HESNA MUHEMED

Hasakah- Women of North and East Syria celebrated International Women’s Day, March 8, with the enthusiasm of the “Call for Peace and Democratic Society” made by Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan on February 27, 2025. On March 8, Arab, Syriac, Circassian, Armenian and Kurdish women flocked to the streets of Hasakah and celebrated their day.

Despite the rain, women wore their traditional clothes, celebrated International Women’s Day with enthusiasm and chanted the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” slogan. At the celebration, women listened carefully to the message sent by Abdullah Öcalan from the prison island of Imrali on the occasion of IWD.

While walking around, I saw how women felt and tried to document their morale and enthusiasm by taking their photographs of women. I saw a mother making a victory sign under the rain. I understood that she is a displaced woman of Afrin from her traditional dress.

‘Neither displacement nor attacks have weakened our will and resistance’

I asked the mother named Reşîda Muhemed how she welcomed IWD while being displaced twice. “We are Kurds, we celebrate our holidays and days wherever we are,” she responded. “We had resisted in Shahba for seven years. Then, we were displaced from there. Neither displacement nor attacks have weakened our will and resistance. Despite the displacement, we will maintain our struggle. Yes, we have been displaced twice but this does not mean that we surrender to occupation policies. The enemy is afraid of free and literate women struggling for their identity.”

‘We will see each other in free Afrin’

The words of the mother made me feel strong. As a young woman of Afrin, I kept taking photographs. The mother told me that we would see each other in free Afrin and I would take her photographs again.

The women of North and East Syria led the July 19th Revolution and they still play their leading role. This year, they celebrated International Women’s Day with great enthusiasm, giving a historic response to the historic call.