An age-old Kurdish saying “The Kurds have no friends but the mountains”. The emergence of the friendship between Kurds and mountains can be traced in 1970s when Kurds started their struggle for independence. According to an MIT study, there have been twenty-nine failed uprisings against Turkey by Kurds. The prime objective of these uprisings have been to obtain basic human rights, right to education in their own language and even the right to name their children with traditional Kurdish names. Since the inception of modern Turkish state, these demands have been continuously ignored and these armed struggles have not paved the way for their complete acceptance. However, on 25 November 1978, in a tea house in Diyarbakir, a group of young university students including both men and women took a pledge to ensure the independence of Kurdistan from Turkey. This newly formed organization changed the course of the Kurdish history and the dynamics of its society in the middle-east as well as in Europe.
The newly emerged PKK (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê) aka Kurdistan Workers Party was very weak in terms of advanced weaponry, Professional and trained fighters and foreign support in comparison to the professionally trained soldiers of Turkey, the NATO ally. Turkish government underestimated newly emerged PKK and in the meantime, PKK gathered a 55000 civilian militia of Kurdish people and organized more than 15000 guerilla fighters.
Under the command and leadership of Abdullah Ocalan (Founder of PKK), the Kurdish workers party became the most important militant organization of Kurds in Turkey. Economic reforms of 1980 in Turkey encouraged impoverished Kurd formers to join PKK. Turkish forces immediately responded to Kurdish guerilla activities with more violence and ruthless operations. This violence continued throughout 1980s and 90s causing thousands of deaths with unprecedented number of refugees fleeing their land of origin. Meanwhile, PKK successfully gained support from oppressed Kurdish people and became an important part of Kurdish society and politics.
(Harry west 2000, Ray and Korteweg 1999) argue that in many anti-colonial movements like, Zulu nationalist party in South Africa, the case of FRELIMO in the Mozambican war of independence, the Palestinian movement, the National liberation movement of Basque and in the Algerian nationalist movement, the theories of national liberation and women emancipation were practised. The liberation of women in all these movements at different times was incorporated in the programs of organizations. However, these all movements have generated different perception of femininity and differently interpreted the relations between women and nationhood.
In 1980s the founder of PKK Abdullah ocalan started to use women emancipation in his writings. While in an attempt of seeking an unsuccessful asylum, the Turkish government arrested Ocalan. Despite his arrest his ideological views on women question went on appealing the Kurdish intelligentsia and common masses. Ocalan mostly studied human society in historical perspective. He argued that, “in the Neolithic period, society predominantly was structured according to an agricultural, matriarchal system giving women a sacred position as the primary source of economical production. “Natural society” was organized around the identity” woman mother”, in harmony with nature and agricultural activity. Contrary to a culture of violence and war dominated by men, female governance was based on peace and the refusal of violence. The domestic system “wife-mother” was the first victim of the hierarchical society set up by the patriarchal behavior. This was the beginning of a historical “counter-revolution” leading to the deprivation of women in their personality and their Identity”. Furthermore, Ocalan argued that Capitalism is the main cause of the continuation of female gender slavery. In ancient times, slavery was imposed on women and then transmitted to men. He further added that they are pushed away from the public domain to legitimize the male dominancy and monopoly on politics, society and economy. So, man extended his authority from family to the state.
Keeping this context in view, Ocalan is of the opionion that the emancipation of woman is a prerequisite for the independepence of Kurdistan. And this independence is no longer just for mere liberation, but it would be to establish “democratic autonomy”. For the fighters of the PKK, they are facing a gender rule in which the states are a reproduction of masculinity, so to achieve an equal system, it seems normal to turn the direction of the fight to the Men-state sovereignty.
In 1978, the foundation of the Kurdistan workers party (PKK) and then in 1984 the strategy of armed struggle against the Turkish domination proved to be the beginning of a new era of national struggle in the history of the Kurdish national movement. After the inception of PKK in 1987, the Patriotic women union of Kurdistan was created within PKK which was the first women organization. Although all Kurdish areas were the focus of activity, they have not yet been able to make their presence felt outside Europe.
In the 1990s, Kurdish women massively started participating in the movement. The emergence of the Kurd Political party (DEP) revitalised Kurdish culture and society in Turkey. The participation of Kurd women in the fight for self-determination of Kurdistan increased remarkably. According to estimations, about 2000 women were recruited in 1993 and 1994. Whereas in 1987, 1% of the PKK “martyrs” were women (20 of 2000) (Grojean 2008: 526-27; Kutschera 1993: 220; Galletti 2001; Beran, D. 1995). The huge number of females among the guerillas required a transformation of Kurdistan Patriotic Women’s Union (Yekitiya Jinên Welatparezên Kurdistan) YJWK, which was restructured under the name TAJK. In 1995, during the National women congress, the first political and military organization of the Kurdish women was established under the platform of PKK.
The three principles of YJAK are Patriotism, The national struggle and commitment to the Party (PKK). However, in 1995, during the second national congress of Kurdish women, the organization became an autonomous entity under the name of PJKK. Kurdish movement highly encouraged the women involvement in the struggle. On one hand it symbolized revolution and liberation, and on the other hand it represented Kurdish culture.
So, now, the military is no longer a male dominant sector and women are no longer linked to peace. In demonstrations and military parades they occupy the first row by dressing up in the yellow, red and green colors which establishes a noticeable Kurdish symbol. For woman, this is the beginning of an era from the conservative and traditional position to her active participation in every sphere of life. At the same time, women in Kurdistan started to claim their place and space in politics as well as on the battlefield. In this discourse, the emergence of female awareness does not begin with the educated and middle class especially not for those women who were involved in the Kurdish movement.
International law and human rights discourses have always excluded women’s rights and voices from the arena. But the feminist approaches with several strategies served the women issues in the public arena and gave authentic responses which they deserved (McDonald 2001). The PKK promoted Jineology, a term to fill out the gaps which social sciences could not able to do. (Duzgun 2016). (Ali and pratt 2018) argues that, nationalism is not an absolute and only obstacle in woman’ issues, but the failure of women activists to engage with the separation and disconnection between state and nation is what that limits the achievements of their struggle.
The term jineoloji coined by Ocalan and practiced by PKK has rediscovered women’s status and restored the actual place of women in society (Al-Ali 2020). Kurdistan since World War 1, has been divided among four different states- Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey. Each host state suppressed the Kurdish people differently. The Turkish people have undergone different historical developments in these regions. Thus, this transnational society claims its own social identity, ethnicity and culture (Galletti 2008).
According to Bozarslan 2009, on the occasion of Ocalan’s arrest, the PKK took a decision and announced a unilateral ceasefire. A period of calm and settlement in the Kurd area. While other socio-culture activities appeared gradually. These associations aimed to focus on the psychological and social aspects of Kurdish women, most importantly the victims of forced migration and violence. On the pressure of female division, the DEHAP (Turkish: Demokratik Halk Partisi) a pro-Kurdish nationalist Party announced a gender quota system of 40% for women and also a woman co-presidential position was established for each presidential position held by a man. Due to this rule, 8 of the 20 deputies who were elected in 2007 were females. This was decisive for the inclusion of women in command positions and for their ultimate empowerment.
Muhammad Ehsan is a student of MPHIL Public Policy at PIDE, Researcher and Blogger, He tweets at @SiyaKohi
