberation of Raqqa, the social and psychological effects could not be shed as easily as a piece of clothing.

Initially, women’s councils were founded in various cities. After several years of work in these councils, in which women discussed with each other, held educational sessions, sought out other women and shared their stories, the decision was finally made to unite under the umbrella of a common organization. The Zenobiya Women’s Union was founded in 2021.

At the official founding ceremony, Maryam Ibrahim, one of Zenobiya’s regional representatives, said: “If this meeting shows one thing, it is that women have become role models and pioneers in society. Today, four years after the liberation of these territories, we can say that this is the beginning of the rebirth of the free woman who organizes herself within the framework of the democratic nation project and works in all institutions and fields”.

Current aims and works: The continuation of the women’s revolution

The aim of Zenobiya today is to organize and educate women in all areas of society and to strengthen them in their struggle for self-determination. Ultimately, the Women’s Union wants to work towards the full implementation of the social contract of the Democratic Self-Government of North and East Syria, which is based on women’s liberation. To achieve this, the women of Zenobiya tirelessly carry out educational activities (including for men), visit families and build shelters for women, and campaign against forced marriage and polygamy. Zenobiya’s work takes place in the following committees: Economy, Education, Press, Ideology, Defense, Fallen Families, Culture and Peace.

Ultimately, Zenobiya, as a women’s self-organization, has its sights set on social change as a whole, in which women play a pioneering role: “Our goal is to strengthen them at all levels and give them a leading role on the path to a political solution in Syria, to realize the hopes and aspirations of Syrian women and to bring lasting peace to Syria”.

One of the most important ways in which women have developed themselves in North and East Syria is through expanding economic opportunities for women by entering jobs and various fields they have traditionally been excluded from.

Five years after the liberation of Raqqa from ISIS, we are witnessing the development of women’s labour and an increased desire of women to work outside the home, especially though economic projects initiated by the Women’s Economic Committee at the Zenobiya Women’s Association office in Raqqa and its surrounding rural area. Women have been able to prove themselves in all practical and professional levels across North and East Syria.

Nisrin Hasen, a representative of the women’s economy committee of the Zenobiya Women’s Office spoke about the principle of cooperative economy that forms part of the economic development in recent times in the liberated areas.

Nisrin Hasen emphasised the necessity of women’s participation in work, explaining that three bakeries have been opened, producing, sele bread, darnak bread and various types of fetayir made especially in Raqqa. There are around a dozen women working autonomously in these bakeries.

Nesrin explained how the dough is kneaded and baked according to the necessary requirements and the work in these ovens starts from 7 in the morning and continues until 4 in the afternoon in order to fulfil the needs of the people and to find solutions for providing bread in the economic crisis that the region is going through.

The Economic Committee of the Raqqa Zenûbiya Women’s Community Office launched a campaign to plant 4,500 saplings. 13 women participated in the campaign, which started on Monday and will continue until tomorrow, Wednesday.

The campaign is a project run by the cooperative and it aims to plant saplings of 14 acres of Bihûs land in the Kesrat region south of Raqqa.

According to Cîhan Mihemed, Executive Member of the Economic Committee of the Zenûbiya Women’s Community Office, 15 percent of the income from the project will be transferred to the committee’s fund, while the rest will be used to carry out other projects aimed at improving the women’s economy.

Zenûbiya Women’s Community has carried out many activities to educate women and empower women’s struggle in North and East Syria. It holds education courses based on women’s liberation and the democratic nation project and aims to reach all women in the region.

Rabaa Bekro, Spokesperson of Zenûbiya Women’s Community branch in Manbij, says the door of the community is open to women from all nations and religions. “Zenûbiya Women’s Community is a space for all women. When a new member joins our community, she first receives education because education and self-development is a must for our community. Uneducated people cannot fulfill their responsibilities and serve their society. Education develops women intellectually and culturally. The members of our community receive ideological education in our academies.”

 Education courses are held on the basis of Abdullah Öcalan’s paradigm and ideology

Underlining that they benefited from the thoughts and ideology of Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan in forming their education system, Rabaa Bekro said that they focus on women’s self-improvement, social problems and the solutions of these problems. “Women receive education on how they develop their personalities. Our education courses support women to reveal their skills and abilities in every sphere of life.  The distribution of roles of the members is determined according to their personalities and abilities.”

They educate their society after receiving education courses

Fatma Beko, member of the Education Committee of the Zenûbiya Women’s Community, pointed to the importance of education and said, “For the Zenûbiya Women’s Community, education is like the backbone in our body. The community is a school for women to work for other organizations and institutions. The community has many women members. In the beginning, these women did not know anything about the Democratic Nation Project. Now, they teach this project to other women in our academies. Women’s liberation, Democratic Nation Project, Autonomous Administration, co-presidential system are the projects of leader Abdullah Öcalan. For this reason, we benefit from his thoughts and ideology while forming our personality. People should first educate themselves so that they can educate other people. The members of the Zenûbiya Women’s Community receive weekly education courses. Mala Jin (Women’s House) branches provide weekly education courses for the members of its committees in rural areas. In addition, the members of Women’s Economy and Mala Jin attend our weekly education courses.”

Unfortunately the video below does not contain English language subtitles.

Influenced by Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan’s ideas on women’s freedom and organization as well as by the experiences of women militants, the people of Rojava formed their organization under the name of Yekîtiya Star on January 15, 2005.

The Kurdistan Freedom Struggle moved to another phase after Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan arrived in Rojava in 1979. Abdullah Öcalan, who influenced the Rojava area for 20 years, sowed the seeds of women’s organization from the lands of Rojava to the whole of Kurdistan. Considering the social reality and women’s reality, he has become a guide for women’s organisation.

Kongra Star Coordination Member Zeyneb Mihemed spoke to ANF about the process from the beginning of the women’s struggle in Rojava to the establishment of Yekîtiya Star. Mihemed recalled that the first woman organization in Rojava started with the arrival of Öcalan. “Previously, there was no organization where women could recognize themselves and fight and resolve problems. The arrival of Öcalan marked the real beginning of this struggle. Afterwards, the PKK’s struggle here helped women get to know themselves and form their organization.”

WOMEN COVERED A LONG WAY IN THE 1990s

Mihemed summarized the development of the women’s struggle as follows: “Women’s organisation in the region made further progress in the 1990s. Now, women in Rojava have gradually started to find the way to freedom to enable them to resolve their problems. Öcalan’s arrival in Rojava paved the way for this because Öcalan attached great importance to women. Commitment to the ideas of Öcalan led to an increase in struggle. Women’s participation in political and social activities began. There was no such thing before. Women had been secluded at home. They were not doing any work. Öcalan’s arrival helped women make progress not only in one area, but also in the entire public sphere.

WOMEN MADE THEMSELVES HEARD

Women were holding meetings where they proposed solutions to existing problems. With the activities carried out in the 1990s, women got to know themselves. The power that had been lost in history and seized by the rulers was reclaimed. Women thus came to the fore. Women made themselves heard in marches, uprisings, meetings, and martyrdoms. They were able to reveal that hidden power gradually.

WOMEN GOT STRENGTH FROM ÖCALAN

Öcalan carried out very important work in Rojava, the impact of which has remained until today. Many steps have been taken so far. Women are now active in every field, including political and military fields. With the strength they got from Öcalan, women have improved their organization.

WOMEN’S ORGANIZATION WAS NEEDED

Various activities were carried out to this end in Rojava. Afterwards, they were further expanded and reached all segments of society. Thus, a strong organization was needed to resolve the problems in Rojava. Öcalan had already laid the groundwork for it in Rojava. Afterwards, women declared their organization in Rojava so as to resolve the existing problems better. Thanks to the ideas of Öcalan and the women’s movement in the region, women have become able to take bigger and more important steps in Rojava.

WOMEN GATHERED UNDER THE ROOF OF YEKİTİYA STAR

In line with this need, the women of Rojava were organized under the name of Yekîtiya Star. The ideology of the Women’s Freedom Movement also provided a major support to this organization. This organization started with the philosophy of Öcalan, and then it emerged as a result of the struggle of the Kurdish Women’s Movement and the activities carried out in Rojava. Progress has been made in many ways. Ideologically, remarkable steps have been taken based on the perspective of the Women’s Freedom Struggle. Indeed, it was a significant support. The support of the military forces cannot be ignored, either. The support of the female guerrillas was significant. Our comrades in the mountains of Kurdistan protected the women and people in Rojava. If there had been no such defence, the defence mechanism in Rojava would not have reached its current level.”

Part Two

Following the establishment of Yekîtiya Star on January 15, 2005, the women’s organization went beyond the borders and spread throughout the region. Not only Kurdish women, but also women from all nationalities took part in this organization.

After the introduction of the free woman paradigm of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and the Kurdistan Women’s Freedom Movement’s activities in Rojava, people of the region decided to organize their own unique organization. Women, mothers and activists within the women’s liberation struggle started to discuss the structure, name and the form of organization. These discussions were concluded on January 15, 2005, and the Rojava women’s struggle continued with the establishment of a new organization called Yekîtiya Star.

Kongra Star Spokeswoman Remziye Mihemed, who took part in the establishment of Yekîtiya Star, Aîfe Bekîr, Member of the Foreign Relations Department of the PYD (Democratic Union Party) General Assembly, Felek Yusif, Kobanê Canton Intellectuals Association Co-Chair and Şaha Xelîl, Qamishlo Canton Kongra Star Spokeswoman, talked to ANF about the establishment process and the initial activities.

