Bercin Kara

Makhmur – Violence directed against culture, identity, belief, and social existence has turned into a war waged systematically and widely, through practices and crimes of murder targeting women, children, and young people, to the point of reaching a dangerous level.

This reality is the result of a policy implemented daily under different names. The cunning of power, through unenforced laws, impunity, male‑dominated media discourse, and the concealment of events, opens the way for these practices and crimes. The system that fills daily news bulletins with violent crimes does not target individuals alone; it directs its blows at the structure of society and the image of its future. Moreover, through these policies, it destabilizes the foundations of society and expands its authoritarian system.

The crimes we witness today are in truth a "special war" waged against society. Every woman killed, every child whose rights are violated, is part of a project aimed at dismantling society. Likewise, the authoritarian system, through targeting young people, seeks to break society's dynamic and build a society incapable of raising its voice. It distances society from its culture, identity, existence, and morality. Children and young people who grow up amid this violence are prepared to be the continuation of this system. Attacks on women, children, and young people are not isolated incidents; they are part of an authoritarian, patriarchal policy that aims, through fear and violence, to restrict the freedom of women and young people.

"Violence against women continues in its harshest forms"

Speaking about the policies targeting women, children, and young people, Sunkul Guler, a member of the Jinology Committee in the Makhmur Refugee Camp, said that the wave of attacks launched by the system has entered a new phase, explaining that the authoritarian system now moves with more organized and covert methods.

She added: "These practices directed against women are not new; they extend from history to the present day. When the patriarchal system was established and its intellectual and political systems were built, women were placed in the background, and their language, culture, strength, and thought were confiscated. To this day, the system continues to impose its existence. True, we live in the twenty‑first century, the century of science, modernity, and democracy, but the policies of power have become more cunning and cruel. All of this is presented under names such as protection or the preservation of values. In the end, violence against women continues in its harshest forms."

"Women are erased within darkness"

Sunkul Guler also touched on the specific situation in the region, pointing out that the authoritarian system in the Middle East is waging a "special war" against women. "In the Middle East, women are targeted in every corner. In uprisings, women are the first to be targeted and killed. In the Rojava revolution, where women were at the forefront, we saw how Hevrin Khalaf was targeted. During that period, women were killed, arrested, and forcibly disappeared. By the same method, violations are also practiced against children."

She added: "In the Kurdistan Region, women are killed in hidden ways. Women are erased within darkness. Dozens of cases appear where the perpetrators are unknown. Violence against women continues: women are burned, forced marriages are imposed on them, they are married at a young age, and when they are killed, the cases are recorded as suicide to hide the truth."

"In Turkey, women are killed daily in the streets"

She pointed to what has recently been witnessed in North Kurdistan and Turkey: "When we look at Turkey, which presents itself as a democratic state and claims that its only problem is terrorism, we see that women are killed daily in the streets, and physical violence is openly practiced against them. That is, a man can easily commit violence against a woman in the street without anyone daring to object."

"The state protects killers"

Sunkul Guler highlighted the cases of Kilistan Doku and Rojin Kabaiş: "Through the special war waged in North Kurdistan against Kurdish women, a clear repressive policy is being practiced. If we look at the case of Kilistan Doku and Rojin Kabaiş, we will understand this special war more clearly. In Kilistan Doku's case, the state itself is implicated. Six years have passed since her disappearance, but the case has been buried in darkness, and it seems the state is hiding the internal contradictions that led to the loss of the truth. Likewise, in Rojin Kabaiş's case, all the details of the crime are clear, yet the killer has not been identified and no one has been held accountable. These two cases show that the state protects killers, hides crimes, and does not want the truth to emerge. This is part of the special war against the Kurdish people and Kurdish women. It is a policy practiced against us as a people, where the state wants to kill Kurdish women, subjugate them, defame them, and thus build a Kurdish society without morality."

"Children and young people are pushed toward darkness"

Sunkul Guler explained that the recent events in Turkish schools are a direct result of state policies. "The events recently witnessed in the country's schools are not merely imitation of TV series or games. It goes deeper than that. Today's global authoritarian system operates as a corporate system; it has created organizations in every field, including religious‑themed organizations, and pushes children and young people into them. What happened recently is a result of these organizations. A 14‑year‑old child, raised by his father within this structure, is killed in cold blood. On social media, it is presented as if it were a movie scene. A year ago, two women were killed due to tribal disputes, and the case was covered up. All of this is connected to the state, to anti‑human organizations, and to existing religious paths. This poses a great danger to the future of children and young people. By targeting women, children, and young people, they want to build a weak and immoral society, and this is one of the goals of existing states."

"The solution to this repressive system is Leader Öcalan's paradigm"

In conclusion, Sunkul Guler explained that the real alternative to this system is Leader Abdullah Öcalan's paradigm, built on the philosophy of women's freedom. "This paradigm is the path of salvation for women and young people. We as women must unite around this philosophy and organize ourselves. Once we organize ourselves, we will be able to protect ourselves and our children from the authoritarian system, and we will be able to liberate ourselves from it. We will also be able to hold the killers of Kilistan and Rojin accountable, and we will protect all women."