Statement on the elections by Kongra Star and the women’s organisation Zenûbiya

Kongra Star and the Zenubia Women’s Gathering hosted an event yesterday at April 4 Park in Heseke to introduce the candidates for co-chairs and community council members and announce the election statement.

This is the deceleration:

With all of our colours, passion, will, thoughts, promises and deeds we are candidates for the municipal elections.

The unity, equality and freedom of the peoples mean a free life for women and children. For a free life and for the protection of nature, we will continue to build a democratic nation that includes the protection of ecological life.

As the people of Rojava, North and East Syria, we are fighting against attacks from fascism and the ruling systems, which are targeting our regions and our material, cultural and historical values. Through our achievements, we have laid the foundation for a free and democratic country.

Thousands of women, young men and children have fallen martyr on this path and in this fight for freedom and democracy. Therefore, we remember all the martyrs of the revolution with respect and honor. We promise that we will realise their dreams of a free country and a free society.

In order to build such a country and society, we women in Rojava and North and East Syria have been fighting against the occupying and fascist forces for many years. At the same time, we have been fighting against the backward, feudal, authoritarian, religious-fundamentalist and sexist mentality.

In the current phase, there are attempts to erase and deny our history and language. Through our struggle, we have been able to revive the spirit of resistance of women’s struggles. We have done this based on the values of free women and their culture in this historical region, and through all the memories of the peoples who have lived here for thousands of years.

Confident, determined and enthusiastic, we will intensify our struggle every day. We have risen up, organised and brought to light the power of women and their will.

We have understood that living under domination as a second-class gender is not our destiny. To be servants and slaves in a system created by men, to be seen as nothing more than sexual commodities, to exist only to have children and do housework, and to be abused, belittled and murdered is not our destiny.

The capitalist way of life, built with the mentality of male domination, considers such a situation legitimate for women.

With our thoughts, words and deeds, we as the Kongra Star Women’s Movement and the Zenûbiya Women’s Association have protested against the life of slavery imposed upon us. We are working towards building an ecological and democratic life based on women’s freedom, highlighting the voices of women, their colour and their will everywhere.

From politics to diplomacy, from natural self-defense to economics, from municipalities to councils and regional administrations, from health to education – in all areas of life we have organised women to make their own decisions.

For a free and equal life, we are expanding our struggle and our organisation.

Today, we live in a very critical period in which the patriarchal, religious-fundamentalist, sexist and nationalist mentality continues to try to impose itself on our will in every way. It causes crises such as poverty and migration, spreads death and pain, disintegrates and destroys society and forces women into prostitution. This current mentality, which leaves us both physically and mentally uneducated, sick, ignorant and without moral values and conscience, uses every method of politics to do so.

We have accomplished a revolution within a revolution. If we do not work to make this revolution a lasting social revolution, we will be confronted with the mentality of men who want to prevent us from having a will in every way.

Therefore, Kongra Star Women’s Organisation and the Zenûbiya Women’s Association has taken a very important and historic step. It is known that women’s struggle against the sexist, religious and scientific-fundamentalist way of thinking is a historical struggle and it is still continuing today.

With the leadership of women, based on the legacy of the women’s freedom struggle and with the aim of building an ecological and democratic society founded upon women’s freedom and women’s revolution, the system of municipal administrations is to be transformed into a democratic system.

This will be done on the basis of the ratification of the 134-point social contract of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and in accordance with the third decision of Article 109.

After the High Electoral Commission in North and East Syria announced that it would hold elections of the regional administrations on June 11, 2024, we as women’s organisations prepared to participate in the upcoming elections.

It is the first time that women’s elections will be held in North and East Syria. Especially as women’s organisations such as Kongra Star and the Zenûbiya Women’s Association, we can say that is a very exciting event for women all over the country and that it will have a great impact on all parts of society.

Even though the women’s revolution is always developing ways of building a democratic and equal system, this method in particular is new for women.

We can even say that this is the first time in women’s history that women are elected by women to become candidates or co-chairs, and in this way act as women with their own identity and live with their own will in their society.

Today, we set an example in this region. As Kongra Star and Zenûbiya Women’s Association, we announce with strong determination the candidates of all districts and cities confirmed by women’s elections. The elections were successfully completed. Not only Kurdish women, but also Arab women and other population groups who believe in the women’s system participated.

As the Kongra Star Women’s Organisation and Zenûbiya Women’s Association, we find the co-chair system very important for equal representation. At every stage, the co-chair system is the correct structure because it implements the philosophy of “Jin Jiyan Azadî” politically in the right way and protects it from a monopolistic (one-sided) system. For this reason, more than 50% of the representatives in the municipal administration are women today. This proportion is continually being defended with great efforts, and it is to be increased.

With the aim of establishing an ecological administration in the Cizirê region, early elections for women were held in 68 districts and towns. Early elections for women were held in 15 districts and cities in the Euphrates region.

At the same time in the liberated regions, early elections were held in 50 cities and districts and the women candidates were prepared to participate in the elections on 11 June as women co-chairs.

