Home
Kurdish women join PKK in droves to fight the Islamic State
Kurdish female YPJ fighters battle Islamic State in Syrian Kurdistan.
QANDIL MOUNTAINS, Turkey-Iraqi Kurdistan border,— The Islamic State’s rapid spread across Syria and Iraq and the brutality with which it was achieved has prompted a surge of new recruits for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish group currently fighting on the frontlines in Iraq. Around 1,000 new members are signing up each month, according to the group’s military chief, Cemil Bayik — and most of them are women. The PKK, which was founded to achieve autonomy for Turkey’s Kurds, has taken a leading role in the battle against IS in recent months, following attacks on Kurdish areas in both Syria and Iraq. The PKK has long prided itself on its progressive view on gender equality, with women-only fighting brigades and commanders in its top ranks. But whereas in the past its fighters have been predominantly men, now it is women who make up the greater number among new recruits. “Generally speaking I can say that 1,000 new recruits are joining the PKK every month. Now the number of women joining is higher than the boys,” Bayik said. The Islamic State’s views on women’s rights could hardly be further apart from that of the PKK. The group has taken hundreds of women from the minority Yazidi sect as slaves since it overran Sinjar province in August, raping and trading them among each other.
A pamphlet recently released by its "Research and Fatwa Department" detailed how IS members should treat female slaves. Citing its own interpretation of Islamic law, the rules said fighters are permitted to rape and beat female slaves.
Yazidi women who managed to escape IS captivity speak of such horrors, and more. It is in part due to these these stories that women are now joining the PKK in such large numbers.
Twenty-year-old Sara Ronahi is one of those new recruits. Originally from Mardin, in southeast Turkey, she was studying at university when the Islamic State swept through Sinjar.
“When I watched the news about the atrocities of IS against the Kurdish people and their enslaving and selling of the Yazidi women, I decided to join the PKK,” she said in an interview conducted by email. ”I found [the PKK] sincere,” she added.
Sara, the daughter of a farmer, has recently finished her basic military training with the PKK in the Qandil, and will soon be sent to the front.
“I want to go and fight against ISIS. They are enemy to all people of the Middle East, especially women,” she said.
“I want to take revenge for the Yazidi women against ISIS. No matter if I lose my life in this fight. I know why I die. No matter. I should give ISIS the lesson they deserve.
There are many more like Sara, according to Bayik.
“Since ISIL’s attacks on the Kurdish women, the girls felt the need to protect themselves and others,” he said.
“They came to realise that the PKK is the most effective organization for protecting both the Kurds and Kurdish women. So that’s why we are witnessing such a rise in the recruitmentwww.Ekurd.net of girls in the ranks of the PKK.”
The PKK — designated a terrorist organization by the US, EU and Turkey — is not the only Kurdish group whose ranks have been bolstered by volunteers eager to fight the Islamic State.
The armed forces of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government of northern Iraq — the Peshmerga — has also seen a boost, with people of Kurdish descent travelling from all around the world to join up.
Indeed, the various Kurdish forces have witnessed something akin to a national mobilization since IS launched a major offensive into Iraq, threatening the Kurdish north.
In Iraq and Syria, the Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), PKK and Peshmerga have largely ignored the borders separating them and coordinated to protect Kurdish areas under threat — most notably in Kobani (Syria) and on Mount Sinjar (Iraq).
The rapid expansion of IS and the threat that poses to the Kurds has ushered in a period of unity rarely seen between the different groups, which have been prone to rivalry in the past.
That is something the PKK, which was founded with the aim to create an independent Kurdish state, is hoping to build on (the group has since tempered its demands, calling instead for greater autonomy for Turkey’s Kurds)
“We regard it as our duty to protect the gains of the Kurdish people everywhere,” said Bayik.
“ISIL is a great threat to the Kurds, but ISIL at the same time, unwillingly, served to unite us. Because despite our internal differences, the threat has brought together Kurds from all parts.”
“This fight has proven that if the Kurds are united, and if they cooperate militarily, the can defeat any threat. This has been proved in practice. And that is a great thing for the Kurds.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Kurdish female YPJ fighters battle Islamic State in Syrian Kurdistan.
