The Kurdish Women’s Movement: On Revolution, Militarism and Body Politics

https://podtail.com/en/podcast/lse-middle-east-centre-podcasts/the-kurdish-women-s-movement-on-revolution-militar

14 JUN · LSE MIDDLE EAST CENTRE PODCASTS

• 01:20:20

Women have been at the forefront of many of the political and military struggles in the Kurdish Middle East, most visibly so since the outbreak of the ‘Rojava Revolution’ in 2012. But women have in fact since the foundation of the PKK in 1978 played an integral role in the ideological and political development of the Liberation Movement as a whole; as guerrillas, activists, politicians, mothers and prisoners. Isabel Käser will trace the complex history of the Kurdish Women’s Liberation Movement, discuss how women’s autonomous organisational structures have emerged and how they operate today between the mountains and the cities of the four different parts of Kurdistan. Her talk analyses the emancipatory power this movement holds but also unpacks some of the tensions that emerge from the interplay between militarism, the party’s body politics and the movement’s revolutionary quest for a more democratic Middle East. Recorded on 4 June.
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Isabel Käser holds a PhD from SOAS where she worked on the Kurdish Women’s Movement. Her work contributes to debates around gender and war, feminism and nationalism, as well as conflict and body politics.

EU condemns Turkey again while sticking to its position on the Kurdish administration in north-east Syria

Tuesday, 17 December 2019, The Brussels Times

An international conference took place last week in the European Parliament on the deteriorating humanitarian and military situation in North-East Syria following the Turkish invasion in beginning of October.

The conference ended with a strongly worded condemnation of the invasion and a call to the EU and the international community to recognise the Autonomous Administration in the region (Rojava) and include it in the UN-led Constitutional Committee tasked to draft a new constitution for Syria.

 

Read more: https://www.brusselstimes.com/all-news/eu-affairs/84361/eu-condemns-turkey-again-while-sticking-to-its-position-on-the-kurdish-administration-in-north-east-syria/

 

Final Statement of the International Conference on North and East Syria (Rojava) held at the European Parliament on 11-12 December, 2019

The Kurdish Friendship Group in the European Parliament and representatives of the Self-Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava) in Europe, the International Alliance for the Defence of Rights and Freedoms (AIDL), and the Green / European Union (Free Alliance) held at the European Parliament on 11–12 December an international conference entitled “An International Conference on North and East Syria (Rojava): A Regional and Global Litmus Test”.

NEWS BRIEFING DECEMBER 2019

WOMEN’S ALLIANCE

FOR KURDISTAN, IRAQ AND SYRIA

https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/activities/womens-alliance-for-kurdistan-iraq-and-syria/

Defend the women’s revolution in northeastern Syria
October 9 2019/Roar Magazine
Since 2012, with the leading role of women, the people in North and East Syria have been building a social system that enables a peaceful, radical-democratic, gender-liberated life for all ethnic, religious and cultural groups in the region.
https://roarmag.org/2019/10/09/defend-rojava-tjke-statement/

 Eyewitnesses to the Rojava revolution: women empowerment
November 4 2019/Roar Magazine
What has been taking place in Rojava is easily one of the most inspiring and exciting experiments in autonomous self-government to ever exist. It is also one of the most massive, and gender inclusive, often compared to the Spanish Revolution of 1936, as well as the Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico. And yet, people outside the region know little about the different dimensions of the revolution taking place in Rojava. And now, this revolutionary territory is under military and political attack — its very existence at risk.
https://roarmag.org/essays/eyewitnesses-rojava-revolution-bookchin-sahin/

Motion condemning Erdogan’s invitation and visit to Cambridge on 5/12/2019

 

This Trade Council Notes

• The Head of the current Turkish regime, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Erdogan) is butchering Kurds through ground and air force bombings in which scores of innocent lives are taken including those of children. Erdogan is cracking down on Kurdish political leaders and putting them behind bars unlawfully[1]. The world condemns Erdogan’s war on Kurds[2]. Erdogan is also arresting, detaining progressive, left-wing and trade union leaders within Turkey. His crackdown on dissent extends to the country’s labour movement[3]. Both Turkish and Saudi regimes are supporting and funding terrorist groups worldwide especially in Syria and Pakistan[4][5].
• Fourteen major UK trade union leaders (Appendix-I) urge the UK government to condemn Turkey’s recent invasion of Syria – and act to avert ethnic cleansing and a potential genocide by Turkish forces on the order of Erdogan[6].
• The Cambridge mosque construction is significantly funded by Erdogan’s regime[7].
• Despite the atrocious behaviour of Erdogan which is not hidden by the British public, labour and trade union movement, the Cambridge Mosque leadership still extended an invitation to Erdogan for Mosque opening. Erdogan arrived in Cambridge on 5 December 2017 for the opening.
• Listening about the invitation and his arrival, a large protest happened on 5 December 2019 at 1pm in front of Great St Mary Church by the name of “Protest Erdogan visit to Cambridge”. The protest was attended by trade unionists, students, activists, rights groups and labour party members.
• Speakers condemn Erdogan’s visit to Cambridge and also showed their anger and disgust towards Mosque leadership for the invitation.