A GROUP OF REVOLUTIONARY WOMEN AND MOTHERS

Remziye Mihemed, who took part in the establishment of Yekîtiya Star, gave an outline of the process: “Yekîtiya Star was founded on January 15, 2005, by a group of revolutionaries and mothers. Those who carried out the women’s struggle in Rojava were the main pillar of this organization. With the women’s organization that we launched secretly, we were able to lay a strong foundation for Rojava Kurdistan and the women’s revolution. The main foundation of Yekîtiya Star is the Kurdistan Women’s Freedom Struggle. Those who fought in the mountains became models for the organization there.”

WOMEN’S ORGANIZATION EXISTED EVEN BEFORE YEKITIYA STAR

Arife Bekîr from Afrin is among those who contributed to the establishment of Yekîtiya Star. PYD General Assembly Foreign Relations Assembly member Bekir pointed out that they had started their activities in Afrin in the 1980s. She said: “Those were very difficult and good days. We were working with love and great enthusiasm. We were asking questions such as what the Kurdish question is, who we are, where we come from, why we are oppressed. In this respect, we worked together with the people in Afrin. Women’s organisation existed even before Yekîtiya Star. We were improving our education and organization based on women’s experiences. We continued our work for our freedom and independent Kurdistan with determination.”

AFRIN WAS IMPORTANT FOR ORGANIZATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Bekir continued: “In Afrin, which is known as a pro-women city, activities had a tremendous impact. After realizing the fact that women were not strong enough and organized there, a strong initiative was introduced. We were constantly asking ourselves why men were active in every field, while women were not. We were saying that there should be equality between men and women, and we were seeking our rights.”

OPPRESSION AND TORTURE DID NOT PREVENT WOMEN

“Before the establishment of Yekîtiya Star, we worked as a militia. Our job was to organize society and women. We were conducting our work clandestinely. In the past, it was considered shameful by society for a woman to work and visit families. It was not considered appropriate for women to go out and work in public. We were suppressed by family, society and the state. We were nevertheless carrying out our activities in public. In 2008, I was arrested by the state and put in prison. We were subjected to a serious crackdown and torture in prison. However, we did not change our decision and we remained committed to achieving our freedom. Thus, we did not abandon the struggle. We started with a group of women. In the beginning, there were only Kurdish women. Over the years, Arab and Syriac women also joined this organization,” Bekir stated.

WOMEN’S ORGANIZATION BROUGHT ABOUT HOPE AND ENLIGHTENMENT

Felek Yusif, who participated in the establishment phase in the Kobanê region, talked about the struggle and her involvement as follows: “After I got married in 1993, I familiarized myself with the women’s struggle. I got to know myself through the impact of the organization on women and society. It brought about hope and enlightenment for us. Even before Yekîtiya Star was founded, women were carrying out a struggle here. However, it was not institutional because of the Baath regime. We were carrying out the struggle as militias. We were visiting homes, resolving family problems. We were in constant communication with women. We received training in secret. There were many obstacles while carrying out our activities. Both the state crackdown and tribalism were challenges to our organizational activities.”

WOMEN SURPASSED THE STATE AND TRIBALISM

Yusif continued: “There were activities everywhere and they were carried out in secret. Especially in Ain Issa, the Kurdish families involved in organizational activities were in the public eye since the majority of the population was Arab. So, they were gathering clandestinely. What made Kobanê different from other regions? It was just us, the Kurds, involved in the work there. The activists there supported and covered each other, but those working in other areas were reported to the government and had their homes raided by the state forces. The biggest challenge to carrying out activities in Kobanê was imprisonment. Customs and manners in Kobanê regarded the imprisonment of women as indecent. The government knew this well, so it couldn’t suppress women much. However, the state forces increased pressure after realizing that women were advancing gradually. By improving their organization, women could also surpass the narrow traditions of the tribes.”

THANKS TO THE LEADER AND THE FREEDOM MOVEMENT

Shaha Xelîl from Qamishlo is one of those women who have been struggling since 1986-1987. Xelîl said: “We rely on the line of women’s freedom against the patriarchal mentality that has supressed us for centuries. Because of this mentality, we were deprived of all our rights. We are still fighting against it. This is thanks to the Freedom Movement and Öcalan’s philosophy. Women began to search for their genuine self after Öcalan began to promote women’s freedom and rights. The most important contribution in North-East Syria was made by the Freedom Movement fighters. In the 1980s, 1990s and afterwards, the women fighters of the Freedom Movement were active all over Syria. It was the first attempt for the Kurdish women to organize themselves in every field. It was a very difficult process for us. Society was petrified because of the pressure of both the Baath regime and the traditions and customs of the patriarchal mentality. Women were involved in political and military activities for the first time. Thanks to the Freedom Movement militants, more women joined the women’s movement to expand the organization and the freedom struggle.

THE WORK WENT BEYOND KURDISH REGIONS

While activities had been carried out mostly in the Kurdish regions before, Yekîtiya Star carried out work to reach all components and gather them under a single roof. Now, activities have spread across Rojava and all of Syria. When Yekîtiya Star was founded, our numbers were very small. Work was underway throughout the Cizîre region through mothers such as Esma, Comrade Remziye, Mother Hogir and Comrade Hanife. When necessary, we were active in the committees of economy, justice and defence as well. We did all the work together. We were making family visits and organizing participation. The pressure of the Baath regime was also very intense. Mother Esma, Mother Hogir and many other women activists were jailed. It wasn’t easy at all. Both the state forces and the customs of society were challenging. Nevertheless, as Yekîtiya Star, we insisted on our work and struggle. We have come to these days thanks to this persistence.”

Part Three

In North-East Syria, every house has become a women’s organization centre in 12 years, and moreover, men have been given education on women’s freedom.

Kongra Star Spokeswoman Remziye Mihemed who has played an active role in the activities of Yekîtiya Star since its establishment, and PYD General Assembly Foreign Relations Department Member Aîfe Bekîr spoke to ANF about the 12-year organizational process of Yekîtiya Star, which has achieved many important accomplishments in the region for 12 years, from education to justice, from economy to cooperative work.

NEW CONGRESSES

Kongra Star Spokeswoman Remziye Mihemed stated that they expanded their organization by carrying out activities clandestinely under the pressure of the Baath regime. She said: “The congress was held every two years. The 2nd Congress was held in the Enize village of Qamishlo, and the next ones in Aleppo and in Afrin. It was important to organize meetings for the formation of women’s power, organization, willpower and self-education. We have succeeded in being a model for all women’s organizations and all other peoples. We showed everyone that they could form their own unique organizations.”

IT WAS TARGETED AS IT GREW

Remziye Mihemed pointed out that those who played a leading role in this struggle were constantly targeted.  She continued: “We created the existence of women in this revolution. Attacks and conspiracies against us are increasing, targeting our friends and our administrators. They seek to weaken the will of women. However, we see that women’s struggle and organization are gaining prominence in all areas of life. Kurdish women have been able to play a major role in the revolution through their organization and presence. They could play a major role by taking part in all assemblies and committees. We lost thousands of martyrs. Our Euphrates Region Coordination was targeted. All this clearly demonstrates that our struggle has accomplished a result and disturbed the ruling mindset.”

ORGANIZATION BROUGHT ABOUT VICTORY

Mihemed emphasized that this situation could be better seen in the ISIS attacks. She underlined that despite all the attacks, they continued to expand their organization: “When there were attacks on Kurdish cities, Kurdish women showed everyone how they organized themselves and confronted these attacks and ISIS atrocities. Women from all the folks in the region were inspired by this and formed their own unique organization. They took part in all assemblies, committees and organizations. We were able to play a major role in the region with the co-presidency system. Women have seen that when they are organized and educated, they can stand against all attacks and atrocities and lead their activities to victory.”

WOMEN’S INSTITUTIONS OPENED

Aîfe Bekîr pointed out that they expanded their work by promoting the concepts of free women, free society and equality. She said: “At Yekîtiya Star’s 2nd Congress, we decided to include not only Kurdish women but also women from all other peoples in our work and organization. We concluded that women should fight for their freedom wherever they are, based on the concepts of free women, free society and equality. We made a lot of decisions based on the freedom of society and women.

Noting that the whole process was carried out under the seal of secrecy, Bekîr added: “The 3rd congress was held in Kefer Sixîre in 2009. Many decisions were taken during this congress. The process was very difficult in the beginning, but it grew easier in time. There were no institutions back then. Activities were carried out in houses. When we had a meeting, we held it clandestinely. It was a very difficult process. Organizational activities, which had been carried out in houses once, were now carried out through dozens of women’s organizations in all fields of the revolution.”

Part Four

Rojava women’s struggle began with Yekîtiya Star and moved to a new stage on 26 February 2016 under the name of Kongra Star.

The 12-year legacy of the struggle carried out by women organized in Yekîtiya Star, moved to a new stage on 26 February 2016, when it took the name Kongra Star.

Kongra Star has managed to cross borders and reach the world. Representative offices have been opened in many countries, and other women in the world joined the struggle.

Qamişlo Canton Kongra Star spokesperson, Şaha Xelîl, and Kobanê Canton Intellectuals Union Co-chair, Felek Yusif, who took an active part in the struggle from beginning to the new organizational transformation, talked about the new organization of the struggle and what happened during the transformation process.

Conversion was necessary

Şaha Xelîl, who has been active from the establishment of Yekîtiya Star right through the establishment of Kongra Star, said: “There was a need to transform into Kongra Star in order to develop and grow. Kongra Star played a crucial role in this growth. The women who are now organizing in liberated areas have perhaps surpassed the original organization of Kurdish women. I think, for example, of how Zenobiya Women’s Community was established and organized in all fields there.”

Felek Yusif, co-chair of the Kobanê Canton Intellectuals Union, underlined that the source of strength in this growth and transformation is the guerrilla resistance. “We used to get our strength from the guerrilla resistance in the Medya Defense Areas to carry out our work with difficulty in regions like Kobanê where there was intense pressure. We knew that there was a place where we had our strength and our defense.”

