Peace in Kurdistan stands in solidarity on International Women’s Day, 8 March 2020, alongside all Kurdish women, across Kurdistan, in the diaspora, and all who are engaged in the struggle for liberation and for their just democratic rights. We stand with all women fighting for justice and freedom from state violence, who are so often at the forefront of global liberation movements.
In these tragic times with the Kurdish-Turkish conflict well and truly ignited in Syria the struggle of the Kurdish people for their genuine liberation remains as urgent as ever. In the face of systematic violence and state oppression, Kurdish women’s voices and activism are among the loudest and most fearless of the mass popular movement that has emerged over recent decades.
They so often pay the highest price. Women politicians have been deliberately targeted during the conflict, for example, Hervin Khalaf, the secretary general of the Future Syria party, a greatly respected politician and diplomat, who was assassinated by Turkish backed mercenaries in Syria in October 2019.
We remember particularly Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez who were brutally assassinated in Paris in 2013, all inspiring women who had been prominent in the Kurdish women’s dual fight against patriarchy and the Turkish State’s repression of their cultural, linguistic and political rights. Confronting both state and gender violence takes great courage; these formidable women have never failed to demonstrate their ability to rise to the challenge and their example inspires others to emulate them now and in the future.
We salute the Kurdish women fighters who were central in the struggle against the onslaught of Daesh (ISIS) and remember with pain the women who were enslaved, both those who were liberated and the ones who are as yet unfound. We hail the courage of the women of Rojava who struggled for the creation of an inclusive, gender balanced democratic society. Their self-administration became a model for all peoples who are seeking to rebuild a new society founded on social justice for all.
The Kurdish Women’s Movement stands as an inspiration to women across the world and we sincerely honour their remarkable energy, fortitude and courage as we celebrate International Women’s Day in 2020.
Peace in Kurdistan
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk
www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.com
Contacts Estella Schmid 020 7586 5892 & Melanie Gingell – Tel: 020 7272 7890