Kurdish women, one of the most dynamic segments of the women’s struggle, have carried their fight for identity and equality from 1919 to the present day. The driving force of their resistance has been the philosophy of “Jin jiyan azadî (Woman life freedom).” The struggle that began in 1919 with the Kurdish Women’s Progress Society, continued in the 1970s with the Revolutionary Democratic Women’s Association (DDKAD), in 1987 with Patriotic Women Unity of Kurdistan (Yekitiye Jinen Welatparezên Kurdistan-YJWK), and in 1991 with the Patriotic Women’s Association, left its mark on the 21st century in the 2000s through a distinctive form of organization, despite the repression and prohibitions of the 1990s.

 

Kurdish women, who advanced their first distinctive forms of organization under the umbrella of the Democratic Free Women’s Movement (DÖKH), announced the founding of the Free Women’s Congress (Kongreya Jinên Azad – KJA) in 2015. Following the closure of KJA by a statutory decree (KHK) issued during the State of Emergency (OHAL) declared after the coup attempt of July 15, 2016, the struggle continued with the Free Women’s Movement (Tevgera Jinên Azad – TJA) as of November 20, 2016. This year, TJA, which is marking the 9th year of its struggle, is observing November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, with the slogan “Bi civaka demokratîk ber bi jiyana azad a bê tundî ve (Towards a Nonviolent Free Life with a Democratic Society).”

 

 

FROM DÖKH TO TJA: A CONTINUOUS ORGANIZATIONAL LINE

 

Sebahat Tuncel said: “KJA’s closure under the state of emergency did not end the struggle; from November 2016 onward, the TJA carried the legacy forward.” She described the long arc of women’s organizing within cultural centers, political parties, and independent institutions, explaining: “2003 was decisive, women from unions, political parties and independent groups built DÖKH to unify the women’s freedom line across all areas.”

 

BUILDING A POLITICAL AND SOCIAL WOMEN’S FREEDOM LINE

 

Discussing TJA’s role, Tuncel explained that Kurdish women have simultaneously confronted state policies of denial and assimilation and patriarchal dominance: “While resisting annihilation policies against the Kurdish people, women also produced solutions to the problems arising from male domination.”

 

She noted that the “women’s freedom line” became a policy across all mixed-gender structures, not only independent women’s groups. She said: “From gender-sensitive budgeting to women’s shelters and the co-chair system, these were all gains of this line.” Sebahat Tuncel linked the movement to regional dynamics: “Rojava, Iran’s ‘jin, jiyan, azadî’ uprisings, developments in the Middle East — all of these helped socialize the democratic, ecological, women’s freedom paradigm.”

 

THE WEIGHT OF REPRESSION AND THE STRATEGY OF RESILIENCE

 

Sebahat Tuncel emphasized that after the 2015 breakdown of dialogue, women were left vulnerable under centralized repression: “The abolition of the Istanbul Convention and deepening anti-Kurdish policies turned this into a period where women were left defenseless.” In this context, she identified TJA as a lifeline: “TJA’s existence gave both society and women the ability to breathe.”

 

TOWARD KURDISH WOMEN’S UNITY ACROSS FOUR PARTS OF KURDISTAN

 

Addressing the regional fragmentation of Kurdistan, Tuncel explained the importance of women-led unity: “Since Kurdistan is divided among four nation-states, unity among Kurdish women is crucial.” She adds that TJA carries out actions, meetings, and solidarity activities “to build national-democratic unity among women in all four parts of Kurdistan, in the diaspora, and across the world.”

 

She stressed that this is part of a broader mission: “We work to develop the women’s freedom line, solve the Kurdish people’s freedom struggle, and build a future where peoples of the Middle East live together as free and equal citizens.”

 

WHY THE WOMEN’S STRUGGLE IS CRIMINALIZED

 

Sebahat Tuncel said attempts to criminalize the movement stem from a deeper ideological conflict: “There is an inherent contradiction between the male-dominated capitalist system and those who defend women’s freedom.” She argues that patriarchy is embedded in state institutions, calling it a form of “male-state violence.”

 

She stated that women struggle to breathe under this system and the fight for freedom becomes “ideological, because men’s dominance produces hierarchy, violence, and oppression.” She said: “The more women organize and strengthen themselves, the more they can transform the system.”

She described how women’s demands — from quotas to co-chairship — ultimately forced even the state to adapt: “Because we insisted on co-chairship, the state had to legally acknowledge it.”

 

SPECIAL WAR POLICIES AND THEIR IMPACT ON WOMEN

 

Sebahat Tuncel called special war a long-standing policy in Kurdistan, especially targeting women: “It aims to confine women to the home, suppress their identity, and weaken them through attacks on their sexual identity.”

 

She described tactics ranging from harassment and violence to pushing women out of economic and social life: “From drugs to prostitution, poverty, mafia structures and gangs — this creates a system of decay that harms society deeply.”  She stressed such policies seek to delegitimize Kurdish youth, women and added: “It becomes a social problem we must urgently resolve.”