Felek Yusif added that the influence of Kurdish people’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan in Kobanê is fundamental to the continuity and increase of these efforts. Yusif pointed out that women continue to struggle despite all kinds of oppression and torture and added: “When we were walking around our city after the regime on 19 July [2012], it was so breath-taking to see that everywhere was decorated with our women’s organization flags. The dream has come true. It was a very different feeling.”

Part Five

Kongra Star, which is based on the Democratic Confederalism project, carries out a struggle that reaches women all around the world.

Kongra Star organized its activities in many fields, from self-defense to economy through communes and cooperatives.

Kongra Star’ members are also members of the commune. Assemblies are organized in towns, regions and cantons. Kongra Star is based in a democratic society and free women on the basis of women’s revolution, women’s knowledge and awareness, starting from the family system.

There are different committees, namely the Freedom for Leader Abdullah Öcalan Committee, Free Sovereignty Committee, Self-Defense Forces (Composed of Internal Security Forces-Women, Self-Defense Forces-Women), Disciplinary Committee, Alliances and Democratic Policies Committee, Education and Academy Committee, Social Committee, Political Committee, Law and Justice Committee, Economics Committee, Financial Economy, Culture and Arts Committee, Press Committee, Health Committee and Ecology Committee.

Speaking to ANF, Kongra Star Coordination member, Cîhan Hisên, underlined the difficult journey of the freedom struggle, from militia activities to Yekîtiya Star, from Yekîtiya Star to Kongra Star. Hisên said: “Before 2016, there was a woman’s legacy stretching from Damascus to Dêrîk. Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] laid the foundation of this legacy in terms of social, political and education. Yekîtiya Star was founded in 2005, based on the experience of the 80s. From 2005 to 2016, the discussion about how to establish the system and how to organize after the revolution was deep and inspiring. As the result of this discussion, Kongra Star was established.

Organization through the family

Cîhan Hisên noted that after the establishment of Kongra Star, they primarily trained families, children and young people through women in order to raise awareness and added: “On this basis, it was one of our main goals to organize through the family. Thus, it organized itself in society and worked within society and the revolution.”

YPJ is part of this system

Cîhan Hisên said: “If an organization wants to develop in terms of politics and diplomacy, the defense mechanism is definitely a priority. We responded to this with the establishment of the YPJ.”

New economic projects

Kongra Star organizes itself according to Democratic Confederalism. Cîhan Hisên says that this means the YPJ on one side and the economy on the other, and added: “Kongra Star has led the way across the North East Syria Region in terms of economy. In many provinces, districts and villages, livelihood projects were carried out for women. Another of our goals is to create new economic projects in NorthEast Syria and so reach tens of thousands of women.”

The efforts of the Education Committee

Hisên continued: “Our Education Committee worked hard to raise awareness among Kurdish, Arab, Armenian, Assyrian and Circassian women and to spread the science of women, and valuable results were achieved. Our education system was also beneficial for women. Our education system is effective in changing the patriarchal mentality and creating a democratic family. With this education system, we also emptied the targets set by the enemy.”

North East Syrian Women’s Assembly

Cîhan Hisên said that the North East Syrian Women’s Assembly was established after the birth of Kongra Star and added that “such an assembly was needed in order to gather all parties, institutions, organizations and nations under one roof. The announcement of the North East Syria Women’s Assembly was actually one of the targets set by Kongra Star.”

Hisên said that they have representatives in some European countries, as well as in Lebanon, Bashur Kurdistan and Damascus. “Our goal is to reach the whole world. As Kongra Star, we did not only reach Kurdish women. Kongra Star organizes through the Democratic Confederalism project and sets goals and projects involving other components. As Kongra Star and Kurdish women, we led Armenian, Syriac, Arab and Circassian women. This system has had great effects on other societies. Our model will appeal to all nations. Beyond that, we need to work harder for a more effective, permanent and organized system.”

Part Six

52 women’s organizations have been getting organised more efficiently under the umbrella of the Women’s Assembly of North-East Syria.

The Women’s Assembly of North-East Syria was established on 14 June 2019 based on three main principles. The Assembly, which includes 52 women’s movements from Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Armenians, Chaldeans, Turkmen and Circassians, is currently drafting a constitution for the future of Syria.

The Women’s Assembly Coordination Member Jîyan Hisên answered ANF’s questions about the development of women’s struggle in North-East Syria.

How did the idea of such an organization emerge? How was the preparatory work?

With 12 years of Yekîtiya Star experience, which was followed by Kongra Star, women liberated many areas during the course of the revolution and played a role in society in the fields of military, diplomacy, cultural, political and economy. Yet, there was no assembly that brought women together in a common environment. Each party, non-governmental organisation, political party, institution and organization carried out activities in its own field. After the liberation of Raqqa, Tabqa, Deir ez-Zor and Manbij, there was a need to form an assembly. Under the leadership of Kongra Star, women and their movements in the region took a major step in 2019 following an agreement that there should be a women’s assembly to unite other assemblies in all fields. A preparatory committee visited political parties, non-governmental organizations and independent institutions and organizations in the region. The purpose was to establish women’s assemblies for all activities and to gather them under one roof. All the organizations that were visited presented a favourable opinion about the project. Gathering women under one roof was a reaction against both occupation and femicide.

When and where was the Women’s Assembly of North-East Syria established, what organizations does it include?

The Congress to found the Women’s Assembly of North-East Syria was held in Amude on June 14, 2019. The draft charter of the assembly, designed by the Preparatory Committee, was submitted to the congress and approved. On June 11, 2021, the 1st Congress was held. Within the Women’s Assembly of North-East Syria, there are 52 women’s movements and organizations that include women’s assemblies, 18 non-governmental organizations, Chaldean, Syriac, Circassian, Armenian and Turkmen peoples and independent institutions and organizations.

Two representatives from each organization take place in the assembly. Before the establishment of Zenobiya Women’s Community, there had been representative agencies in liberated areas. Each region had three representatives. Women representatives and women’s youth organizations from the Autonomous Administration institutions are also included, as well as some independent women.

How many offices does the assembly have and where?

Originally, there was no intention of forming assemblies in all provinces. We just wanted to establish a central office in Qamishlo. We wanted to carry out our activities through representatives which were already organized in all provinces. However, with the occupation of Serêkaniyê and Girê Spî and the movement restriction after the Covid-19 pandemic, it was necessary to open a central office to carry out our activities more efficiently in other regions such as Kobanê, Raqqa, Tabqa and Deir ez-Zor. Thus, a central office was opened in Raqqa. Based in Qamishlo and Raqqa, our activities take place across North-East Syria.

What committees does the assembly have and on what basis are its activities carried out?

After the assembly was founded, two committees came to the fore; the Women’s Law Committee and the Constitutional Committee. Afterwards, the Women’s Organizations Action Platform was established.

Concerning the activities of the Women’s Law Committee, the Women’s House and the Women’s Justice Council were established in 2014. These were promoting the revolution. The laws enacted were restricted to the Cizîre Region due to attacks. After a discussion of ways to develop it, it was concluded that everyone from all over North-East Syria should take part in this committee, and it was thus expanded. A draft concerning the activities of this committee was prepared until the first congress of the Women’s Assembly of North-East Syria. The draft was approved at the congress. Afterwards, this committee was able to carry out its activities efficiently everywhere. We used to call it ‘women’s law‘, but it was changed into ‘family law’ to include children and families. We put this law into practice in the Cizîre region. In the future, we will gather women and present it to them in Kobanê, Shehba and liberated areas. It is more urgent in those regions.

Concerning the activities of the Constitutional Committee, we established this committee throughout North-East Syria as we believed that a solution could only be offered there under the leadership of women. Representatives of all peoples take place in it. It introduced a strong outline of what the women of North-East Syria want for the future of Syria, and it continues to work effectively. It was founded to meet the demands of the whole society, especially of all women in Syria. Institutions other than the assembly were also asked for their opinions. We wanted to be ready in advance by the time the Syrian Constitutional Committee work kicked off. This committee was established on this basis.

Moreover, the Women’s Organizations Action Platform was founded. The activities of this platform, which had been carried out within Kongra Star before, were transferred to the assembly. This platform was established to mark important days and to take action against attacks directed against women.

Has there been any disruption to the goals of the Assembly?

With our organization based in North-East Syria, we set the goal of reaching women and their movements in Syria, the Middle East and all over the world. We also organized online forums due to the travel restrictions introduced in the region for different reasons. We are working to spread the achievements and experiences gained through the revolution to the whole world. Women in the Middle East who participate in these forums express that they take inspiration from this revolution.

The attacks and embargo against the region affect the work of the assembly negatively. Without these, our work would have been more efficient. We discuss ways to overcome these shortcomings in the future. We hope to overcome them quicker through the congresses we hold every two years.

Women have been most subjected to the brutality of ISIS. The Democratic Nation project has liberated women from ISIS slavery. When ISIS killed women everywhere, the Women’s Defense Units (YPJ) fighters became hope for women. The ancient city Manbij is located 30 kilometers west of the Euphrates River. The city was also attacked and controlled by many terrorist groups such as Free Syrian Army (FSA), Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS. The city was last occupied by ISIS and the city was liberated on August 15, 2016 from ISIS by the Manbij Military Council (MMC) and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Establishment of the Manbij Civilian Assembly

The number of women working for the Manbij Civil Administration is now 3,392. The number of women administrators in education is 29. The number of women teachers working in the city and its rural areas is 2,487. The number of women working for NGOs in the city is 3,200. The number of women in the political parties is 28. The city was governed by the Manbij Civilian Assembly which was established when the offensive was launched to liberate the Serin town of Kobanê. On March 12, 2017, the Manbij Democratic Civil Administration, having 13 committees, including a Women’s Committee, was formed.

