SORGÜL ŞÊXO

Hasakah-Kurds, Armenians, Yazidis, Turkmens, Arabs and Assyrians, who were subjected to genocidal attacks, reject the “One language, one flag and one nation” policy of the Baathist regime. They have an equal and common life thanks to the system based on democracy in North and East Syria.

NuJINHA spoke to Kurdish and Turkmen women, who live together in Til Temir (Tell Tamer), the smallest city in the Jazira Canton of North and East Syria.

‘We struggle to build an equal life’

Elga Oglo (65), Turkmen woman originally from the city of Latakia and mother of eight, has been living in Til Temir for 43 years. In the interview with us, she emphasized equality among people from different nationalities in the system of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and said, “Racism exists in every country. Racism has declined in North and East Syria since the revolution and thanks to the system developed by leader Abdullah Öcalan. People in northeastern Syria respect each other’s history, language and culture. Racism towards black people in European countries is growing. There is a difference between Sunnis and Alevis even in the cities of Syria. We struggle to build an equal life among people from different nationalities.”

‘We are one soul in one body’

Drawing attention to the common life in North and East Syria, Elga Oglo said, “We want the system based on democracy in North and East Syria to be put into practice across Syria. Kurdish, Arab and Syriac fighters resisted together against ISIS, a global threat. We are one soul in one body. The women, who ensured this unity, protected their cities at nights and prepared food for fighters during daylights when ISIS attacked.  We are united and free today thanks to the ideology and thoughts of leader Öcalan.”

 ‘We have paid high prices to build our unity’

Mihdiya Hac Mihemed (62) is a Kurdish woman having nine children and 23 grandchildren. “Arab, Syriac and Kurdish people have been living together in the neighborhood of Martyr Viyan for a long time. The regimes that reject a common life among people, always try to destroy the unity of the people at every opportunity. Despite the policies of the Baathist regime (of Syria), Kurdish and Arab people united to solve their problems together. We have paid high prices to build our unity because the attacks have targeted people from all nationalities.”

Mihdiya Hac Mihemed concluded her speech as follows: “Massacres would have taken place among the people without Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. What happened in Afghanistan and Pakistan would have happened here. Leader Öcalan planted the seeds of equality, democracy and fraternity among people.”