Çiğdem Doğu: YPJ cannot hand over weapons

Çiğdem Doğu, a member of the Coordination of the Kurdistan Women’s Community (KJK), took part in a special program on Medya Haber TV, which broadcasts in Turkish, where she offered important assessments on the situation in Syria and in North and East Syria. She underlined that the key to solving the Syrian crisis lies in decentralization and developing systems that enable communities to manage themselves democratically.

She pointed out that the “Conference on Unity of Position for the Components of North and East Syria,” held in Hasaka on August 8 with the participation of representatives of different peoples, was meaningful, considering it a reflection of the idea of a “Democratic Syrian Republic.”

She said: “In Syria, decentralized systems must be developed that allow peoples to govern themselves democratically. The issues that emerged 100 years ago remain unresolved to this day, and the same is true in Turkey. Leader Abdullah Ocalan defines this as the ‘democratic society,’ which includes mechanisms enabling the community to govern itself to a certain extent. Even if there is state administration, the community must have its own autonomous administration domains. This is also the case for Syria.”

Çiğdem Doğu emphasized that Syria is characterized by great diversity in terms of sects, ethnic identities, and religions, in addition to the role of women. She continued: “In North and East Syria, we see the women’s revolution and women’s organization, while in the regions of the Alawites and Druze many massacres have taken place, and violence against women and massacres against peoples continue.”

She stressed: “In such circumstances, imposing the surrender of weapons on the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is tantamount to saying, ‘Come, let us cut your throat.’ It means nothing else. The idea of ‘integration’ is also illogical; there is no real Syrian army in Syria today. What exists now are only different gang-like groups. These bloodthirsty groups carry out random attacks against different identities: national, ethnic, and sectarian. There is no logic in forcing the SDF to surrender their weapons or integrate; there is no real army to integrate into, and no guarantee of life.”

She added: “The people here have struggled and fought for years, achieving great values, and they have tens of thousands of martyrs and wounded. As for the women’s revolution, it has brought great achievements, allowing women to live in freedom and to continue their lives.”

She continued:“For example, the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) are an armed force, and they cannot hand over their weapons to such an army. In this region, Arabs, Armenians, Kurds, and Syriacs live together, and no one has the right to speak on their behalf.”

Çiğdem Doğu concluded by affirming that the Conference on Unity of Position for the Components of North and East Syria, held in Hasaka, was of great importance, with the participation of Alawite, Druze, and Sunni representatives. She explained that this conference is significant for setting a common stance and reflects the idea of a Democratic Syrian Republic, where everyone will participate democratically, fight when necessary, and defend when necessary.

She stressed: “This process is very important to safeguard the women’s revolution and the democratic revolution of peoples. Since it will become an example for the Middle East and Turkey, it is vital to continue the struggle and resistance.”

A-H 

ANHA