“They first attacked women”

Speaking about why the Syrian crisis continues for a long time, Nisrîn El-Elî, spokesperson of the Zenûbiya Women’s Community, said, “Today, the occupying Turkish state supports ISIS and the national army, which controlled Serê Kaniyê and Girê Spî. It also supports the armed factions controlling Afrin. With such support, ISIS took the control of Manbij, Raqqa, Tebqa and Deir ez-Zor. Many women living in these cities were abducted, raped and killed. The women were sold to the members of jihadist groups. Many women killed themselves in order that they would not face this atrocity. ISIS aimed to control women in order to control their society because ISIS knew that women are the power of their society.”

“It has changed the thoughts“

Underlining that the women of Manbij will always remember the liberation of their city because they will never forget that happy day, Nisrîn El-Elî said, “When the city was liberated, women were liberated from injustice and brutal practices. August 15 is the day of resurrection for women. The Revolution in Rojava and the liberation of Manbij are an important opportunity for women to prove themselves. The liberation of Manbij paves the way for women’s participation in all spheres of life. It has also changed the thoughts of society against women.”

“We will reach all women”

Stating that the Zenûbiya Women’s Community has reached 40 percent of women during its six-year struggle, Nisrîn El-Elî said, “Many women have joined us to build a conscious, political and ethical society. We have not reached all women yet but we try to reach all women. We participate in decision-making mechanisms. However, we still face customs and traditions that prevent us from reaching all women. As women, we will struggle and achieve gains together.”

“We have learned more about ourselves”

Hiba Dada, Spokesperson of the Women’s Committee of the Manbij Democratic Civil Administration, told us that they have experienced great changes since the liberation of Manbij. “After the liberation of the city, the women living in the city began to learn more about themselves. I am also one of these women. We have learned more about ourselves. We have learned what we did not know.”

Emphasizing that the Manbij Democratic Civil Administration’s Women’s Committee has played an important role for women to achieve gains, Hiba Dada said, “Providing job opportunities for women is one of the main responsibilities of the Women’s Committee. We have carried out many projects for women in the cooperation of the Free Women’s Foundation and Women’s Economy Committee. All projects have been carried out by women. We support the women, who want to work but are prevented by their families. We convince the families to allow their daughters to participate in the labor force. When I started working for the committee, I did not know anything about my rights. But I have learned my rights after being involved in the activities of the committee.” 

Women have been leading a historical revolution in a small country of the world. While the brutal attacks of ISIS on Rojava have been repelled by the resistance of women, their resistance encourages all women around the world. Despite the ongoing attacks on Rojava, women organize them in all areas, from economy to ecology, from politics to diplomacy. Yekitiya Star announced its foundation in 2005 under the pressure of the Baathist regime. After holding its sixth congress, the name of Yekitiya Star was changed to its current name of Kongra Star. Kongra Star, which has carried out important activities for women in Rojava, has 12 committees aiming to build the Democratic Nation.

Women of Rojava showed a historical resistance against ISIS in front of the world. They have carried out important activities in all areas despite ongoing attacks on Rojava. They have become stronger by organizing themselves in every part of life, from economy to art, from social life to politics, from ecology to diplomacy. Yekitiya Star is one of the most important organizations for women. Yekitiya Star was founded on January 15, 2005, to be the voice of women living in North, West, and East Syria, and the name of this organization was changed to its current name of Kongra Star on February 25, 2016, after the 6th congress of the Yekitiya Star. Kongra Star organized itself in North, West, and East Syria, Lebanon, Europe, and Federal Kurdistan Region. Kongra Star consists of 12 main committees; education, social affairs, politics, diplomacy, self-defense, law, economy, finance, culture and arts, media, ecology, and health committees. We have prepared an article series consisting of 10 articles about the activities, committees of the Kongra Star. In the first article, we give information about the foundation of Yekitiya Star, its activities after changing its name to Kongra Star.

First Yekitiya Star was founded

On January 15, 2005, Yekitiya Star was founded despite the pressure of the Baathist regime. Yekitiya Star, the voice of women in Rojava, held secret meetings at homes to organize training for women. Yekitiya Star, which secretly carried out all its activities for women and society, formed a unity among Kurdish women from Dêrik to Afrin. It organized women for the International Women’s Day and Newroz celebrations. It had an important role in the Revolution in Rojava. It first carried out activities in small groups and then expanded its organization network.

Women changed the name of their organization

On February 25, 2016, the Yekitiya Star held its 6th congress and the congress decided to change its name from Yekitiya Star to its current name of Kongra Star. Kongra Star has carried out its activities in many areas through communes and cooperatives with the motto, “Society can’t be free unless the women are free”. It carries out important works in Syria, Rojava, and NE Syria and aims to be an organization that will be a model in the Middle East. Aiming to create a women’s revolution in all regions, Kongra Star is ideologically based on Democratic Confederalism. It has representation offices in Federal Kurdistan Region, Lebanon, and Europe. It struggles for democracy, ecology, and women’s freedom. It aims to build a free Rojava, a democratic Syria, and the Middle East.

It struggles against all forms of patriarchal mindsets

Kongra Star holds a congress every two years. It struggles against all forms of patriarchal mindsets, colonial politics, assimilation, massacres, and capitalism. It sees the Women’s Defense Units (YPJ) as the defense force of women.

The aim is to build a democratic life

Struggling against all gendered discourses and patriarchal mindsets, Kongra Star aims to build an equal life between men and women with the democratic family model. Fighting against nationalist, sectarian, and chauvinist ideologies, Kongra Star is building an equal, peaceful, and democratic life for ethnic and religious groups in Rojava and NE Syria. It stands against cultural genocide and keeps cultural values alive. Solving the Kurdish political problems and problems faced by women are among its aims. It defends the co-presidency system and includes women in the decision-making processes in both political and social life. It fights against all forms of violence and strengthens women’s self-defense. It also strengthens the social justice mechanism in the region. It defends children’s rights and contributes to their development. It also protects nature. It stands against the destructive practices of Capitalist Modernity. It works to increase women’s participation in the labor force and develops projects to support women’s economy.

Communes and assemblies

Kongra Star organizes itself through communes, assemblies, academies, cooperatives, and committees. Communes work to build an ethical and political society in villages, neighborhoods. Each member of the Kongra Star takes part in a commune. Every member has to be a member of the commune where she lives. The communes solve their political, social, economic, and self-defense problems by themselves.

Democratic elections

Assemblies are formed in towns, regions, and cantons. They work coordinately with each other. Representatives of general assemblies of the Kongra Star hold their meetings and provide training programs. Women participate in politics through assemblies. They form commissions based on the Democratic Nation and then form committees. The elections of the assemblies are democratic elections.

Free science and thought

Kongra Star aims to institutionalize women’s revolution through academies. Kongra Star paves the way for women to educate themselves and improve their ideological, political, democratic, philosophical, social, cultural, and scientific awareness. The Kongra Star has developed education programs for the development of free science and thought. It opens academies according to the needs of the committees.

Women participate in the economy

Cooperatives are a production part of women’s communal revolution. Cooperatives are not only about economic integration but also a field where democratic communal culture is born and the seeds of coexistence are planted. In contrast to capitalism and industrialism, a communal and ecological economy is developed. Kongra Star develops projects to support and empower women’s economy. It aims to overcome women’s unemployment, promote equal and fair economic development, and make invisible women’s labor visible.

12 committees of Kongra Star

Committees of Kongra Star work coordinately with communities and assemblies in order to organize all areas of social life. Each committee has its own regulations and they carry out their activities according to these regulations. Kongra Star consists of 12 committees and carries out its works regularly.

Education and Academy Committee

The Education and Academy Committee works to raise awareness of women and society and to develop women intellectually. It aims to support the development of the intellectual revolution and build an ethical and political society. It organizes women’s education policies and women’s academies. It focuses on women’s issues with a free life perspective. It strengthens the education system, establishes alternative institutions and organizations. It also coordinates academies.

Social Committee

The main purpose of the Social Committee is to develop society scientifically. It develops projects for all people, victims of war, immigrants, veterans, people with disabilities, and elders. It carries out activities for women and society to have a Democratic Nation consciousness. It also carries out activities for women, children, youth and it focuses on many issues such as immigration, unemployment, child labor, and child abuse and on solving these problems.

Political Committee

The Political Committee works to increase women’s participation in local and international politics. It is responsible for developing effective, strong, strategic, and tactical politics. It organizes meetings with women’s organizations of political parties to be in solidarity with them. Contrary to the male-dominated system, it defends democratic self-management with the participation of women. It performs the co-presidency system in democratic political institutions and organizations. It forms national and international networks for women. It works coordinately with the diplomacy committee.

Diplomacy Committee

The Diplomacy Committee is responsible for organizing and promoting women’s diplomatic work. It carries out activities for Kurdish women’s national unity and common struggle. It forms women’s platforms with organizations struggling against femicides, capitalism, fascism, and the male-dominated system. It also carries out activities to give information about the women’s revolution and to protect the common heritage of women in the world and the Middle East. It works coordinately with the Political Committee.

Self-Defense Committee

The Self-Defense Committee defends women’s democratic confederalism and self-defense against all attacks of the male-dominated system. It organizes society to strengthen their struggle against the nation-state, occupation forces, and special and psychological war policies. It also organizes women in self-defense forces.

Law and Justice Committee

The Law and Justice Committee is responsible for delivering justice and improving the institutionalization of women. While the committee plays a leading role in promoting social justice, it carries out a legal struggle based on social justice. It also strengthens women’s self-defense on a legal basis.

