Statement highlights women's challenges in Kurdistan and Middle East

The Coordination explained that women in the Middle East endure significant challenges due to a mentality that marginalizes them, in addition to suffering from economic, legal, and social crises, as well as displacement, detention, enforced disappearance, and forced migration.

It also highlighted that women in Kurdistan are subjected to an existential war targeting their will and identity, with demands to end violence, struggle for survival, and continue the movement until achieving freedom.

This statement was made on Thursday by the Kurdistan Coordination of the World March of Women, coinciding with the approaching International Women's Day on March 8th. The spokesperson for Kongra Star, Ibtisam Hussein, read the statement in front of the Muhammad Sheikho Center for Culture and Art in Qamishlo.

The statement confirmed that Kurdish women are subjected to an "existential war targeting their will, identity, and leadership role in the liberation struggle. In Turkey, Kurdish female politicians are imprisoned, and elected municipal administrations in Kurdish cities are placed under trusteeship in an attempt to break the will of a people who freely chose their representatives. This systematic repression is nothing but an extension of Turkey’s policy of denial and annihilation against anyone advocating for freedom. In Iran, the killing machine continues to eliminate activists who led the 'Women, Life, Freedom' revolution, a movement that shook the foundations of the oppressive patriarchal regime. The Iranian regime has not only resorted to brutal repression but has also turned women’s bodies into battlegrounds for revenge. Many activists continue to face imminent danger, with some sentenced to execution or enduring slow death in prisons, such as Bakhshan Azizi and Sharifa Mohammadi."

The statement further noted: "In West and South Kurdistan, women are targeted by Turkish drones in systematic assassination operations against female leaders and journalists leading the liberation movement, including martyrs such as Hêvî Arabî, Cîhan Belkîn, Menîca Haidar, Arjîn, and Kerm."

The statement concluded: "The attack is not limited to Turkish occupation alone but also extends to extremist Islamist forces that appointed themselves rulers after the fall of the Syrian regime. This so-called interim government has deliberately marginalized and excluded women systematically, attempting to erase their role in society and politics. The height of this agenda was seen during the so-called 'Victory Conference,' where factions responsible for the most heinous crimes against women were seated in positions of power, an image that truly reflects the essence of their project: excluding women and re-establishing a system of slavery under the guise of religion."

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ANHA