MOSCOW – This month marks five years since the famous Kurdish femaleself-defense squads arose. The women of Syrian Kurdistan have liberatedthemselves over the past years to an extent one could previously only dreamabout in the region.
Sputnik has talked to Kurdish combat women about the Turkish operationin Northern Syria, Syrian Kurds’ political ambitions and battlefieldfeminism, Sputnik has reported.
*’Radical Female Revolution’*
It was the death of 26 year-old British female fighter Anna Campbell in aTurkish bombardment in Afrin that quickly reminded the public of the femaleself-defense squads.
Being a female anarchist, feminist and animal rights protector, she had noconnection with the Kurds before travelling to Syria. Nevertheless,according to Anna’s father, she took the Kurdish issue close to heart andadmired the social buildup in Rojava (Northern Syrian DemocraticFederation, or Syrian Kurdistan — an autonomous federation that emergedin 2012) Sputnik’s speakers from the female battalions stated that thereare dozens of girls from Europe, the US and Australia among them.
“Kurdish female self-defense militias are a phenomenon in itself. It’s notsurprising that they are attracting activists from all around the world.Firstly, the female battalions have demonstrated perfect results in theirstruggle with terrorists, who are universally considered to be ’evilforces,’ opposing any progress. Secondly, their members are eager to fightfor women’s liberty in all possible ways, including armed confrontation,”-Melissa Delal Yanmis (nicknamed Delal Kurdi), a member of the Kurdishcommunity in Austria told Sputnik. Just to note, she returned from Rojavalast year.
Kurdish YPG Fighter
“Kurdish ideologist and founder of Kurdistan Workers’ Party, AbdullahÖcalan teaches us in his books that a free life is impossible without aradical female revolution, which will change the way people think and theirsocial life in general. Anna Campbell was a real rebel and a realinternationalist. And she became yet another light in this revolutionaryfire, along with other foreign female combatants who have joined oursquads. I hope, Russian women internationalists will also join in ourstruggle.”
“I am a feminist, like most Kurdish women. A Kurdish woman is not afraidto die – death is afraid of her. We do not recognize defeat. Victory andprogress – this is our motto. That’s why women from all around the worldshare our beliefs,” – declared the 23-year-old student Jihan (battlefieldnickname – “Afrin’s Daughter”) speaking to Sputnik. She is currentlyfighting with a Kurdish battalion in Afrin.
*Kurdish Marxism*
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party was founded in 1978 as a Marxist-Leninistparty, but with a nationalist twist. The Middle East has also aboundedin socialist movements, but it is the PKK that has become the most feminist.
For Kurds, ethnic self-identification is more important than the religiousone, that’s the reason why the ideas of gender equality have been adoptedby them to a greater extent than by the broader Muslim.
Kurdish YPG Fighters
Thanks to the role that female self-defense units have played in theoverall struggle for national identity and battles against Islamists,Kurdish women now enjoy liberty and rights, comparable to those of Israeliwomen.
Until recently Kurdish women were forced into early marriages, genitalmutilation, honor killing and polygamy. Nevertheless, six years ago, theauthorities of the newly proclaimed Democratic Federation of Northern Syriaintroduced legislation to put an end to all this (although, in someprovincial areas the practices continue to exist).
Today, according to the provisional Constitution of Syrian Kurdistan, womenare expected to hold a minimum of 40 percent of all government posts.Separately, all social institutions are obliged to be chaired both by a manand by a woman, along with the executive councils of the three SyrianKurdistan regions.
*’Love Affairs are Strictly Prohibited’*
Up to 40 percent of the Kurdish fighters battling in the Middle East arewomen. March 2013 saw the first female self-defense battalion formin Afrin, a year later such formations appeared in other parts of SyrianKurdistan. For now, the female squads in Syria are roughly 25,000 strongin number, whereas in the Iraqi Peshmerga (literally “staring death in theface”) battalions there are just 2,000 female combatants.
“Male and female armies have their own commanders, a man and womanrespectively. Men may not issue orders to women. Even top ranking officersin male battalions first have to address female commanders, who areexpected to instruct their subordinates. Still, top female ranks may issueorders to male combatants,” British Kurd Ozkan Ozdil, who worked as abattlefield doctor in Syria last year and even took part in the liberationof Raqqa, told Sputnik.
“We closely communicated with the female formations – we played sporttogether, partook in joint military drills, cooked food, did thecleaning-up. We only slept in different barracks. We lived like one bigfamily. Ranks meant nothing in our communication, unless it had to dowith military orders. Women, as I see them, are very daring. And perhaps,in some respects, even bolder than men. I am absolutely charmed by them.They dance and sing. And they can be heard from far away. Even Daeshmilitants were scared of them.”