Economic Committee

The Economic Committee organizes women in the economy while developing the communal economy. The Economic Committee is responsible for the organization of women’s economic activities. It struggles against capitalist neoliberal economic policies and supports a social-ecological economy. It ensures the participation of people from the villages in the economy. The committee supports women’s cooperatives and organizes women’s economic academies, economy councils, and communes.

Finance Committee

The Finance Committee is responsible for systematizing, empowering, and organizing women’s financial activities. Its main duty is to carry out financial studies. It works coordinately with the Economic Committee.

Culture and Art Committee

The Culture and Arts Committee struggles against cultural genocide. It carries out many activities to preserve and develop the cultures. It works for the culture, art, language, and literature of the Kurdish and Syrian people. It defends that all people should have education in their mother language. It establishes cultural and artistic organizations. It works in the cultural part of the women’s revolution. It develops projects with women. It also carries out activities in language and literature.

Press Committee

The Press Committee is responsible for promoting women’s democratic social values, as well as women’s struggle, resistance, and revolutionary developments for women’s liberation. It struggles in the field of the press against the ongoing special and psychological war policies. It introduces women’s revolution all around the world and makes the Kongra Star’s activities and work heard. It struggles against sexist approaches and perceptions in the press.

Health Committee

The Health Committee is responsible for developing and organizing women’s health work. It struggles against capitalist policies in the health sector. It works for everyone to benefit from health care equally based on the paradigm of a democratic nation. It works coordinately with women’s organizations.

Ecology Committee

The Ecology Committee focuses on everything including water, people, nature, soil, and plants. It aims to raise awareness of people to protect water, soil, and nature. It struggles against all anti-nature practices and aims to create a balance among people, nature, and all living creatures. It fights against sexism to build a democratic and ecological society.

Part 2: Remziye Mihemed: Despite the pressure, we left our mark in history

Remziye Mihemed: Despite the pressure, we left our mark in history Emphasizing that they continue to work despite the pressure by inheriting the legacy of resistance of many women such as Beritan, Zarif, Leyla, and Zilan, Remziye Mihemed, one of the first members of Yekitiya Star, says “We have been determined to be organized. Despite the pressures, we left our mark on history.”

Emphasizing that they continue to work despite the pressure by inheriting the legacy of resistance of many women such as Beritan, Zarif, Leyla, and Zilan, Remziye Mihemed, one of the first members of Yekitiya Star, says “We have been determined to be organized. Despite the pressures, we left our mark on history.”

Remziye Mihemed, one of the first members of Yekitiya Star, is current the spokesperson of the Kongra Star. She told us the works she has carried out since the foundation of the Yekitiya Star. Stating that Yekitiya Star was founded for women of Rojava Kurdistan, Remziye Mihemed said, “At that time, Yekitiya Star had contact with women’s movements, its activities were illegal. It was founded in 2005 for women in Rojava Kurdistan to organize themselves. Women of Rojava Kurdistan made their works heard for the first time through Yekitiya Star. Dozens of women organized themselves under the umbrella of Yekitiya Star despite the pressure of the Baathist regime. At that time, the Kurds weren’t recognized and they were killed in Rojava Kurdistan.  They weren’t allowed to carry out their political work. And we couldn’t carry out legal activities.”

Dozens of women from each city

Stating that women, whose children were fighting or who lost their children, were members of the Yekitiya Star, Remziye Mihemed said, “Mothers, who had pain in the heart, took part in the works of the Yekitiya Star. At that time, we aimed to increase the number of women even more. Dozens of women from each city took part in the works. The mothers of Rojava were the strong pillar of the Yekitiya Star since they led the activities. Education and science were not advanced than today, but the sacrifice was very strong.”

Secret meetings

Emphasizing that Yekitiya Star was the first organization of the women of Rojava Kurdistan, Remziye Mihemed continued to talk as follows: “At that time, they were political parties but women couldn’t take part in them. For this reason, we needed to organize ourselves. We, as Yekitiya Star, left our mark in history. Yes, Yekitiya Star consisted of Kurdish women, but women from other ethnic groups could also participate in its works. We carried out our struggle under the umbrella of Yekitiya Star. We wanted to eliminate violence by combating violence against women. We chose the name Star because we wanted to have a name from history. We held secret meetings in houses.”

“Many of our members were arrested”

Speaking about the pressure of the Baathist regime against them, Remziye Mihemed said, “We carried out our activities in secret so that no one would denounce us. When the state heard about our meetings, it began to attack us. We organized activities for the International Women’s Day and Newroz celebrations in a secret way. We couldn’t decorate the areas of the demonstrations before people came together. When there were masses, the pressure of the Baathist regime decreased and they couldn’t attack us. Only mothers could carry out activities due to the pressure of the Baathist regime.  Young people couldn’t take part in the activities because the Baathist regime arrested them. After we began to organize ourselves under the umbrella of Yekitiya Star, the pressure of the Baathist regime increased. The Baathist regime detained and arrested dozens of members. Some of them were held in prison for years. Many women were threatened. When their threats didn’t work, they arrested the women. They wanted the Baathist regime to be the only organization in the region. They threatened families to not take part in other organizations. But the mothers kept working despite all the pressure.”

“The anger of mothers was stronger”

Stating that they organized many actions after the foundation of the Yekitiya Star, Remziye Mihemed said, “After the foundation of the Yekitiya Star, we organized mass marches, rallies, and celebrations. The regime attacked us as we held stronger actions. The regime didn’t allow us to carry out our activities. When the regime couldn’t find our location, the mothers said “This protest is not enjoyable today”. When the regime attacked, the anger of mothers became stronger. Despite the attacks, our will was strong and the mothers’ stance was stronger than the violence of the regime. Women were organized and we worked for the freedom of women.”

They carry out the struggle of Leyla, Zarife…

Underlining that the women’s freedom movement struggles for women, Remziye Mihemed said, “We wanted to focus on our activities. Many women such as Beritan and Zilan struggled for Kurdish women to come out of the darkness. We knew that the pressures of the Baathist regime would decrease as we consciously carried out our work. As Kurds, we couldn’t give our children a Kurdish name. Our will was not recognized in society. As women got to know their history, they grew their struggles. Many women such as Leyla Qasim and Zarife waged a great struggle. Women in Rojava Kurdistan have also waged their struggle with this legacy.”

Education in Kurdish

Mentioning that women carried out activities for peace, Remziye Mihemed said, “Yekitiya Star didn’t have assemblies as Kongra Star. We named mothers as the mothers of peace so that they could carry out their activities. Those mothers solved the problems of families and tribes in society. They solved all problems faced by women and they went wherever there was violence against women. When our members were arrested, the mothers went to the courts in Aleppo and Damascus and protested their arrest. Many mothers went to the village of Leader Apo (Abdullah Öcalan) on his birthday. The mothers protect the Kurdish language. For this reason, the regime couldn’t assimilate our language. Some mothers gave Kurdish courses in a secret way. There were Kurdish courses on Fridays. The number of children attending the courses was less but we couldn’t protect our language. After the revolution, our children have been able to have education in Kurdish. We even have universities today.”

“We were determined to struggle”

Underlining that young women also carried out their activities in secret, Remziye Mihemed said that they founded young women’s assemblies after the revolution. Noting that the journey they started with a few people was crowned with the Rojava Revolution today, she said, “We formed the Women’s Defense Unit (YPJ). We held our first congress outside of Rojava Kurdistan. For this reason, many couldn’t attend the congress. I and Mother Esma attended the congress as members of the Yekitiya Star Coordination. When we heard our first congress would be held, we felt very happy. One of our mothers named Fatma Hesen from Aleppo took part in the coordination. Mother Zehe from Kobanî carried out activities for the coordination. Naima from Damascus and Welide Boti from Hesekê carried out important works for the coordination. As the coordination, we held a meeting once a month to discuss our works. Despite everything, we were determined to struggle. Mother Eyşe was from Kobanî, she was sentenced to one year in prison. The Baathist regime always targeted mothers and arrested them. Esma and Reyhan were sentenced to three months in prison. Rojin Remo and the martyr Rojin were held in the Baathist regime’s prisons for three years. But they kept working after their release.”

“Women rose up in many cities”

Pointing out the resistance in 2004 after the massacre of Kurdish children, Remziye Mihemed said, “The Baathist regime killed Kurdish children at the football stadium in Qamishlo on March 12, 2004. After this event, the people saw the real face of the Baathist regime. Women’s organizations played an important role at that time. Kurds rose up in many cities such as Derik and Damascus. This uprising was led by women. At that time, many men were arrested. Women weren’t arrested because of their customs. Women took part in every protest. As the protests spread, the Baathist regime began to arrest politicians and members of the Yekitiya Star. The Baathist regime began to attack women because it couldn’t break the will of people.”

The second congress was held in Qamishlo

Stating that they held their congress every two years, Remziye Mihemed said, “When we founded the Yekitiya Star, we decided to hold our congress every two years. We held our second congress in the Emis village of Qamishlo. Women across Syria attended the congress. We held our second congress in secret from the Baathist regime with the participation of 65 women. Even the delegates who attended congress hadn’t known that they would attend the congress. We prepared our banners in a secret way. Our congress lasted two days. The Emis village is a museum for us now. We held our third congress in the Kefrexiz village of Aleppo. In 2011, we held our fourth congress in Afrin. At that time, we had our women’s defense units and they protected the women attending the congress. The number of our delegates was 150. As the Kurdish people, we led the revolution with years of experience. All the people supported the revolution.”