KNK Speech at the Demonstration for Kurdish National Unity

Mehri Rezai , KNK representative in London, gave this speech in Trafalgar Square on Sunday 8 December 2019:

Today marks 100 years since the Sykes-Picot agreement was signed. Today we as Kurdish people condemn the decisions made within it, that led to the Lausanne Agreement which divided Kurdistan.

Under the slogan of national unity and believing in the will for freedom and self-determination alongside the leading role of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK); today we proudly say, after 100 years of suffering from mass genocide, execution and torture; we are still the only source of equality and best foundation for democracy in the  Middle East.

Just to let the British people know a majority of the struggles in the Middle East over the past one hundred years can be linked back to the Sykes Picot Agreement and the Treaty of Sèvres.

Forming modern day Turkey, Lausanne set the northern borders of Syria and Iraq, separating ethnic groups and effectively dashing the Kurdish dream of forming Kurdistan.

Today, more than 60 million Kurds, and millions of Assyrians, Yezidis and other ethnicities ride the makeshift borders originally created by Mark Sykes and Francois Picot, 100 years ago.

Peace in Kurdistan sends its support and best wishes to Ibrahim Dogus

Peace in Kurdistan sends its support and best wishes to Ibrahim Dogus in this election week. We wish him every success in his bid to become the next Labour MP for West Bromwich East. Ibrahim has worked tirelessly for the Kurdish people throughout his career and we are absolutely certain that he will provide a clear voice on Kurdish issues in Parliament following his election.

NEWS IN BRIEF Update – Turkish invasion of Rojava/North East Syria – No 8

No 8  18 – 27 Nov 2019

https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2019/11/27/news-in-brief-update-turkish-invasion-of-rojava-north-east-syria-no-8-18-27-nov-2019/

For all of the latest developments, see these sources:

 Rojava Information Center:

 https://twitter.com/RojavaIC

 https://rojavainformationcenter.com

ANF English:

 https://anfenglishmobile.com/

Hawar News:

 https://www.hawarnews.com/en/

Women Defend Rojava:

 http://womendefendrojava.net/en/

 

KNK’s declaration on popular uprising in Iran and East Kurdistan

In the past few decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has dominated all corners of society, stifling any voice of freedom. Since last year and following the intensification of confrontation with the world, especially with the Trump administration, Iran found itself under a new wave of sanctions. Now, it has reached the level of failing to provide the initial needs of society. The corruptive character of the Iranian state and the domination of the economic system by a group of governmental mafias have led the country’s wealth to be taken away by a few.

Briefing on Kurdish community and the 2019 General Election

Kurdish people began arriving in the UK in significant numbers in the 1980s and today there are Kurdish communities across much of the country, with a concentration in London. The people came from Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Syria and Armenia, generally fleeing conflict and repression.

British governments have a particular historical responsibility for the fate of the Kurds. At the end of the First World War the victorious British and French states partitioned much of the former Ottoman Empire. Initially, at the 1920 Treaty of Sevres, the Kurds were to be given land and an administration. However, the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne excluded all mention of the Kurds and their rights, and they were annexed between Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq. Ever since then, each of the four states has been founded on and imposed the denial of rights to the Kurds. The Kurds have periodically resisted their suppression in each state, often with tragic consequences; the Halabja massacre in Iraq in 1988 when 5,000 Kurds were gassed to death drew the world’s attention to the Kurds’ plight. The maintenance of the status quo in the Middle East has depended, to a significant degree, on the denial of the Kurds to the right to self-determination and democratic representation. There can be little progress towards democracy in any of Turkey, Iran, Syria or Iraq without recognition of the rights of the Kurdish people. The Kurds have variously at different times in different countries been denied their rights to use their language, express their culture, form associations or have political parties and representation.