Kobane

By Ertuğrul Kürkçü

June 8, 2022 — Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from Progressive International — Ankara believes that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has opened a window of opportunity in its century-long war with the northern Kurds by expanding its influence beyond the borders of the Turkish Republic.

The Erdogan regime hopes to deepen its exploitation of the United Nations Security Council's 2015 call for an "international alliance" directly against ISIS and al-Nusra. It mobilised that appeal to assault the Kurdish autonomous governments in Syria and Iraq that the Kurds had won through their fight against ISIS. 

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Kurdish women volunteers at the Girke Lege women’s center By Ruken Isik April 5, 2016 -- Links International Journal of Socialist Renewal reposted from The Next System Project -- The struggles of Kurdish women in Rojava Kurdistan (Northern Syria) became known to many people in the world during the brutal attacks of ISIS against the city of Kobane in northern Syria on September 15th, 2014. While Kurdish men and women were trying to defend the city from ISIS militia men with limited  ammunition and inadequate weapons, compared to sophisticated weapons in the hands of ISIS, Kurds worldwide took to the streets to be voice for Kurds in Rojava and Kobane. From the battle to defend Kobane onward, Western media and politicians have started to talk about the brave Kurdish women who are fighting against ISIS and its brutal treatment—including enslavement—of women. But a question still resonates in many ears: how do Kurdish women join the fight against ISIS in such numbers, and why are women on the forefront of the struggle? What is the history behind this remarkable departure from the norm, and what can advocates for systemic change and feminism learn from Rojava?
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Un convoy de combatientes revolucionarios kurdos de las Unidades de Protección del Pueblo (YPG)
[English version available here]