“We changed the name of Yekitiya Star”

Emphasizing that all peoples saw the Yekitiya Star as a model organization, Remziye Mihemed said, “The Arab women organized themselves under the umbrella of Zenûbiya. Many Arabs took part in the Autonomous Administration. Autonomous Administration was built on the foundation of the Democratic Nation and defended women’s representation. We realized that Yekitiya Star had grown and it wasn’t enough for us anymore. We wanted people from different ethnic groups to join us. For this reason, we changed the name of Yekitiya Star to its current name of Kongra Star. Many mothers, who worked for the Yekitiya Star died. We bow our heads respectfully before their memory. We learned many things from them. We keep working with the strength we get from them. We will continue to work with the legacy of resistance of many women.”

Mala Jin (Women’s House, a kind of women’s shelter) was first opened in Qamishlo. Now, it has 62 branches across northeastern Syria. It has become a space of hope and solution for women in the region and a role model for the whole world.

Women of Rojava began to organize themselves under the umbrella of Yekitiya in 2004. After the July 19th Revolution, they established many organizations and institutions. One of these institutions is Mala Jin, which manages to be the voices of women facing challenges. Mala Jin (Women’s House, a kind of women’s shelter) was first opened in Qamishlo. All members and employees of the Mala Jin are mothers. They support and help women facing problems and violence. NuJINHA spoke to the members and employees of the Mala Jin to learn more about their activities.

The revolution led by women

One of the nations that have been deprived of their rights for centuries is the Kurdish people. The Kurdish people have always been subjected to the oppression and cruelty of the governments. The Sykes–Picot Agreement divided Kurdistan into four parts. Eastern, Northern and Western Kurds were left alone against the assimilation policies. However, before the governments achieved these goals, they faced the resistance and struggle of the Kurdish people. The Kurdish people living in Rojava succeeded in turning the Arab Spring into the revolution in Rojava. The people of Rojava, who lived under the pressure of the Baathist regime for decades, were able to realize the July 19th Revolution led by women.

Kurds did not accept surrender

The ruling powers used many armed factions such as Al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham, Sultan Murad Division and lastly ISIS in order to end the revolution of women and peoples. While these factions attacked the achievements of the revolution, they abducted, killed and raped women and carried out mass massacres against the civilians. Despite everything, the Kurds never accepted surrender and fought these factions. This spark grew and spread to Manbij, Tabka, Raqqa and finally Deir ez-Zor where mostly the Arabs live. Thanks to the revolution of women and peoples, Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, and Armenians organize themselves today around the Democratic Modernity Project presented by Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.

Society can be liberated through the liberation of women

The problems faced by women are the source of all problems broken out in all societies. The situation of women in their society reflects the society itself because society can be liberated through the liberation of women. Women used to be the source of life because they defended the equal, participatory, fair and communal life in society. However, the dominant, sly and tricky patriarchal mentality stole the roles of women in their societies and deprived them of all their rights. When the rights of women were stolen from them, the social structure was completely broken down and the nation state thinking only of its own interests took to the stage. The destruction of societies began with the enslavement of women. For this reason, women should break the chains of slavery in order for the society to have willpower again. Women should play their leading role in their societies to rebuild an equal and fair life.

Establishment of Mala Jin

Mala Jin was established in Qamishlo on March 20, 2011. It has many branches across North and East Syria now. It aims to stand against inhuman practices faced by women and children with the philosophy of equal society, democratic family culture and free-equal life by carrying out awareness-raising activities. It carries out its activities in cooperation with women’s committees in the region.

It has 62 branches

Mala Jin has a Peace Assembly, Education Committee, Justice Assembly, Press Committee to support women and children. It has 62 branches across northeastern Syria. While organizing under the umbrella of the Kongra Star, Mala Jin carries out activities to seek solutions to the problems of society and women. It has 11 branches in Qamishlo Canton, 10 in Hasakah Canton, four in Afrin Canton, eight in Kobanê, two in Raqqa, five in Manbij, six in Deir ez-Zor, 11 in Tabqa and a branches in the Zorava neighborhood of Damascus, the capital of Syria. Mala Jin also has two branches to solve the problems faced by Syriac women.

Membership Terms

Membership applications to Mala Jin were sent to all branches of Mala Jin in North and East Syria. The applications are also evaluated by the Autonomous Administration and civil institutions. Those who want to be a member of Mala Jin must know their communities and want to serve for their communities. They should submit their applications giving information about themselves to Mala Jin. They should be over 18. When their applications are approved, they should receive training courses held by the Scientific Academy.

Organizational structure of Mala Jin

All members of the Peace Committee and women’s committees are also the members of the Mala Jin. All members of the Peace Committee are also council members of the Mala Jin. The council members who received the most votes are also spokespersons of the Mala Jin’s branches in their cantons. Three council members are elected by Mala Jin.

Weekly and monthly meetings

Mala Jin is responsible for controlling the works of the committees. The members of the Mala Jin prepare a monthly report on their actions, activities and financial situation. The members hold weekly and monthly meetings to discuss the activities of Mala Jin. The committees affiliated to the Mala Jin hold a meeting every week. All members of the Mala Jin hold a meeting every week and submit their reports to the council members.

Social Peace Committee

The Peace Committee is responsible for finding solutions to all problems faced by women. A representative of Mala Jin monitors/ follows the trials about women held by courts.

Education Committee

The Education Committee is responsible for organizing educational programs and courses for women. It holds seminars on women’s rights and activities.

Press Committee

The Press Committee is responsible for documenting and archiving all activities carried out by the Mala Jin. It documents the applications submitted to Mala Jin. It publishes all decisions, statements made by the Mala Jin on their website.

Women’s Social Committee

The Women’s Social Committee is responsible for monitoring the situation of women in all communes. It carries out awareness-raising activities for people with disabilities. It works coordinately with the committees of Kongra Star in order to support women and meet their needs.

Women’s Justice Council

The Women’s Justice Council works coordinately with all institutes and organizations of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria to ensure justice. A representative of Mala Jin takes part in the Women’s Justice Council to solve unresolved cases.

Mala Jin “Eşterot” for Syriac women

Two branches of Mala Jin were opened in Hasakah and Qamishlo under the name of “Eşterot” for Syriac women with the support of the Autonomous Administration and Women’s Justice Council in order to raise awareness of Syriac women and solve their family problems.

Part Two Îlham Omer: When we started, we were three women but now there are thousands of women

Stating that Mala Jin aims to ensure democracy and equality, Cizîre Region Mala Jin Board member Îlham Omer said, “We founded Mala Jinê as three women, now thousands of women work for it.”

Great developments have been taking place in North and East Syria since the revolution in Rojava was realized. The Kurdish women managed to turn the revolution in Rojava into the women’s revolution. Today, the Kurdish women lead the Democratic Modernity system presented by Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. Mala Jin has been playing an important role in the development of the revolution so that women can protect their own identity. Today, women all around the world are inspired by the women’s revolution in Rojava. NuJINHA spoke to Îlham Omer, one of the founders of Mala Jin.

“There was a great need for the establishment of Mala Jin”

Stating that Mala Jin was established in 2011, Îlham Omer said, “The revolution was realized in Rojava Kurdistan and we carried out activities for both the revolution and society. There was a great need for the establishment of Mala Jin in society. Mala Jin was first established in Qamishlo because there were opportunities in the city to establish it. There were conflicts and clashes across Syria and people flocked to our region because it was a safe place for them. We felt the need to create a space for women.”

“We have 62 branches in northeastern Syria”

Indicating that Mala Jin has 62 branches in northeastern Syria, she said, “After opening Mala Jin in Qamishlo, we opened its branches across Rojava Kurdistan. After the liberation of Manbij, Tabka, Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor from ISIS, we opened branches in these cities. Two branches of Mala Jin were opened for Syriac women under the name of “Eşterot”. We have a branch in a refugee camp for women refugees in camps.”

“We have committees”

Underlining that Mala Jin has its own charter and program, she said, “We carry out our activities through our committees; Peace Committee, Education Committee, Justice Committee and Press Committee. The Court of Justice was founded in 2011 and our Peace Committee works coordinately with the Court of Justice. We can say that the people trust Mala Jin after they get to know more about Mala Jin. Today, even men apply to Mala Jin when they face problems. They seek solutions for their problems by applying to Mala Jin.”

“Mala Jin is a role model for the whole world”

Stating that the Women’s Justice Council was established in 2016, she said, “After the establishment of the council, it started raising awareness all around the world. Thousands of people all around the world have visited our region to learn more about our system.  The women of the Peace Committee, Women’s Justice Council and Mala Jin often come together to discuss and find solutions to the problems faced by women in the region. Mala Jin is a role model for the whole world now.”

“There is equality and justice in Mala Jin”

Emphasizing that they do their best to find solutions to the problems faced by women, Îlham Omer said, “Mala Jin works to solve the problems faced by women, children, men and families. We carry out awareness-raising activities for both women and men because there is equality and justice in Mala Jin.”

“Mothers work for Mala Jin”

Speaking about why all members and employees of the Mala Jin are mothers, she said, “In the Middle East, old people are always respected. Mothers work for Mala Jin so that the society sees Mala Jin as an important and respected organization. When we have new members, the mothers carry out activities to educate the new members. Mothers have more experiences and they find solutions to the social problems with their experiences. Our people listen to old people with respect. But old people should be open to changes. In time, we adapt to changes. After the women’s law was enacted in 2014, we learned very well how to approach women’s problems. The women’s law defends gender equality.”

“We saved 56 women in 2021”

Speaking about the smear campaigns against Mala Jin, Îlham Omer said, “We faced a smear campaign trying to show Mala Jin as a divorce house. Our response to such smear campaigns is that Mala Jin is a training center for both women and men. As Mala Jin, we have been subjected to many threats and rumors, but we have resisted all these challenges. In 2021, we saved 56 women from committing suicide and being killed. As the women’s movement, we have a principle; wherever we go, we set up and run our own system. All cases brought to Mala Jin end with the consent of both parties. Our aim is not only to heal wounds but also to raise awareness of the public.”

