YPJ: Attacks on women will not go unpunished

The General Command of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) issued a written statement regarding the attacks targeting the women’s revolution in Rojava and North and East Syria.

In the statement, published on its official website, the command addressed recent developments, stating: “Since 6 January 2026, armed groups affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al‑Sham and the Turkish occupying state have been carrying out attacks against the women’s revolution in North and East Syria. Following the massacres committed in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods of Aleppo, these factions perpetrated further massacres in cities such as Raqqa, Tabqa, Shaddadi, Ain Issa, and the countryside of Kobani. These attacks specifically targeted women, particularly those in North and East Syria who have been struggling for decades for a democratic and communal life.

In line with their attempts to revive ISIS mercenaries in the region, they sought to distort the image of women—especially women fighters—and to sow division among peoples. They even cut the braid of a Kurdish woman fighter, claiming that it would instill fear and anxiety within the struggle for women’s freedom. Yet they failed to realize that women across all of Kurdistan are stronger than ever in confronting these despicable acts, and they are fighting these merciless mercenaries at the forefront of defending human dignity and honor, just as they fought against the brutal ISIS mercenaries for freedom. Our hatred for this mentality that denies the existence of women continues to grow; therefore, as the Women’s Protection Units, we take our place on all fronts of resistance, fighting to protect our existence and responding forcefully to these brutal mercenaries.

The women’s revolution in Rojava Kurdistan embodies the foundations of a democratic life for all peoples. It sacrificed of 15,000 martyrs. Today, with the same determination to protect their honor and dignity, women under the banner of the Women’s Protection Units are leading the way in safeguarding the values of communal life that are being destroyed around women, by joining the movement of women from across the entire region.

We renew our commitment to struggle and resistance and declare clearly: let friend and foe alike know that this revolution—led by women and the heroism of youth fighting for women’s freedom—will revive the call for freedom on this land with stronger determination, will, and struggle than ever before. Just as it defeated the genocidal ideology of ISIS in Kobani, it will plant the seeds of communal life in this land.

Therefore, we say that our braided hair has become a source of terror in the hearts of our enemies, because victory will inevitably belong to women and freedom‑loving peoples.

On this basis, we call on Kurdish women, all women of the Middle East, and women around the world striving for freedom to participate more strongly in the call for mobilization based on the philosophy of Leader Abdullah Ocalan: ‘Woman, Life, Freedom.’ Every woman whose heart beats for freedom must know that the Rojava revolution is the guarantee of freedom for all women. Today, not only Rojava Kurdistan and all its components, but all peoples of the four parts of Kurdistan are facing a horrific genocide. We call on all women to join the mobilization with the spirit of Kobani, to defend their dignity based on the principle of the existence of women and peoples.

Let our people know that we will never bow to ISIS’s jihadist ideology, nor will we surrender. For us, as fighters for this people, nothing is more important than protecting the existence of the Kurdish people and all its components. Our hopes are as strong as the number of our braids. No one can erase us by cutting a braid, and our hopes will not vanish due to the attacks of occupiers and genocidal forces. For this reason, crimes committed against our fighters will not go unpunished.”

ANHA