QANDIL MOUNTAINS, Turkey-Iraqi Kurdistan border,— The Islamic State’s rapid spread across Syria and Iraq and the brutality with which it was achieved has prompted a surge of new recruits for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish group currently fighting on the frontlines in Iraq. Around 1,000 new members are signing up each month, according to the group’s military chief, Cemil Bayik — and most of them are women. The PKK, which was founded to achieve autonomy for Turkey’s Kurds, has taken a leading role in the battle against IS in recent months, following attacks on Kurdish areas in both Syria and Iraq. The PKK has long prided itself on its progressive view on gender equality, with women-only fighting brigades and commanders in its top ranks. But whereas in the past its fighters have been predominantly men, now it is women who make up the greater number among new recruits. “Generally speaking I can say that 1,000 new recruits are joining the PKK every month. Now the number of women joining is higher than the boys,” Bayik said. The Islamic State’s views on women’s rights could hardly be further apart from that of the PKK. The group has taken hundreds of women from the minority Yazidi sect as slaves since it overran Sinjar province in August, raping and trading them among each other.
A pamphlet recently released by its "Research and Fatwa Department" detailed how IS members should treat female slaves. Citing its own interpretation of Islamic law, the rules said fighters are permitted to rape and beat female slaves.
Yazidi women who managed to escape IS captivity speak of such horrors, and more. It is in part due to these these stories that women are now joining the PKK in such large numbers.
Twenty-year-old Sara Ronahi is one of those new recruits. Originally from Mardin, in southeast Turkey, she was studying at university when the Islamic State swept through Sinjar.
“When I watched the news about the atrocities of IS against the Kurdish people and their enslaving and selling of the Yazidi women, I decided to join the PKK,” she said in an interview conducted by email. ”I found [the PKK] sincere,” she added.
Sara, the daughter of a farmer, has recently finished her basic military training with the PKK in the Qandil, and will soon be sent to the front.
“I want to go and fight against ISIS. They are enemy to all people of the Middle East, especially women,” she said.
“I want to take revenge for the Yazidi women against ISIS. No matter if I lose my life in this fight. I know why I die. No matter. I should give ISIS the lesson they deserve.
There are many more like Sara, according to Bayik.
“Since ISIL’s attacks on the Kurdish women, the girls felt the need to protect themselves and others,” he said.
“They came to realise that the PKK is the most effective organization for protecting both the Kurds and Kurdish women. So that’s why we are witnessing such a rise in the recruitmentwww.Ekurd.net of girls in the ranks of the PKK.”
The PKK — designated a terrorist organization by the US, EU and Turkey — is not the only Kurdish group whose ranks have been bolstered by volunteers eager to fight the Islamic State.
The armed forces of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government of northern Iraq — the Peshmerga — has also seen a boost, with people of Kurdish descent travelling from all around the world to join up.
Indeed, the various Kurdish forces have witnessed something akin to a national mobilization since IS launched a major offensive into Iraq, threatening the Kurdish north.
In Iraq and Syria, the Kurdish forces of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), PKK and Peshmerga have largely ignored the borders separating them and coordinated to protect Kurdish areas under threat — most notably in Kobani (Syria) and on Mount Sinjar (Iraq).
The rapid expansion of IS and the threat that poses to the Kurds has ushered in a period of unity rarely seen between the different groups, which have been prone to rivalry in the past.
That is something the PKK, which was founded with the aim to create an independent Kurdish state, is hoping to build on (the group has since tempered its demands, calling instead for greater autonomy for Turkey’s Kurds)
“We regard it as our duty to protect the gains of the Kurdish people everywhere,” said Bayik.
“ISIL is a great threat to the Kurds, but ISIL at the same time, unwillingly, served to unite us. Because despite our internal differences, the threat has brought together Kurds from all parts.”
“This fight has proven that if the Kurds are united, and if they cooperate militarily, the can defeat any threat. This has been proved in practice. And that is a great thing for the Kurds.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