“Mala Jin was awarded in France”

Recalling that Mala Jin was awarded in France, Îlham Omer said, “Women have taken great steps in Rojava Kurdistan because they were mothers, sisters, wives and friends. Women have led the revolution in Rojava and achieved great gains. Mala Jin was awarded in France and this shows how we are successful. Women from different countries came to our region, they were impressed when they learned our system. We were told that they want to build this system in their countries.”

They fight child marriage and polygamy

“We have found solutions to many problems,” Îlham Omer said, “However, the rate of child marriage and polygamy has been increasing. We have carried out awareness-raising activities to end child marriage and polygamy.” 

“Thousands of women work for Mala Jin”

Stating that many developments have taken place after the revolution in Rojava, she said, “One of these developments is the establishment of Mala Jin. Many journalists, researchers and politicians visit Mala Jin and they are impressed by the works of Mala Jin. We founded Mala Jinê as three women, now thousands of women work for it. After the Deir ez-Zor region was liberated from ISIS, Arab women flocked to Mala Jin and asked us to find solutions to their problems.”

“Mala Jin is a space for women”

Calling on women to visit Mala Jin to find solutions to the problems faced by them, Îlham Omer said, “Mala Jin is a space for women to find solutions to the problems faced by them. We call on all women living in Rojava to take steps to liberate themselves and to liberate society without fear. We work coordinately with Kongra Star and mothers of all women.”

Part 3 “Women are the basis of justice”

Indicating that the Women’s Justice Council working coordinately with Mala Jin has resolved hundreds of cases, Henîfe Mihemed said,” Women are the basis of justice. Justice and equality cannot be ensured without women.

The Women’s Justice Council working coordinately with Mala Jin solves unresolved cases relating to women. The council plays an important role in society and aims to ensure democracy and equality in society. Since its establishment, it has resolved hundreds of cases and become a key for resolving social problems. In 2021, the council resolved 169 cases relating to women. And it has resolved 302 cases in the last four months. NuJINHA spoke to Henîfe Mihemed, a member of the Qamishlo Women’s Justice Council, about the activities of the council.

The Women’s Justice Council was established in 2016

Stating that women’s works started under the umbrella of Yekîtiya Star, Henîfe Mihemed said, “When the Syrian crisis started and the revolution took place in Rojava Kurdistan, the need to establish social justice arose. So, women established the Women’s Justice Council in order to resolve social problems. Women are most affected by wars, conflicts and clashes. For this reason, we first established Mala Jin to find solutions to the problems faced by women. Then, we established the Women’s Justice Council in 2016 to protect women’s rights. The council is an independent organization and women make decisions about all issues. They make decisions about themselves and find solutions to the problems faced by them.”

“Women are the basis of justice”

Underlining that the council aims to ensure gender equality in society, she said, “Women are the basis of justice. For this reason, justice and equality cannot be ensured without women. With the emergence of sovereigns, women were left without a role and justice in society. The existing laws serve the existing system. We established the Women’s Justice Council with the motto, ‘Justice cannot be ensured without women’. Because women form the basis of society since they are the architects of justice, equality, culture and ethics. Equality cannot be ensured without them. Women are the meaning of life and they lead their societies with their existence. However, the existing system is the men’s system. That’s why people suffer from problems and inequality. The problems are created by men themselves. The most challenging thing for us is the patriarchal mentality in society.”

Women’s Justice Council and Mala Jin

Speaking about the relationship between Mala Jin and the Women’s Justice Council, Henîfe Mihemed said, “Mala Jin is part of justice. Mala Jin, Women’s Justice Council and Peace Assembly work coordinately with each other. Mala Jin works to resolve problems faced by women and when it cannot find any solutions to problems, it transfers the cases to the Women’s Justice Council. Mala Jin documents all cases and submits its report to the council. Then, the council resolves the problems. We determine our members.”

“It has saved hundreds of women from being killed”

Talking about the role of women in ensuring social justice, she said, “We have courts ruling about the cases. The people feel comfortable in courts. Many women and men apply to Mala Jin to find solutions to their problems. Women are also mothers so they always make fair decisions. Mala Jin has saved hundreds of women from being killed. Mala Jin works coordinately with all women’s organizations.”

“Thousands of cases have been resolved”

Speaking about the cases unsolved by Mala Jin, she said, “Mala Jin sends us reports about the unsolved cases. Most of the cases sent to us are social cases and the council launches investigations into these cases in order to make fair decisions. As women’s rights defenders, we have resolved thousands of cases until now. If a woman is subjected to violence, the women’s movement sends her to the women’s shelter. Then, Mala Jin protects her. We have archived the files of solved cases.”

“The problems have decreased but not ended”

Indicating that they have carried out many awareness-raising activities, she said, “In the past, the biggest problem in society was social media. Many young people were deceived on social media platforms. So, we launched a campaign to raise awareness of the public against the danger on social media platforms. In addition, the number of child marriage, polygamy and femicide case have been increasing. We have carried out awareness-raising activities to eliminate these phenomena. We have organized training programs and seminars according to the needs of society.”

“We aim to raise awareness of women”

Giving information about the seminars to be organized this year, she said, “We will organize seminars about women’s rights, free co-life, gender-based violence and women’s political participation. We will visit every house to raise awareness of women about their rights. Now, we suffer from a crisis and this crisis affects the whole society.” Henîfe Mihemed added that all women should seek their reality and said, “The women facing challenges should know that there are many women’s organizations and institutions supporting them. There are 62 Mala Jin branches across northeastern Syria and they can apply to them. We aim to develop our society and raise awareness of women.”

Part 4 Mala Jin plays an important role in all regions of North and East Syria.

Mala Jin members spoke to NuJINHA about their activities.

The Peace Council is the solution space for women and social problems. It is one of the achievements of the 2011 revolution. It plays an important role in society since it resolves disagreements in society. It also has an important role in communes. The members of the council consist of old people. One of the aims of the Peace Council and Mala Jin is to resolve the problems faced by women and society. The council was established to ensure peace, democracy and equality in society. Qamishlo Peace Council member Recih Salîh spoke to NuJINHA about the activities of the council.

“The main aim is to resolve problems”

Speaking about the aims of the Peace Council, Recih Salîh said, “The main aim of the Peace Council and Mala Jin is to resolve problems in society. Mala Jin, Women’s Justice Council and Peace Council work coordinately with each other to resolve the problems faced by women and society. When people apply us to resolve their problems, we try to understand the problems by listening to them. The council has both women and men members. When a woman asks for a safe space, she is directed to Mala Jin. We try to resolve problems between spouses, neighbors, siblings, and father-children. We listen to both parties and try to resolve the problems because one of our aims is to ensure equality in society. But we can say that 90% of women do not have any rights. The women’s revolution is the hope of women to achieve their rights. We never say that women should be superiors to men. We aim to ensure gender equality. We do not only build houses but also society. We aim to ensure equality and freedom for the whole society. When I demand equality, freedom and democracy at home, my children and grandchildren will also demand them.”

“Education is important to ensure equality”

Behiye Mûrad, a board member of Mala Jin, spoke to us about the role of the Education Committee in Mala Jin. She told us, “Education plays an important role in institutions and organizations of the Autonomous Administration. The Education Committee organizes educational programs for all institutions and organizations. Education is very important for Mala Jin. We both educate ourselves and other people. Mala Jin holds educational courses in cooperation with the Education Committee. We resolve social problems through education. We first educated ourselves in order to educate our society. As leader Apo (Abdullah Öcalan) said, education is more important than bread and water. Mala Jin aims to build an equal and common life for both women and men. We organize courses across North and East Syria about the roles of women in society, women’s history and rights. We also hold seminars on special days such as International Women’s Day and International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Our society suffers from many problems such as child marriage, polygamy, gender-based violence, bride exchange and forced marriage. We organize awareness-raising activities and training to end them.”

Mala Jin “Eşterot” for Syriac women

A branch of Mala Jin was opened in Qamishlo in September 2019 for Syriac women under the name of “Eşterot”. Eşterot is a space for Syriac women to find solutions to the problems faced by them. We spoke to a member of Eşterot about its activities.

Ayda Melkê, a member of Eşterot in Qamishlo, told us they named the Mala Jin for Syriac women after Ishtar, a Mesopotamian goddess. “In the beginning, the Syriac society did not believe that Eşterot would resolve the problems faced by women. For this reason, we faced challenges. After the people got to know more about the women’s house, women began to apply to us to find solutions to their problems. We had meetings with women to tell them that the women’s house works to protect their rights. The women, who are subjected to violence, apply to us and we do our best to end violence against them and provide a shelter for them. Now, five women work for Eşterot. All our committees work coordinately with each other to support women. Until now, we have resolved many problems. All Syriac women should come to Eşterot to find solutions to their problems because we are here to support them,” Ayda Melkê told us.

Mala Jin is a space for solution

Stating that the duty of Mala Jin is not only find solutions to problems but also carry out awareness-raising activities, Perîşan Reşîd, a member of Mala Jin branch in the Aleppo’s Şêx Maqsûd neighborhood, said, “The branch of Mala Jin was opened in the neighborhood in 2011. Mala Jin has only one branch in Aleppo. The aim of the branch is not only to find solutions to problems but also carry out awareness-raising activities to ensure equality in society. Mala Jin carries out its activities coordinately with communes, councils and committees. We support each other to benefit society and women.”

