The Women’s Democratic Front in Pakistan expresses its solidarity with the women and men of Afrin in Northern Syria currently defending themselves against the brutal military might of NATO-backed Turkish military and jihadist mercenaries. Over 200 civilians have reportedly been killed in the Turkish-led operation thus far, many of them children, while tens of thousands have fled due to the bombing, which many have referred to as an attempt at ethnic cleansing of the Kurdish population in the region.
We believe that the assault on Afrin by Turkey’s NATO Army is not just an attack on Kurdish people, but also an attempt by authoritarian, fundamentalist and patriarchal forces to destroy the ongoing struggle for women’s liberation in the region.
WDF considers the Kurdish movement, particularly the Kurdish autonomous regions of Rojava in Northern Syria one of the greatest hopes for radical politics today. The Rojavan experiment with radical grassroots democracy, feminism and social ecology has created new possibilities for imagining an alternative to capitalism, imperialism, colonial nation-states and patriarchy in the 21st century. Gender equality is central to the ideological foundations of this model, which locates the emergence of gender hierarchies as the historical root of all social, economic and cultural oppression and has attempted to create a feminist praxis that permeates all levels of society.WDF considers the Kurdish movement, particularly the Kurdish autonomous regions of Rojava in Northern Syria one of the greatest hopes for radical politics today. The Rojavan experiment with radical grassroots democracy, feminism and social ecology has created new possibilities for imagining an alternative to capitalism, imperialism, colonial nation-states and patriarchy in the 21st century. Gender equality is central to the ideological foundations of this model, which locates the emergence of gender hierarchies as the historical root of all social, economic and cultural oppression and has attempted to create a feminist praxis that permeates all levels of society.
Afrin is therefore not simply a region under attack – it is the stand of a symbol of feminist and indigenous autonomy and resistance against statist, capitalist and patriarchal oppression. The women in Afrin are not simply waging a battle for Kurdish people’s liberation, but a fight against the patriarchal fascism of the Turkish state and its jihadist allies. Support for the women of Afrin means support for the global feminist struggle against the brutal excesses of patriarchy in all its forms.
We stand with our sisters rising up and fighting for Afrin, and call upon our progressive, feminist, socialist and democratic allies across the world to also stand in solidarity, and demand from their governments to pressure the Turkish state to end its horrific attempt at ethnic cleansing and wiping out possibly the most critical progressive experiment in social organization in the 21st century.
#DefendAfrin
Issued by:
Tooba Syed
Secretary Information WDF