Havrin Khalaf: Forum of Tribal Woman Notables is historic step
On the sidelines of the Forum of Tribal Woman Notables held in the castle of Ja’bar in the city of al-Tabqa on September 1, our agency met with the Secretary General of the Future Syria Party, Havrin Al-Khalaf, to talk about the whole discussion forum, which focused on Turkish attacks on areas of northeast Syria.
What does it mean to you?
Holding such a forum in the Euphrates region is a historic event for us and for all women. This event is the first of its kind in Syria in particular and the Middle East in general, and we are proud of this step, and we can say that this huge gathering of women is evidence that women have been able to get out of the shell or cease hiding behind their mask for years.
The Forum of Tribal Woman Notables came at a time when Turkey is threatening to occupy the north and east of Syria.
The meeting came amid Turkish threats to occupy northern and eastern Syria, with false pretexts to establish a safe area. During the meeting, the women said that they would be one hand and united in the face of the Turkish occupation and its threats.
How would you evaluate the Forum of Tribal Woman Notables and its effects on the region?
Women had a limited role in society, and did not exercise their activities and express their views to the fullest because they were under the influence of male mentality, because the society was a tribal character, and during the revolution in northern and eastern Syria and the participation of women in the liberation of areas from the clutches of ISIS, women have had an effective role, and that resistance and voice of women have reached the whole world, which has opened a space for all women in the region to play their roles and take their place in all areas of life.
How have women overcome difficult customs and traditions in a region that has been an obstacle to women’s advancement in society?
Not only the customs and traditions have affected women in society, but the authoritarian and centralized state mentality and marginalization of the role of women in society, as we have perceived and seen in the previous stages of the Syrian state and marginalization of the role of women in the councils and institutions, and in decision-making places, but after the heroic women and martyrs who did not spare their lives liberated these areas, and endowed freedom in these areas, all women in the region have to undertake their duty, and what is required at any level to contribute to the completion of the march of freedom.