Mala Jin in Manbij

Speaking about their activities, Îman Hemşo, a member of the Mala Jin branch in Manbij, said, “The branch of Mala Jin was opened in 2016 after Manbij was liberated from ISIS. We have three branches in Manbij in order to reach all women. When men and women apply to us in order to find solutions to their problems, we discuss and try to find solutions to their problems. The discussions sometimes last months. Until now, we have resolved 1,755 cases.”

Mala Jin in Raqqa

Zehra Şilaş, spokesperson of the Justice Committee of the Zenobiya Women’s Community in Raqqa and its villages, told us that the branch of Mala Jin was opened in Raqqa in 2018 after the city was liberated from ISIS. “In 2021, the branch of Mala Jin was transformed into the Zenobiya Women’s Community Office. There are 19 Peace Committees across Raqqa. In addition, the Zenobiya Women’s Community has 20 offices across the city. The main aim of these offices is to find solutions to problems of spouses, particularly to family problems. We find solutions to about 1,080 cases every year. When we do not find any solutions, we send the cases to the Raqqa Court for Social Justice.

Mala Jin in Shahba

Silava Cuma, a member of Mala Jin in Shahba, said, “The branch of Mala Jin was opened in Shahba in 2017 with three members. We faced many challenges when we opened the branch because our canton was under the control of ISIS and other armed factions. Over time, we managed to overcome all challenges. Now, there are many branches across Shahba and women support each other thanks to Mala Jin.”

Mala Jin in Tabqa

Stating that the branch of Mala Jin was opened in Tabqa in 2017, Recae Ebid El-Rehîm, a member of the branch of Mala Jin in Tabqa, said, “Then, seven more branches were opened in rural areas of Tabqa. Our main aim is to find solutions to the problems faced by women and ensure peace.”

“Mala Jin is the power source”

Şaha Elî, a member of the Mala Jin in the Euphrates Region, told us that Mala Jin is both a safe space and the power source for women. “In 2012, the branch of Mala Jin was opened in the Euphrates Region. At that time, many women were subjected to violence and pressure. For this reason, we decided to open a branch in the region. The Mala Jin in the Euphrates Region has been a source of faith and strength for women by providing a safe space for them.”

The Rojava Revolution is known as a revolution for women’s liberation. The revolution, initiated primarily by Kurdish women, had profound effects on the lives of women of the most diverse ethnic identities in the region. The women’s union Zenobiya has been working in the predominantly Arab regions of Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Tabqa and also in Manbij. Houda Isa Ali is the association’s spokesperson. In this ANF interview, she spoke about the work of the organisation and the plans for the year ahead.

What was the situation of women in society and how they were organized in Syria before the revolution?

They didn’t have a mission, and they didn’t matter. Mostly, Arabs and Kurds lived in these regions. At that time, there were some women’s institutions in Raqqa. They also called themselves the Women’s Union, but only represented women by name. They worked under the influence of the Damascus government. Only women from the Ba’ath Party could be admitted. The group consisted of a few people and well-known women. Yes, women went to school and graduated from university, but because the role that women were assigned in society was so subordinate and influential, these educated women could not play a major role. Only women who served the interests of the Ba’ath regime and defended the regime’s opinions could come to the fore. In any case, people from the Ba’ath regime came from outside and administered the company. Therefore, the people who had studied also sat at home. This system lasted for 40 years.

What influence did women have at the beginning of the revolution?

When the revolution began, women wanted to take their place, but the revolution moved away from its own line and women were pushed out of it again. Women had high hopes for the Syrian revolution. They hoped that they would get their rights, their freedom and be able to get involved in many areas. All of these hopes were dashed when the revolution strayed from its path. The looting and theft lasted two to three years when some armed groups occupied our region. Then the ISIS occupation began. That was an even more severe blow to the women. They have been slaughtered, sold in markets, locked in houses, forced to wear black veils, raped and enslaved by ISIS mercenaries. Raqqa became the capital of ISIS. Great suffering happened here. Yazidi women were brought here and sold. Women from Tabqa, Manbij and Raqqa met the same fate. The people here suffered a lot under the rule of ISIS. We had lost hope of surviving this, but the Kobanê resistance reignited our hope.

What impact did it have on women in the region, especially when YPJ fighters fought against ISIS and triumphed?

When Kobanê and Girê Spî were liberated and the YPG and YPJ organized and developed, many of our young women joined the YPJ to save themselves from this oppression. Many of these young women fell while liberating their home regions. As more areas were liberated by the YPG and YPJ, our hope for freedom grew. We have seen historical changes every day. After the Kobanê victory, the women of Raqqa, Tabqa and Deir ez-Zor began to take their place in the military units. They fought for the liberation of their own homeland. After these areas were liberated, we believed that it was necessary for the women of Raqqa, Tabqa, Manbij and Deir ez-Zor to organize and live in this spirit. If women were now active in leadership institutions, defense and security forces, in education, political parties and ideological areas, then this represented a great success for all. Now the colours of women have begun to become visible in society. Women are now participating in all areas.

How did the idea of ​​the women’s union Zenobiya come about? Why Zenobiya? Does that mean something special?

Of course, the women’s institutions that were founded in our areas did not fall from the sky. We took an example from the women in Cizîrê. We have accepted them as pioneers. After founding Kongra Star, we followed this example and founded our own women’s institutions in our regions. These women’s institutions established in our regions have become women’s centers and places where women’s problems are solved. Each previously established institution worked separately. They worked in the form of various women’s institutions, self-governing institutions, Kongra Star committees and women’s shelters. This is how our work has developed over the past four years. Four years later, we decided that these institutions should now be merged under the umbrella of a women’s union. In this way, the decision was made to found the Zenobiya Women’s Union. At the congress in June, it was decided to found a women’s union. It aims to organize women in politics, defense, business, education, health and all other fields.

Zenobiya (Zenobia 240-274 AD) was the queen of Palmyra (Tadmur). She was a woman who fought for women and did not submit to persecution. That is why we, as women from Syria, have chosen this name.

At the moment, Zenobiya is working to organize the women of Raqqa, Tabqa, Manbij and Deir ez-Zor. In the future we will expand our work to all areas of Syria. After the establishment of the union, four offices were set up in Raqqa, Tabqa, Manbij and Deir ez-Zor. These four offices are managed by a board of directors. The board consists of seven people. Eleven committees were formed in the four offices. The economy, education, press, ideology, defense, martyrs’ families and peace committees work actively. We also aim to set up a culture committee in the near future. Each color on Zenobiya’s logo represents a different people. The lettering is in Arabic, Kurdish and Aramaic.

How did the women in the region receive this initiative?

After the Union was founded, meetings were held with women from all walks of life. There were extensive discussions with all the women. The women supported this project very much. A general women’s council is to be set up in the next month. All women’s institutions will be represented in this council. The Autonomous Administration, Kongra Star, the Mala Jin, the Zenobiya Women’s Union and the Syrian Democratic Council will be in it.

The women in our region have developed very well politically. Zenobiya has become a center where all women can express themselves. Every woman wants to defend her rights through this institution. But there are also remnants of the ISIS mentality in society, and that makes it difficult for us.

Some customs and traditions coming from a tribal culture pose a challenge to us. We want to bring about a change in society through education. We will continue our resistance.

Unfortunately the video below does not contain English subtitles.

Zenûbiya Women’s Community held its congress on June 1, 2021, with the motto, “We will protect our revolution and build peace with the organized women’s struggle.” The community is an umbrella organization for women living in the liberated cities of NE Syria such as Raqqa, Tepqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Manbij. The community, which aims to unite all women under the same umbrella, opened a branch in Manbij on July 10. The community’s spokesperson and executives spoke to NuJINHA about their works in 2021 and their plans for 2022.

“We activated committees and coordination”

Xud El-İsa, Spokesperson of the community, drew attention to the four-year struggle of women in Manbij, Raqqa, Tabqa, and Deir ez-Zor. “After the liberation of these regions from ISIS, Arab women founded women’s assemblies to guarantee their rights. After the foundation of the women’s assembly, the Zenûbiya Women’s Community was founded to unite all women living in Raqqa, Tepqa, Deir ez-Zor and Manbij. Women should take part in every part of life. We activated committees and coordination in these cities as we had decided at our congress.”

“Women should organize themselves”

Underlining that women should organize themselves and have an effective role in society, Xud El-İsa said, “We face challenges due to the patriarchal mentality. This mentality denies women’s freedom. Next year, we, as the community, should work harder. We call on all women’s offices and assemblies to come together under the umbrella of the Zenûbiya Women’s Community.”

More women have taken part in decision-making at all levels since Deir ez-Zor and its surroundings were liberated from ISIS. The Executive Council in Deir ez-Zor has carried out many works for women. After the foundation of the Executive Council, many local assemblies have been founded to support the works of the council. The rate of women and men taking part in the institutions of the Democratic Autonomous Administration is equal and the co-presidency system has been practiced in every department and assembly. 70% of women work in institutions, according to the Zenûbiya Women’s Group.

“We make incredible achievements”

Atab Cedan, director of the Women’s Committee in the western region of Deir ez-Zor, indicated that the Women’s Committee organizes meetings and seminars to educate women and improve their situation in society. “The local assemblies in Deir ez-Zor support the works of the Women’s Committee,” Atab Cedan said that the Women’s Committee becomes more active with the support of the assemblies. “The number of our members is increasing. We make incredible achievements in supporting, uniting and helping women.”

“A society can be free when women are free”

Hasina Hussein Al-Issa, Co-chair of the Hermûşiya Assembly, highlighted the importance of women’s participation in decision-making positions, “because a society can be free when women are free. In NE Syria, women govern themselves.”

“Women were ignored because of war, tradition and custom,” said Kesra Sahar Mistefa, the director Culture and Art Center in Deir ez-Zor, “But after the establishment of assemblies, more women participate in works to develop society. The Culture and Art Center works to develop women’s skills.”