Kongra Star Coordination member Ayşe Mahmud spoke to ANF about the projects and challenges the women's movement will face in 2022.

How is the situation of women in regions occupied by the Turkish state such as Afrin, Girê Spî and Serêkaniyê? Have you taken any initiatives to counter war crimes against women?

Protecting women in the occupied territories was one of the main decisions of Congress. In these areas, women are subjected to all kinds of inhumane practices. Our diplomacy committee has prepared many documents and files on the experiences of women in these regions. Many women were killed in Afrin. No outside delegation or press is allowed to enter the regions of Northern and Eastern Syria occupied by the Turkish state. We are trying to reach these women but face great difficulties. There, women are subjected to many other treatments, such as torture, rape, kidnapping, murder and imprisonment.

There are many documents prepared by Kongra Star. These documents have been submitted to international institutions. Again, we had a petition campaign that we started for Erdogan to be tried in international courts. We collected signatures that were delivered to international human rights courts and institutions. A dossier was prepared by determining the number of women killed and subjected to different treatment in the occupied regions, and this file was submitted to international humanitarian institutions and courts.

Unfortunately, despite all these documents and dossiers, the silence at international level still continues. But we won’t give up.

For more than a year, the European Kurdish Women's Movement has been working on exposing crimes against women and prosecuting the state and individuals who committed these crimes. The denunciation aspect is complete, but the trial dimension is in a deadlock, because applications must be made directly through victims' families. Do you have a plan, an initiative about this? Are there any families involved, and if so, what is planned?

Kongra Star is now organizing itself in Europe. It also held a congress there. We engaged in talks and meetings with many women's organizations. We are discussing how to work together and how to file lawsuits in European courts. Of course, there have been some positive results. Many cases have been opened, but there are still weaknesses.

The reality here is that there is support and connivance for what the Turkish state is doing, either openly or covertly. We haven’t yet reached our goal.

Kongra Star is now meeting with families from Rojava in Europe. We want to open cases in Europe through these families. As we said at the beginning, there is all the evidence needed to put forward a case and go to trial, but when it comes to litigation, the silence continues.

In the report of the SOHR (Syrian Observatory on Human Rights), it is stated that 44 women across Syria and Rojava, were killed in various ways due to family and tribal conflicts. What is the social basis of these killings? What kind of legal and social measures do you take against this?

In the report published by SOHR, it was determined that 44 women lost their lives in Syria. In North East Syria, this number was determined as 18. As we can see, 44 women killed is not a small number. Many women lost their lives due to this war in Syria. There is a great weakness in the establishment of women's organizations in order to prevent violence against women in Syria.

There is a struggle led by Kongra Star in Northern and Eastern Syria. Despite this, the murder of 18 women is not an acceptable situation. Although it is seen as low compared to the regime regions, we take this number seriously. In Northern and Eastern Syria, there are other women's organizations besides Kongra Star. They educate society on all dimensions. However, these killings continue to happen.

The main reason for this is the invasion attacks against North East Syria and the politics carried out with special war methods. In order to overcome this mentality, meetings are held within society and with the tribes, but we still see that this mentality is trying to reproduce and establish itself by taking advantage of the situation in Syria.

The Turkish state wants to develop this mentality by trying to reach the tribes through occupation and many other methods. The Turkish state targeted women who are leaders in society. In this way, it aims to liquidate the system created in Northern and Eastern Syria. Our struggle against this and our efforts to raise awareness in society will continue. Against this situation, we will enter 2022 with a greater perspective and program of struggle.

Part one of the interview can be read here