Our aim is to protect the nature, the soil, the water and the air from the policies of the states occupying Kurdistan that are committing ecocide by destroying our forests, waters, mountains and geography. The ecological struggle is a women-led struggle for rights and justice.

We promise to fight for the values created by our people, women and children.

The elections of the regional administration that will take place in the coming days are an important step for regional self-government and the building of democracy in Rojava, North and East Syria. As women, we have taken our place in every phase of social construction, today we will be the ones playing a leading role in the regional administration.

One-sided and monopolistic politics in regional administrations have a great impact on women and children. They exclude them from services. Whether at home or in public, regional politics influence the kind of life we live and the services we benefit from.

The planning of places, the neighbourhood, parks, gardens and green spaces, street lighting, services in your mother tongue and mobility are linked to politics and their implementation, i.e. who has access to resources and the decision of who can use which for what, this influences and shapes our lives.

Therefore;

We know that the more we participate in the decision-making process and shape regional politics by using democratic methods of build-up, the better we can shape our lives and the places we live in. With the awareness of free individuals and a free society, a democratic and a communal society, lasting peace and the way of living equally with people, the concept of direct democracy and with strong participation, we will organise ourselves. We will take care of our lives, work for the establishment of equality and a free life. We will rebuild, protect and maintain social life based on the values of freedom and equality. We will develop pro-women policies and establish and develop our concept of local governance.

We will work and succeed in the areas of education in our mother tongue, in urban planning, architecture, equal right to services in cities, communication and publishing, culture and art, transport, health, economy, ethics and aesthetics, social policy, autonomous and independent self-organisation, free coexistence, co-determination system and an equal representation system.

Within the vision of women based on multicultural communities, we will protect the rights and equality of all religious groups and peoples such as Kurds, Syriacs, Assyrians, Arabs, Turkmen, Armenians, Alevis, Sunnis, Muslims, Christians and Yazidis.

We generally accept the system of co-chairmanship and equal representation. In order to safeguard women’s rights and freedoms, women organise themselves independently and autonomously in all areas, taking into account gender equality and the balance and diversity of nature.

On this basis:

• All services and projects related to women and children will be implemented together with the communes and councils.
• In matters of women’s policy, we will coordinate with regional civil society organisations such as women’s, youth, health and educational institutions.
• In the municipal administrations, women organise themselves autonomously and independently, and women’s councils, women’s coordination committees and women’s spokespersons are elected.
• We support women’s organisations to create projects for women and children. In this context, a women’s office will be set up in each municipal administration and, in connection with this, teams to combat violence against women will be established and education offered.
• In order to strengthen the solidarity of women in the municipal administrations and to develop a common policy, we will establish an association of women in the municipal administrations
• In order to promote education, information and international alliances, we will set up teams and committees of academies, the press and diplomacy within the Association of Women of municipal administrations.
• In order to meet the needs of women, who make up half of society, we will primarily develop a gender-sensitive budget, take into account the work of women in the municipal administrations and establish an autonomous budget for autonomous projects.
• As part of the fight against all forms of violence against women, we will set up teams for counselling women and for the protection of women and children.
• Health is a natural right of society, so that women can also benefit from it, healthcare must be free of charge. We will work with health care organisations to develop education in the area of women’s physical health
• Places to live should be organised for homeless women who have had to leave their houses, who have experienced violence and need help, for refugee women, for women with disabilities and for children.
• We will develop collective production so that women are more involved in the economy. On this basis, we will primarily promote agriculture and animal farming as well as trade and production cooperatives for women.
• We will develop projects to overcome the mentality of dividing labour into women’s work and men’s work. In the form of professional education programs, we will enable women to work a variety of jobs and provide for themselves.
• We will strengthen the organisation of young women in all areas of women’s politics. We will involve them intensively so that they can participate in decision-making mechanisms with their own voices and methods.
• We will ensure that women’s rights to life, health, education, housing, transport and safety, as well as their plans, are taken into account in order to create diversity in the women’s environment. From buildings to green spaces, from parks to squares: we have a say, opinion and decision-making right in planning the place where we live.
• We will create cultural spaces for women, sports grounds for women, quarters, market squares, women’s parks and free women’s areas.
• We will consider the situation of children, people with disabilities and older people in urban development from the perspective of women in public spaces, in transport and in the construction of buildings.
• We will collectively rebuild the living spaces that have been occupied, burnt and destroyed based on the wishes of the region. We will fight together against politics of war and conflict that force people to migrate and force demographic change.
• We will promote the protection of the ecosystem, we will take responsibility not only for humans, but for all kinds of life, plants, water, soil, air, as well as historical sites and cultural heritage. We will promote green spaces in the places where we live.
• In order to protect the economic and personal rights of women working under the umbrella of the municipal administrations, we will create the basis for their organisation and defence.

As women from Rojava, North and East Syria, our goal is to build democratic and ecological municipalities based on women’s freedom. For this we are determined, confident, hopeful and enthusiastic …

First of all, we call on all women and peoples to support and strengthen the will of women.

We already congratulate all our friends who will be elected and wish them every success.

Kongra Star Council

Council of the Zenûbiya Women’s Association

JIN JIYAN AZADÎ