WOMEN’S ALLIANCE FOR KURDISTAN, IRAQ AND SYRIA – NEWS BRIEFING: October 2020
https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/activities/womens-alliance-for-kurdistan-iraq-and-syria/
NEWS BRIEFING October 2020
- “She discovered hidden aspects of herself in the mountains”
27 October 2020/ANF English
An internationalist friend remembers his time in the mountains with Şehid (martyr) Sara Dorşin.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/features/she-discovered-hidden-aspects-of-herself-in-the-mountains-47552
- Guerrilla Roza Helin and her search for meaningful life
6 October 2020/ANF English
As they say, beauty hides itself from those who do not chase the truth and waits to be discovered.
So when we ask what is real, what is beautiful, or what is taught wrong, we can list an endless series of things.
But those who fight in the struggle for freedom give the best answer. The story of Roza Helin, a YJA Star commander, one of the seekers of meaningful life, is the story of finding oneself and returning to the essence while passing through a full adventure.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/women/guerrilla-roza-helin-and-her-search-for-meaningful-life-47284
3. Reinforcing the women’s rights movement is an urgent priority
October 2020/Morning StarFemicide and domestic violence have contributed to women’s widespread mobilisation campaigning against Turkey’s ruling party’s proposal to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, which would act as a safeguard to help protect women from partner violence.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/reinforcing-womens-rights-movement-urgent-priority
4. Conference in Rojava “Represents Turkey’s failure to eradicate women from public life.”
October 2020/Morning Star
MORE than 300 women have gathered for a conference in northern Syria which they said “represents the failure of the Turkish plot” to eradicate women from political life.
Delegates and guests from cities including Aleppo and Damascus were joined by those from Iraqi Kurdistan and Europe for the 8th conference of Kongra Star: a confederation of women’s organisations founded in 2005 which follows the political line of jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/womens-conference-rojava-respresents-turkeys-failure-eradicate-women-political-life
5. US delegation visits North and East Syria
28 October 2020/ANF English
US Commission on International Religious Freedom visited the Autonomous Administration, Kongreya Star and PYD. The crimes of the Turkish state were discussed during the meeting.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/rojava-syria/us-delegation-visits-north-and-east-syria-47573
6. Women in Raqqa celebrate 3 years of freedom
20 October 2020/ ANF English
With the liberation of their cities from ISIS, women who have regained their leading role in society are working hard to overcome all kinds of obstacles and eliminate the damage created by the gangs. In the third year of their liberation from persecution, women continue their struggle for a revolution of construction and transformation.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/features/women-in-raqqa-celebrate-3-years-of-freedom-47385
7. VIDEO: Raqqa
Surreal being in #Raqqa #Syria as it used to be the HQ for the ISIS Caliphate but now is the HQ for the Autonomous Administration of North & East Syria which has the best #ReligiousFreedom conditions & gender equality in the Middle East. Stunning transformation.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1321488173613146112
8. First group of Syrian families leaves Hol Camp
28 October 2020/ANF English
According to the information obtained from the Hol camp, 45 km east of Hesekê, 35 Syrian families consisting of 117 people gathered in the camp area next to the main entrance and prepared to leave.
According to the camp officials, the families will go to the Raqqa city and surrounding villages in the next few hours.
https://anfenglish.com/rojava-syria/first-group-of-syrian-families-leaves-hol-camp-47575
9. The World Celebrated Kurdish Women’s Fight Against ISIS. Now It’s Silent as They’re Raped and Tortured
9 October 2020/Haaretz
A recent UN report revealed an increase in sexual violence against women and girls since the Turkish military operation began in the Kurdish enclave a year ago. Some Kurds say their current lives are no better than when ISIS was running amok
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/syria/.premium.MAGAZINE-the-world-celebrated-kurdish-women-s-fight-against-isis-why-is-it-silent-now-1.9213148
10. 5-km-long artwork pays homage to abused Iraq Kurd women
26 October 2020/France 24
Along a five-kilometre (three-mile) stretch of road in Sulaimaniyah, an Iraqi Kurdish artist on Monday unveiled a stitched collage of clothes from women survivors of domestic violence.
