Kurdish woman's struggle …. From freedom to Jineolojiyê

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which leader Abdullah Ocalan calls the women's party, brought together Kurdish women who have resisted oppression throughout history. Women participated in the party's founding congress and played a leading role in the most crucial stages of the Kurdish struggle for freedom.

The Kurdish women's movement has left its mark on numerous historical initiatives. It established the first political party specifically for women, the first women's army, and became a strong shield against ISIS/Daesh mercenaries, who terrorized the world. It also led women worldwide to a profound study based on jineolojiyê (the study of women), bringing this struggle to all women under the slogan "Women, Life, Freedom."

The Girls’ Group (1976)

After 1974, revolutionary young women joined the early PKK formation and took part in organizational, educational, and propaganda activities. Ocalan referred to them as “the Girls’ Group.” They carried out important work in cities such as Dersim, Elazığ, Maraş, Dilok, Amed, Ankara, and the Serhed region organizing female factory workers and fostering their political and intellectual awareness, particularly across Kurdistan.

Founding of the PKK (26–27 November 1978)

The PKK was founded during a conference in the village of Fîs, near Lice in Amed. Although 25 delegates were selected, only 22 attended. Two women Sakine Cansız and Kesire Yıldırım took part as the party’s first female delegates.

Following the founding, prominent women such as Sakine Karakoçan, Bese Anuş, Sultan Yavuz, Rahime Kahraman, Hanım Yaverkaya, Sakine Kırmızı Toprak, and Samiya Aşkan along with thousands of others joined the struggle, organizing across political, social, and community spheres.

Resistance and Expansion

Sakine Cansız resisted both the torture of the 1980 military coup and patriarchal attitudes inside the PKK. Her stance empowered Kurdish women and strengthened the culture of resistance. By 1986, hundreds of women had become part of the party’s ranks.

Women’s Organization: The Kurdish National Women’s Union

During the PKK’s third congress, a decision was made to establish an autonomous women’s structure. After initial preparations, the Kurdish National Women’s Union was founded during its first conference in Hanover, Germany, from October 31 to November 1, 1987, with the participation of 80 delegates. Abdullah Ocalan had tasked the artist Mizgîn with organizing women and cultural activities in Europe, and under her leadership the Union was established to advance women’s organization and social engagement.

The Period of Women Forming Their Own Army

On January 19, 1989, guerrilla fighter Berîvan (Benfşe Ağal) was killed in clashes with Turkish forces in Botan an event that ignited waves of uprisings.
On March 21, 1990, Zekiye Alkan set herself on fire in Amed to protest the ban on Newroz, triggering mass public mobilization.

In 1996, Zîlan (Zeynep Kınacı) carried out the PKK’s first self-sacrificial operation in Dersim, protesting attacks on Abdullah Ocalan.

In 1992, fighter Berîtan (Gülnaz Karataş) resisted internal betrayal and fought to her last bullet before throwing herself from a cliff symbolizing the PKK’s doctrine of never surrendering.

On November 1, 1993, following Ocalan’s directives, women formally began building their own military force. During this transition, they organized independent military units, established their own bases, and later advanced into full participation in military operations

The First Women’s Conference and the Establishment of the Kurdish Women’s Freedom Union

On March 8, 1995, the first women’s conference was held in the Kolka area of Metina. During the conference, the Kurdish Women’s Freedom Union (YAJK) was officially established, and its first women’s council was elected. The formation of the Women’s Army in 1995 marked a major turning point, providing crucial organizational experience and inspiring widespread enthusiasm among women. YAJK redefined its mission according to Abdullah Ocalan’s philosophy and became the ideological and organizational identity of Kurdish women.

On March 8, 1998, Ocalan announced the “Women’s Freedom Ideology,” built on five principles: patriotism, freedom of thought and will, organization, struggle, and aesthetics. Based on this ideological framework, Kurdish women founded their first political party in March 1999 the Kurdish Working Women’s Party (PJKK). Over time, the party’s name changed to the Free Women’s Party (PJA), and later, in 2005, to the Kurdistan Women’s Freedom Party (PAJK) considered the first women’s party in the world.

To deepen this ideology, guerrilla women in the mountains and within cultural, military, and ideological fields founded several academies, including the Zeynep Kınacı Academy, Berîtan Academy, Gurbetelli Ersöz Academy, the Sakine Cansız Center, as well as the Nuda and Şîlan academies. They promoted the ideology through the magazine “Goddess Zîlan.”

Women also developed their artistic resistance through theater, cinema, music, and dance under the framework of the Golden Crescent Women’s Cultural Movement (2016).

In 1999, Ocalan shifted from the goal of establishing a “socialist Kurdish state” to proposing the model of a “democratic, ecological, and women-liberated society.” One of its three core pillars was women’s freedom. Alongside this shift, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) was formed, and women maintained their autonomous organization through the Women’s High Council (KJB), later renamed the Kurdistan Women’s Communities (KJK).

One of the most significant milestones was the establishment of an all-women’s military force. In June 2005, guerrilla fighters founded the Free Women’s Units – Star (YJA-Star), becoming the first official women’s army

The co-chair system

The co-chair system is considered one of the most significant achievements for women following the shift to the new societal model. At its core, it represents a model of free life and embodies gender equality within administrative structures, rebuilding relations between women and men on the basis of freedom and equality.

