The Kurdish Women's Movement in Europe (TJK-E) released a statement announcing their declaration of December 14 as a Day of Action for the Defense of the Women's Revolution.

“This day is the day to intensify the struggle! We will resist together, we will win together! Jin, Jiyan, Azadi!” said the TJK-E statement on Monday, which reads as follows:

“The military operations by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) against areas controlled by the Syrian regime as well as the Kurdish autonomous regions are not just an attempt to fragment and occupy a country. They are also a grave attack on the cultural and social structures of these societies. These attacks target the achievements of the struggle for women's liberation and human values, aiming to destroy them. The efforts to restructure Syria through these jihadist groups, which have emerged from the terrorist forces of ISIS, al-Nusra, and al-Qaeda, and present these groups as "honorable political actors," are rightly compared to the handover of Afghanistan to the Taliban.

For years, these and similar forces have committed grave crimes against humanity against the population, especially women. Since November 27, countless human rights violations have been perpetrated as part of the occupation war. As the Kurdish Women's Movement in Europe (TJK-E), we remember with great respect all those who have lost their lives in these attacks and condemn these occupation and genocide attempts with anger. The fascist Turkish state has exploited the developments in Syria. Through the use of mercenary bands loyal to it, it seeks to eliminate the areas of democratic self-administration by occupation. This autonomous region, which Kurds have dreamed of for so long and which they have built a democratic, free self-government in northeastern Syria since 2014, must now be defended together.

In the last ten years, the fascist Turkish state and its mercenary bands have changed the demographic structure of northeastern Syria. The Kurdish population has been forcibly displaced, and the remaining people are being forcibly Turkified. In the vacant spaces created by these displacements, other groups have been deliberately resettled. Many international organizations have confirmed that the Turkish state is pursuing a policy of physical and cultural genocide against the Kurds. This genocidal policy is currently being carried out by the SNA and HTS, the same jihadist organizations supported by the Turkish state, which have merely changed their names. According to reports from Human Rights Watch, systematic looting, torture, and executions are widespread in the region. In addition to violations of international law, there is a humanitarian crisis affecting all people in the region. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes, the places where they were born and raised, and where they have buried their dead. The more than 100,000 people who lived in refugee camps near Tal Rifaat and Shahba have managed to return to safer areas thanks to the help of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. However, during this migration process, more than 10,000 people were captured, tortured, or killed by the jihadist mercenaries. Thousands of them are still missing.

These persecutions and attacks also pose a major threat to minorities living in Syria, such as Alevis, Armenians, Yazidis, and Assyrians. In the occupied areas, a systematic cultural genocide and a policy of identity destruction are being pursued. Practices such as displacement, the burning of houses, the forced relocation of people, environmental destruction, and the erasure of identities are not only aimed at the physical existence of a people, but also at destroying their culture, memory, and future.

Above all, the YPJ fighters, who dealt a heavy blow to ISIS, are being targeted by these bands. In what seems like revenge, they are attempting to destroy the achievements made by women through a genocidal attempt and physical massacres.

The Turkish state, through its mercenary bands, is systematically targeting the social structure built on the philosophy of "Jin, Jiyan, Azadi" (Woman, Life, Freedom) and led by women. Women in Rojava have been fighting for years against oppression, occupation, and violence, and are building a society based on equality and freedom. This resistance of women is not just a struggle for the freedom of a people, but for the freedom of all humanity.

Just as the YPJ/YPG in 2014, with international support, together with the people of Rojava, delivered a deadly blow to ISIS terrorism, which had plagued the world, we must not allow the oppression of women's liberation struggle, the forced displacement of peoples, and the violation of human values. These attacks are not just against Rojava, but against the shared values of all humanity. Standing up for the women's revolution in Rojava and strengthening solidarity today means taking the side of justice and human dignity.

Let us not forget that it is still the women who are leading the fight for freedom in northeastern Syria, in Rojava. The resistance of women is the noblest resistance in history for the freedom of all peoples. The freedom struggle of women in Rojava is an example of what a world based on equality and a free society can look like. For this reason, women's freedom struggle is a crucial beacon of hope for the future of all peoples. Today, it is time to join the fight for freedom together. This land will be shaped on the basis of a free society, through the resistance of the peoples and women against years of oppression and darkness. Women, Kurds, and all other ethnic and religious minorities living there will continue to resist these attacks and will emerge victorious.

On this basis, we, the Kurdish Women's Movement in Europe (TJK-E), declare December 14th as a Day of Action for the Defense of the Women's Revolution. We call on all women, especially Kurdish women, the democratic public, and all those who stand on the side of humanity, to show solidarity with Rojava through actions and events on December 14. This day is the day to intensify the struggle! We will resist together, we will win together! Jin, Jiyan, Azadi!”