 

THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM: THE CRISIS OF MASCULINITY

 

She argued that the issue is wrongly framed as a “women’s problem” and added: “The real issue is not women — it is masculinity.” She explained that traditional gender roles, reinforced by thousands of years of patriarchy, must be dismantled and said: “Men must also recognize their conflict with the system and struggle against it.”

 

Women’s rights are often treated like property rights, she said: “This leads to exploitation of women’s labor and bodies as if it were a natural right. Therefore, a new ideological and political orientation is needed. A society cannot be free if women are not free.”

 

Sebahat Tuncel noted that many women have inherited a learned helplessness: “There is a historically imposed belief that women’s secondary status is divinely ordained.” She said awareness is the first step toward change: “Women in the movement often join after gaining consciousness of their reality. In earlier years, women joined the Kurdish struggle primarily for national liberation, but within the movement they discovered patriarchy existed internally as well. This confrontation deepened the women’s freedom line.”

 

RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT IN TURKEY AND THE REGION

 

Sebahat Tuncel emphasized that Kurdish women have been in solidarity with women’s movements across Turkey and the Middle East since the 1990s. “We always came together around 8 March, 25 November and women’s legal rights,” she said and added: “When the Kurdish issue enters the discussion, this often divides the women’s movement in Turkey.”

 

Sebahat Tuncel stated that nationalist politics make certain segments unwilling to cooperate: “It becomes difficult to engage conservative, liberal or republican-nationalist women. Still their support has always been valuable.”

 

A NEW PERIOD AFTER ÖCALAN’S CALL

 

Referring to Abdullah Öcalan’s February 27 call, Sebahat Tuncel stated that it opened a new phase: “Although society felt hope for peace, the state's repression, the elimination of freedom of expression, and the persistence of militarist, religious and nationalist policies undermine trust in the process.”

 

Despite this, she highlighted meaningful collective efforts: “Initiatives like Women Are Strong Together and I Need Peace are valuable in voicing women’s demands for peace and building a common future. I believe that in the coming period, unity will become even more important for the democratic transformation of Turkey and a peaceful solution to the Kurdish issue.”

 

INTERNATIONAL IMPACT OF THE KURDISH WOMEN’S MOVEMENT

 

Sebahat Tuncel stressed that Kurdish women are no longer seen as victims but as agents of revolution: “Women are now subjects of struggle, not victims — Rojava had a major role in this.”

 

She explained how the fight of Kurdish women against DAESH became a global symbol: “It showed the world that a different line of freedom is possible.”

 

She said that International participation in Rojava demonstrates global trust in this women’s freedom line and also highlighted Iran: “The ‘Jin, jiyan, azadî’ uprisings after the killing of Jina Amini became a global symbol of women’s resistance. This slogan now united the world’s women. It keeps alive the struggle against war, exploitation, religious and nationalist oppression.”

 

THE PHILOSOPHICAL POWER OF ‘JIN, JIYAN, AZADÎ’

 

Sebahat Tuncel describes the phrase as far more than a slogan: “‘Jin, jiyan, azadî’ means there can be no life without women and no freedom without life. It resonates globally because it offers a roadmap for a women-centered free life against the male-dominated capitalist system. A society in which women are oppressed cannot be free. It is a philosophy of building a free life with women at its center.”

 

WHY ÖCALAN’S FREEDOM MATTERS FOR WOMEN

 

Sebahat Tuncel said Kurdish women demand Öcalan’s freedom because he represents collective, not individual, liberation: “He always said, ‘My freedom is not individual but societal.’ And Ocalan is a key actor in solving the Kurdish issue and has deeply influenced women’s freedom ideology. His democratic, ecological, women’s freedom paradigm and his critique of patriarchy hold great importance for Kurdish women.”

 

She emphasized that this is why women have long called for his release: “If the Kurdish issue is to be solved democratically, the parties must be free — this requires his freedom.”

 

ROADMAP FOR THE PEACE AND DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY PROCESS

 

Discussing the movement’s approach to the new peace declaration, Sebahat Tuncel said: “We see it as a beginning, a transformation — not an end. Ocalan’s manifesto is a new call for struggle. We are reassessing our shortcomings and deciding how to move forward.”

 

She highlighted that the shift from armed struggle to democratic politics requires structural adaptation: “We want to reorganize ourselves to take strong part in democratic politics while expanding the women’s freedom line.”

 

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NOVEMBER 25

 

Sebahat Tuncel concluded by emphasizing the importance of combating gender-based violence: “We do not want to carry women’s coffins anymore.” She stressed the need for preventive measures and said:“Ending male domination and building a women’s freedom-centered life is the only true prevention.”

 

Sebahat Tuncel called on all women to join the struggle: “We must narrow the space of male domination and expand the space of women’s freedom in our personal, family and social lives.”

 

MA / Rukiye Payiz Adıguzel-Yesim Tukel