The system began within the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), where co-chair was adopted and mandatory quotas for women’s representation were established across all institutions and political parties in Rojava, Bakur, and Rojhelat, as well as in municipalities in Bakur, Rojava, Makhmour, and Şengal, universities in Rojava, social institutions, and even the smallest grassroots structures, the communes, which form the core of social organization in Rojava.

Social System and Women’s Organization

To organize Kurdish women and their communities in Europe, several structures were founded building on the legacy of the Kurdish National Women’s Union (YJWK), including:

Kurdish Women’s Freedom Movement (TAJK – 1994)

Kurdish Women’s Freedom Union (YAJK – 1995)

Kurdish Women’s Movement in Europe (TJK-E – 2014)

In North Kurdistan (Bakur), Kurdish women who historically played leading roles in uprisings established:

Free Democratic Women’s Movement (DÖKH – 2003)

Free Women’s Congress (KJA – 2015)

Free Women’s Movement (TJA – 2016)

In Rojava, women who had been active since Abdullah Ocalan’s arrival in Syria founded Yekîtiya Star (2005), later expanding it into Kongra Star (2016).
Arab women in Raqqa, Tabqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Manbij created the Zenobia Women’s Community (2021).

In Eastern Kurdistan (Rojhilat), after years of organizing and struggle, women established:

East Kurdistan Women’s Union (YJRK – 2004)

Free Women’s Society of Rojhilat (KJAR – 2014), which includes the women’s self-defense force HPJ (Women’s Protection Forces)

Journalism

With the establishment of the Kurdish National Women’s Union (YJWK), the independent magazine “Proud Woman” began publication in Europe.
On March 8, 1997, during the conference of the Kurdish Women’s Freedom Union (YAJK), it was decided to launch the newspaper “Free Life” in South Kurdistan, which published 133 issues until 1999.

In Northern Kurdistan, the Women’s News Agency (JINHA) was founded on March 8, 2012, followed by the launch of JIN TV for test broadcasting on March 8, 2018.

The early women’s magazine continued until 2013, after which Newaya Jin began publication and continues to this day.

In October 2013, Free Women’s Media was announced, expanding women’s media work across all fields, including women-focused newspapers, radio channels, and magazines.

Culture and Art

Kurdish women continued their cultural and artistic activities across the four parts of Kurdistan and in Europe. Artists such as Mizgîn, Delîla, and other pioneering women played leading roles in these efforts.

In August 2016, women held the first conference of the Golden Crescent Women’s Cultural Movement, which has since supported a wide range of artistic expressions theater, cinema, music, dance, drawing, and handicrafts both inside and outside Kurdistan.

Jineolojiyê

In 2008, Abdullah Ocalan introduced jineolojiyê (the Science of Women) in his writings under the term “Sociology of Freedom.” Women began internal debates on this concept between 2009–2010.

In 2010, teachers in Makhmour Refugee Camp conducted research on jineolojiyê and incorporated it into the school curriculum.

In 2011, the first organizational committee for jineolojiyêwas formed. Kurdish women prisoners in Turkish and Northern Kurdistan prisons compiled their discussions into a book published in 2013.

The first jineolojiyê conference was held in Southern Kurdistan from May 11–15, 2015, setting the theoretical framework for the discipline.

In 2016, the jineolojiyê Journal was launched, bringing together women from across the world.

The jineolojiyê Department opened at the University of Rojava during the 2017–2018 academic year, and women’s organizations subsequently established jineolojiyê academies across all their structures

Women’s Revolution

In 2011, the Syrian people rose up during the Arab Spring. As the conflict expanded, international powers and regional states particularly Turkey intervened, supporting various armed groups with Islamist orientations and exploiting the popular uprising.

On April 4, 2013, Kurdish women founded the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ).
Earlier, on July 19, 2012, the people of Kobanî took control of the city, sparking what became known as the Rojava Revolution across northern Syria.

As ISIS launched attacks against communities in Syria and Iraq, the world watched in fear until ISIS was defeated in Kobanî under the leadership of the YPJ. On October 5, 2014, Kurdish fighter Arîn Mîrkan carried out a self-sacrificial action on the Mishte Nour Hill in Kobanî, becoming a symbol of the Rojava and North-East Syria revolution.

Following these victories, women from different communities Arabs, Armenians, Syriacs, and Turkmens joined the ranks of the YPJ. Inspired by Kurdish women’s resistance, many international volunteers also traveled to Rojava to join the struggle.

“Woman, Life, Freedom” Uprising

The organization and achievements of Kurdish women deeply influenced women in East Kurdistan and Iran, paving the way for the “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising against state repression.

The phrase “Woman, Life, Freedom” was first introduced in 1988 by Abdullah Ocalan, and the Kurdish women’s movement built much of its ideology around it.

While imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin Prison, Shirin Alamholi wrote this slogan on the wall beside her before being executed in May 2010. The words became rooted in the collective memory of women in East Kurdistan.

On September 13, 2022, Jina (Mahsa) Amini, aged 22, was arrested and tortured by Iran’s “morality police,” passing away on September 16. Her death turned the slogan into the rallying cry of a nationwide uprising. During her funeral in Saqqez, where thousands gathered, the chants of “Woman, Life, Freedom” ignited months of widespread protests.

The uprising broke the barrier of fear for women in Eastern Kurdistan and across Iran. Since then, the slogan has spread globally becoming a symbol of women’s resistance from the Americas to Europe, India, and Afghanistan.

ANHA