Call for Global Solidarity Campaign: Women Rise Up for Efrîn!

Jin Rabin Ser Piyan ji bo Efrînê!

The Kurdish region of Efrin in the Democratic Federation of North Syria has been underheavy attack from the Turkish army and affiliated jihadist gangs since 20 th January 2018. Night and day, our towns and villages, refugee camps, and historic and sacred sites are being bombed by Turkish war-planes and artillery with the aim of depopulating and occupying the area. While the international public has not taken any adequate action, everyday we face new war crimes and civilian casualties. Women have become targets of rape, cruel sexual assault and mutilation of their bodies by Turkish army and affiliated gangs.

The Erdogan regime openly announced the aim of its military aggression on Efrin as being the annihilation the democratic autonomous self-administration of Rojava and to occupy the territory of Northern Syria. Along with racist, religious-fundamentalist and sexist oppression, Turkey strives to wipe out the traces of women’s history, and the matricentric and egalitarian culture in our region. Efrin was one of the first places of settlement and also of the agricultural revolution in the Fertile Crescent. Women played a leading role in this historical process which has been described as the first women’s revolution. Symbols of mother-goddesses like Ishtar or Astarte are a common cultural heritage of the local peoples and can be found in many sites of Efrin. For example, the huge footprints in the flagstones of the 3 thousand-years-old Ain Dara temple, situated close to Efrin city, have been symbolising the presence and the spirit of the goddess Ishtar. By bombing and devastating this temple site the Turkish state strives to enforce its patriarchal and fascist order.

As women from Efrin, we are determined to defend our heritage of the first women’s revolution in our homeland and to succeed in a second women’s revolution through our resistance against occupation and oppression. Today the ancient caves in the mountains have become our shelters which protect us from the bombings. Over 6 years, women from Efrin and all parts of Rojava have been resisting against the attacks of the Islamic State. At the same time, we have played a leading role in building up democratic structures of self-administration. We have built up autonomous structures based on communal organising, women’s councils, academies, and cooperatives, as well as women’s self-defence. Through realizing that women’s solidarity is one of our most effective weapons, we have developed our collective strength and consciousness. Today, ten thousands of women have taken up arms to defend their land, their lives, and their future in Efrin. The resistance of the Women’s Defence Units YPJ and the women’s civil defence forces, Parastina Jinê, who have organised under the umbrella of the Women’s Movement of Rojava, Kongreya Star, are part of a women’s global resistance against any form of oppression, exploitation, femicide and fascism.

While the international institutions and state governments keep silent about the abuses of international law and war crimes, we believe that women’s international solidarity will be our strongest weapon in defeating fascism and patriarchy. By stepping in the footprints of Ishtar and those women who created and defended communal life, we call upon women from all over the world to rise up for defending Efrin and the values of humanity!

Let’s strengthen the networks and actions of women’s international solidarity to spread the women’s revolution worldwide! We call upon all our sisters around the world to take urgent action and join the campaign by using and spreading #WomenRiseUpForAfrin in local protests, creative actions, marches and social media campaigns.

  • Stop Turkish invasion and occupation aggression on Efrin – Stop genocide and femicide!
  • Rise up for the protection of the people, the land, the cultural and historical heritage of Efrin!
  • Rise up for the defence of the democratic, ecological self-administration in Rojava and North Syria!
  • Defending Efrin means to defend the Women’s Revolution – “No pasaran” to Erdogan’s Fascism!

Kongra Star Efrin
8 February 2018
Contact
E-mail: [email protected] – Tel/Whatsapp: 00963 99 84 11 674

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