As attacks aimed at the annihilation of Kurdish people by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and Turkey-backed armed groups spread across North and East Syria, these groups have increasingly committed war crimes targeting women. HTS, which has systematically targeted women and their bodies, most recently abducted two women fighters from the Women’s Defense Units (YPJ), Amara Intiqam and Narîn Axîn, in the Deir ez-Zor region. Following the release of a video showing the abduction of the YPJ members, there was a wave of public outrage and condemnation over the war crimes committed against women.

 

Çiçek Otlu, an Istanbul MP for the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, shared her assessment of the ongoing attacks and the deliberate targeting of women’s bodies in times of war.

 

‘DEFENDING ROJAVA IS NOT ABOUT DEFENDING A GEOGRAPHY’

 

Commemorating all women fighters who protected the values, dignity, and culture of the Rojava Revolution—particularly in Aleppo—and who sacrificed their lives in this struggle, Çiçek Otlu said, “Their legacy continues to live on today in the women’s resistance rising in the streets of Rojava, on the front lines, and in every sphere of life. For this reason, defending Rojava is not merely about defending a geography; it is about defending all the values women have won through blood and labor.”

 

‘THE ATTACKS ARE PLANNED, COORDINATED, AND MULTI-DIMENSIONAL’

 

Drawing attention to the forced evacuation of two Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo on January 6, Çiçek Otlu said the developments marked an open declaration of a long-prepared occupation policy, noting that tensions have escalated daily since then. Otlu stated that HTS and the ISIS-linked structure operating within it are seeking to bring all of Syria under their control, aiming to eliminate the Kurdish people and re-colonize the region. “What we are witnessing today are not isolated incidents,” she said. “They are part of a planned, coordinated, and multi-dimensional assault against the Kurdish people.”

 

‘A STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM IS UNDERWAY’

 

Emphasizing that the Kurdish people have intensified resistance against these occupation and massacre-driven policies wherever they are organized, Otlu said, “This is not merely a military struggle; it is also a struggle for equality and freedom. No one wants Syria to be turned into another Gaza. Peoples are mobilizing to avoid new massacres and forced displacements. The struggle being waged today is the struggle of all Middle Eastern peoples for a dignified life.”

 

‘THE ROJAVA REVOLUTION IS A SHARED GAIN OF ALL WOMEN’

 

Stating that the Rojava Revolution is not only an achievement of Kurdish women but a collective gain for women from all communities—including Arab, Assyrian, Armenian, Yazidi, and others—Çiçek Otlu said the revolution represents the concrete embodiment of peoples’ fraternity and women’s shared will. For this reason, she stressed, the attacks should not be interpreted as targeting Kurds alone but as an assault on the hope of coexistence in the region and on the common future women have built together.

 

Emphasizing that women are the central subjects of the Rojava Revolution, Otlu continued: “Organized, militant women who love their land more than their own lives are the greatest fear of reactionary forces. Male-dominated regimes know very well that as women grow stronger, their systems begin to collapse. That is why they act far more aggressively toward women. The destruction of women’s gains is seen as the first step toward suffocating the Rojava Revolution.” Referring to developments following January 6, Otlu said they are the result of dirty bargains carried out by what she described as fascist U.S. forces, Zionist Israel, and the Turkish state, all of which, she argued, are deeply disturbed by the free and egalitarian model of life established in Rojava. Against this backdrop, she added, YPJ and YPG forces continue to resist together with all peoples, striving to protect the corridor opened by life, equality, and freedom.

 

‘A DELIBERATE PERCEPTION OPERATION IS UNDERWAY’

 

Otlu said the silence of international institutions and states in the face of these attacks amounts to open complicity, noting that governments claiming to champion women’s rights are turning a blind eye to the killing of women in Rojava. “Those who deliver lectures on democracy are standing on the same side as the forces seeking to suffocate the democratic life created by women,” she said, adding that images circulated on television and digital media are misleading. Otlu underlined that a deliberate perception operation is being conducted to render invisible the resistance led by women and to discredit the women’s freedom struggle. “This resistance, rising under women’s leadership against reactionary and fascist mentalities that seek to reimpose women’s enslavement, represents the hope not only of Rojava, but of the Middle East and the peoples of the world,” she said.

 

‘SILENCE MEANS COMPLICITY’

 

Otlu described the Rojava Revolution as a struggle for freedom against a capitalist, male-dominated order in which women are enslaved and their bodies commodified. Recalling that the ISIS regime had established a dark system in which women were sold in markets, she warned that the same mentality is now seeking to regain strength in different forms. “Women in Rojava have shown the entire world that an equal and free life is possible,” she said. “Our task today is clear: to expand solidarity with Rojava, amplify the voices of women’s organizations, expose the attacks, and organize resistance in every sphere. In schools, workplaces, factories, and streets—wherever there is life, we must stand with Rojava. Remaining silent means becoming complicit in these attacks.”

 

‘LET US UNITE AROUND THE SLOGAN “JIN, JIYAN, AZADΔ’

 

Calling on women across the world to unite around the slogan “Jin, jiyan, azadî,” Otlu said women’s solidarity must be internationalist. “We state this clearly: we will never allow Kurdish women to be killed, enslaved, or erased. We will strengthen the common and international resistance of women against fascism. Defending the Rojava Revolution means defending women’s freedom. No society can be free unless women are free. The women resisting in Rojava are not alone; their voices are the voices of the women’s struggle rising across the world. Resistance will prevail.”