Eleven women have successfully formed a co-operative society by buying a power generator. These women were previously stripped from their natural right to work and were distanced from contributing to the communal economy, but thanks to the Rojava Revolution they have reinforced the women's economy and reinstated a role for women in their society.
Kurdistan is not a poor country; it is a country that is being made poor. The lack of Coca Cola does not make us poor. Capitalist modernity, as Ocalan defines it, makes us poor. It wants to belittle people’s own production and to impose on the society capitalist mass production. That’s why the co-operatives and the communes that we have been establishing made the state feel uncomfortable. Because this represents a logic of rupture from mass production and a move towards the use of our own resources. The state was losing its market in Kurdistan.
We took the rare opportunity to talk to an editor of the Jineoloji Journal in Diyarbakir about theoretical and practical activities of the Kurdish women’s movement in Turkey. The journal is one of the few remaining initiatives by the Kurdish movement that have not been shut down in the wake of the 2015-2016 military offensive by the Turkish state on predominantly Kurdish cities or otherwise repressed since the 2016 failed coup attempt. The latter was followed by massive repressions and the imposition of Ankara-appointed trustees in charge of Kurdish-majority municipalities (kayyum).
The House of Co-operatives that belongs to the Economic Committee in the Democratic Administration of Tabqa is working to improve the communal economy, which benefits all members of society, especially women. The communal economy solves social problems such as unemployment, and empowers women.
After the economic success of agricultural co-operatives in the last few years, 20 women from Tirbespiye formed a co-operative called Rojava Wheat Spikes Agricultural Co-operative. The Economic Committee was so impressed they decided to give full support to the emerging co-operative. The co-op will cultivate 1,330 dunam (decares) of agricultural land. The women have already started cultivating wheat on 800 dunams.
Important decisions were made at the seventh congress of Kongreya Star. The congress was held under the banner, “We will make the women’s revolution a communal revolution!” The conference was held in Aram Tigran Cultural Centre in the city of Rmelan in the canton of Qamishlo, and it was attended by about 700 representatives.
The Committee of the Union of Co-operatives in the region of Tell Hamis in Qamishlo held a special meeting for women in the village of Nayem to discuss women’s rights in the co-operatives societies and to encourage them.
Administrators in the House of Co-operatives in Northern Syria organised a meeting for the people of Tabqa to explain what co-operative societies are and how they work.
The Women’s Committee under the Hesekê Economy Directorate has developed several projects to develop women’s economy in the region.
Co-operative societies in Tirbespiye have been giving economic support for many families, and contributing in developing the communal economy. Women have played the largest role in establishing and developing these co-operatives.
The Women’s Council in Tabqa organised a meeting with the women who are registered to work in new projects. These projects will be supervised by the Women’s Council there, and will raise awareness about the role of women in society and the importance of these kinds of projects to create more jobs for women, and
Since the start of the popular movement in Syria in the spring of 2011, many civil society organisations have been set up to prioritise women's empowerment. This coincided with the establishment of the self-administration in 2013, and the formation of its structures and institutions, which began to manage affairs in Rojava. In spite of the difficult economic environment and the challenging situation, women have played a significant role in many fields, and are encouraged to find work opportunities to achieve financial independence.
