The end of May saw 210 delegates from all over Kurdistan and Europe to discuss the current political crises across Kurdistan and the importance of women’s issues. The conclusions of the conference and the final resolutions can be found below:
CONCLUSIONS AND FINAL RESOLUTION FROM THE 2ND KURDISH WOMEN’S CONFERENCE
The 2nd Kurdish National Women’s Conference took place between 22nd to 24th May 2012 in the south Kurdish city of Hewler (Erbil). Under the theme, ‘Many colours, one voice for national unity,’ 210 delegates from all four regions of Kurdistan as well as from Europe took part in the conference where both the political situation and the women’s question in all four regions were evaluated. The conference ended with a general final resolution.
Resolution against Solitary Confinement
One group of delegates brought up the sustained and intensified solitary confinement of Abdullah Ocalan, and demanded that a common stance against the sustained imprisonment be adopted. After extensive discussions, it was decided that a “Committee for the Freedom of the Kurdish People’s Representative, Abdullah Ocalan, and of all Kurdish political prisoners” should be founded.
On the last day of the conference, the final statement was presented by Nermin Osman, the Kurdish representative in the Iraqi parliament, at a press conference. Osman declared that a committee for the freedom of Abdullah Ocalan and of all Kurdish political prisoners would be founded, in which women from all four Kurdish regions will be represented. The committee will hold talks with the president of the autonomous region of Kurdistan, Mesut Barzani, with the district president, Necirvan Barzani, with the Iraqi president, Celal Talabani, and with the European Union.
Platform for dialogue between women
The final resolution mentioned that 25 different points were discussed from the women’s perspective, in order to find a solution to the national question in Kurdistan as well as to the women’s question. There were suggestions regarding the solution of political, social, economic and academic questions. Also, participants underlined that the conference had provided an important foundation for the dialogue amongst Kurdish women from different political affiliations.
Resolutions of the Conference
Final- the right to self-determination of the Kurdish nation must be recognised like that of all the other nations in the world
– Kurdish women will actively fight for the resolution of the Kurdish question in every region of Kurdistan
– Every region of Kurdistan should develop their own resolution model corresponding to their political, social and cultural conditions
– for the creation of a democratic, free and equal society in Kurdistan, all Kurdish women’s organisations should fight on the front line
– women must be given 40% representation in the preparatory committee for the upcoming Kurdish National Conference, as well as in the conference itself
– there should be common mechanisms for Kurdish women, in order to have common programmes and projects ready for the solution of problems
– the conference respects all revolutionaries of the Kurdish fight for freedom, without observing ideological differences
– the conference understands the policies of genocide, murder and state oppression in all regions of Kurdistan as the reason for resistance
CENÎ – Kurdisches Frauenbüro für Frieden e.V.
Kurdish Women’s Office for Peace
Corneliusstrasse 125, D- 40215 Düsseldorf, Germany
Tel.: 0049 (0)211 598 92 51 E-mail: ceni_frauen@gmx.de