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20201026-5-km-long-artwork-pays-homage-to-abused-iraq-kurd-women
11. Exiles in Their Own Country: Dealing with Displacement in Post-ISIS Iraq
19 October 2020/International Crisis Group
What’s new? Three years after Iraq’s victory over ISIS, more than a million Iraqis are still displaced. Hundreds of thousands are in camps. Those in the most difficult predicament are families with perceived ISIS affiliations, who face not only formal barriers to return but also rejection by people at home.
https://www.crisisgroup.org/middle-east-north-africa/gulf-and-arabian-peninsula/iraq/b79-exiles-their-own-country-dealing-displacement-post-isis-iraq
12. TJA: We defend ourselves
15 September 2020/ANF English
Under the motto “Em xwe diparêzin” (We defend ourselves), the Free Women’s Movement (TJA) has launched a campaign against sexual assault, violence and all forms of oppression. The launch of the campaign was announced by the Kurdish women’s movement at a press conference in the Vedat Aydin hall of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Amed (Diyarbakir). The press conference was attended by women from various Kurdish provinces in Turkey, including DBP co-chair Saliha Aydeniz, DTK co-chair Leyla Güven and other HDP members of parliament.
https://anfenglish.com/women/tja-we-defend-ourselves-46618
13. Hatice Şen: Nobody can stop the struggle of women
24 October 2020/ANF English
The Free Women’s Movement (TJA) launched a campaign with the slogan ‘We defend ourselves’ against isolation, political genocide, harassment, rape and repression on 15 September. TJA activist Hatice Şen spoke to ANF about these two months of campaign.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/women/hatice-Sen-nobody-can-stop-the-struggle-of-women-47478
14. 36 women killed in Turkey in September
1 October 2020/ANF English
In Turkey, 16 women were murdered by men in September and 20 more women died under suspicious circumstances. This was announced by the “We Will Stop Femicide Platform” (Kadın Cinayetlerini Durduracağız Platformu, KCDP) at a press conference in the Nazim Hikmet Cultural Center in Istanbul.
https://anfenglish.com/women/26-women-killed-in-turkey-in-september-46962
15. 793 women sign petition condemning attacks on HDP and Anonymous
September 2020/ANF English
793 women, including writers, politicians, MPs and journalists, issued a statement against the political genocide targeting the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
The text, published in Kurdish and Turkish, said that women fighting within the scope of the “Anonymous movement” and the HDP were targeted of the two police operations carried out last week.
https://anfenglish.com/women/793-women-sign-petition-condemning-attacks-on-hdp-and-anonymous-46938
16. Jailed lawyer bandaged her broken finger herself
29 September 2020/Bianet English
“My daughter Aycan chanted a slogan after she heard that lawyer Ebru Timtik had lost her life. They came to her ward after that. In a scuffle at the door, her hand got smashed in the door and she got her finger broken.
http://bianet.org/english/human-rights/231751-jailed-lawyer-bandaged-her-broken-finger-herself
17. Hrant Dink Awards granted to Osman Kavala and Mozn Hassan
16 September 2020/Bianet English
The 12th International Hrant Dink Award was presented in an online ceremony streamed on the social media accounts of the Hrant Dink Foundation yesterday (September 15). This year’s awards have been granted to arrested human rights defender and businessperson Osman Kavala from Turkey and women’s rights advocate Mozn Hassan from Egypt.
http://bianet.org/english/other/230950-hrant-dink-awards-granted-to-osman-kavala-and-mozn-hassan
18. Lawyer Ebru Timtik dies on 238th day of death fast
27 August 2020/ Bianet English
Lawyer Ebru Timtik lost her life in the hospital on the 238th day of her death fast for a fair trial.
The People’s Law Bureau announced her death on Twitter at 9.04 p.m. About half an hour ago, it had said that Timtik’s heart stopped and doctors were doing cardiac massage.
http://bianet.org/english/human-rights/229812-lawyer-ebru-timtik-dies-on-238th-day-of-death-fast
19. TJA: Rise up for the Kurds in war
20 October 2020/ANF English
Free Women’s Movement (TJA) released a statement calling for immediate action to stop the Turkish state’s genocidal campaign seeking to invade North and East Syria which is taking place amid numerous cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
https://anfenglish.com/women/tja-rise-up-for-the-kurds-in-war-38613
20. VIDEO: A Creative Life with Ongoing Resistance: Nasrin Parwaz
22 October 2020/ Peace in Kurdistan Vimeo
Kurdish singer, journalist and activist Suna Alan is interviewing Iranian poet, writer, painter and activist Nasrin Parwaz who spent 8 years of her life in prisons in Iran as a political prisoner.
https://vimeo.com/470377300
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