Kurdish Women's Union holds meeting in Amed to reinforce solidarity against challenges

The Kurdish Women's Union platform held a large meeting on Monday in Amed, North Kurdistan, with the participation of women from Kurdistan and beyond. According to the Women's News Agency (NUJNHA), the meeting aimed to strengthen women's solidarity and unify efforts in the face of escalating wars and pressures in the Middle East.

The meeting, hosted by the Diyarbakir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DTSO), under the slogan "With Kurdish Women's Leadership and Unity Towards Building National Unity," began with a notable presence of women leaders and activists. In her opening remarks, Saliha Ayata; the member of the Kurdish Women's Union platform, emphasized that Kurdish women have become central to regional conflicts and that targeting them is part of imperialist powers' attempts to reshape the Kurdish reality.

She added that the Middle East is experiencing a "major war" in which Kurdish women are being targeted, pointing to the attacks targeted women in Rojava and East Kurdistan and the need to discuss mechanisms for confronting the "dirty war" being waged against them.

For her part, the co-spokesperson for the Democratic Unity Initiative, Gulcan Kacmaz Sayigit, stressed that the failure to achieve Kurdish women's unity so far represents a "major gap," emphasizing that individual concerns and political differences hinders the building of a united front.

She added that the unity of the Kurdish people would have prevented many of the wars that targeted their existence, noting that the attacks on Rojava demonstrated the Kurds' ability to resist when united. She emphasized that "no ideology can supersede the gains of the Kurdish people," calling for resistance against imperialist policies that target Kurdish unity.

She also referred to the call for peace and a democratic society launched by the leader Abdullah Ocalan on February 27, 2025, which resonated widely across Kurdistan, and considered it a foundation for reinforcing unity efforts.

She affirmed that Kurdish women have played a pioneering role in various fields of life, and that the time has come to transform this role into an organized force for unity. She called for the slogan "Women, Life, Freedom" to be prominently held during the March 8th events, emphasizing that the participating women are "a continuation of the path of Sakine Cansız and Hevrin Khalaf."

Messages of solidarity from Kurdistan and Europe

The meeting included a video message from Zeyneb Murad; the co-chair of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), as well as the reading of a letter from 30 women from South Kurdistan Region who were unable to attend due to the war ongoing in Iran. In addition, a message from the Kurdish Women Union in Europe was read, emphasizing the transnational nature of the Kurdish women's movement.

The meeting is ongoing behind closed doors, with participants discussing ways to develop a joint struggle network and mechanisms to confront policies targeting Kurdish women in various parts of Kurdistan.