Remziye Mihemed: Despite the pressure, we left our mark in history

Emphasizing that they continue to work despite the pressure by inheriting the legacy of resistance of many women such as Beritan, Zarif, Leyla, and Zilan, Remziye Mihemed, one of the first members of Yekitiya Star, says “We have been determined to be organized. Despite the pressures, we left our mark on history.”

RONAHÎ NÛDA

Qamishlo – Remziye Mihemed, one of the first members of Yekitiya Star, is current the spokesperson of the Kongra Star. She told us the works she has carried out since the foundation of the Yekitiya Star. Stating that Yekitiya Star was founded for women of Rojava Kurdistan, Remziye Mihemed said, “At that time, Yekitiya Star had contact with women’s movements, its activities were illegal. It was founded in 2005 for women in Rojava Kurdistan to organize themselves. Women of Rojava Kurdistan made their works heard for the first time through Yekitiya Star. Dozens of women organized themselves under the umbrella of Yekitiya Star despite the pressure of the Baathist regime. At that time, the Kurds weren’t recognized and they were killed in Rojava Kurdistan.  They weren’t allowed to carry out their political work. And we couldn’t carry out legal activities.”

Dozens of women from each city

Stating that women, whose children were fighting or who lost their children, were members of the Yekitiya Star, Remziye Mihemed said, “Mothers, who had pain in the heart, took part in the works of the Yekitiya Star. At that time, we aimed to increase the number of women even more. Dozens of women from each city took part in the works. The mothers of Rojava were the strong pillar of the Yekitiya Star since they led the activities. Education and science were not advanced than today, but the sacrifice was very strong.”

Secret meetings

Emphasizing that Yekitiya Star was the first organization of the women of Rojava Kurdistan, Remziye Mihemed continued to talk as follows: “At that time, they were political parties but women couldn’t take part in them. For this reason, we needed to organize ourselves. We, as Yekitiya Star, left our mark in history. Yes, Yekitiya Star consisted of Kurdish women, but women from other ethnic groups could also participate in its works. We carried out our struggle under the umbrella of Yekitiya Star. We wanted to eliminate violence by combating violence against women. We chose the name Star because we wanted to have a name from history. We held secret meetings in houses.”

“Many of our members were arrested”

Speaking about the pressure of the Baathist regime against them, Remziye Mihemed said, “We carried out our activities in secret so that no one would denounce us. When the state heard about our meetings, it began to attack us. We organized activities for the International Women’s Day and Newroz celebrations in a secret way. We couldn’t decorate the areas of the demonstrations before people came together. When there were masses, the pressure of the Baathist regime decreased and they couldn’t attack us. Only mothers could carry out activities due to the pressure of the Baathist regime.  Young people couldn’t take part in the activities because the Baathist regime arrested them. After we began to organize ourselves under the umbrella of Yekitiya Star, the pressure of the Baathist regime increased. The Baathist regime detained and arrested dozens of members. Some of them were held in prison for years. Many women were threatened. When their threats didn’t work, they arrested the women. They wanted the Baathist regime to be the only organization in the region. They threatened families to not take part in other organizations. But the mothers kept working despite all the pressure.”

“The anger of mothers was stronger”

Stating that they organized many actions after the foundation of the Yekitiya Star, Remziye Mihemed said, “After the foundation of the Yekitiya Star, we organized mass marches, rallies, and celebrations. The regime attacked us as we held stronger actions. The regime didn’t allow us to carry out our activities. When the regime couldn’t find our location, the mothers said “This protest is not enjoyable today”. When the regime attacked, the anger of mothers became stronger. Despite the attacks, our will was strong and the mothers' stance was stronger than the violence of the regime. Women were organized and we worked for the freedom of women.”

They carry out the struggle of Leyla, Zarife…

Underlining that the women’s freedom movement struggles for women, Remziye Mihemed said, “We wanted to focus on our activities. Many women such as Beritan and Zilan struggled for Kurdish women to come out of the darkness. We knew that the pressures of the Baathist regime would decrease as we consciously carried out our work. As Kurds, we couldn’t give our children a Kurdish name. Our will was not recognized in society. As women got to know their history, they grew their struggles. Many women such as Leyla Qasim and Zarife waged a great struggle. Women in Rojava Kurdistan have also waged their struggle with this legacy.”

Education in Kurdish

Mentioning that women carried out activities for peace, Remziye Mihemed said, “Yekitiya Star didn’t have assemblies as Kongra Star. We named mothers as the mothers of peace so that they could carry out their activities. Those mothers solved the problems of families and tribes in society. They solved all problems faced by women and they went wherever there was violence against women. When our members were arrested, the mothers went to the courts in Aleppo and Damascus and protested their arrest. Many mothers went to the village of Leader Apo (Abdullah Öcalan) on his birthday. The mothers protect the Kurdish language. For this reason, the regime couldn’t assimilate our language. Some mothers gave Kurdish courses in a secret way. There were Kurdish courses on Fridays. The number of children attending the courses was less but we couldn’t protect our language. After the revolution, our children have been able to have education in Kurdish. We even have universities today.”

“We were determined to struggle”

Underlining that young women also carried out their activities in secret, Remziye Mihemed said that they founded young women’s assemblies after the revolution. Noting that the journey they started with a few people was crowned with the Rojava Revolution today, she said, “We formed the Women's Defense Unit (YPJ). We held our first congress outside of Rojava Kurdistan. For this reason, many couldn’t attend the congress. I and Mother Esma attended the congress as members of the Yekitiya Star Coordination. When we heard our first congress would be held, we felt very happy. One of our mothers named Fatma Hesen from Aleppo took part in the coordination. Mother Zehe from Kobanî carried out activities for the coordination. Naima from Damascus and Welide Boti from Hesekê carried out important works for the coordination. As the coordination, we held a meeting once a month to discuss our works. Despite everything, we were determined to struggle. Mother Eyşe was from Kobanî, she was sentenced to one year in prison. The Baathist regime always targeted mothers and arrested them. Esma and Reyhan were sentenced to three months in prison. Rojin Remo and the martyr Rojin were held in the Baathist regime’s prisons for three years. But they kept working after their release.”

“Women rose up in many cities”

Pointing out the resistance in 2004 after the massacre of Kurdish children, Remziye Mihemed said, “The Baathist regime killed Kurdish children at the football stadium in Qamishlo on March 12, 2004. After this event, the people saw the real face of the Baathist regime. Women’s organizations played an important role at that time. Kurds rose up in many cities such as Derik and Damascus. This uprising was led by women. At that time, many men were arrested. Women weren’t arrested because of their customs. Women took part in every protest. As the protests spread, the Baathist regime began to arrest politicians and members of the Yekitiya Star. The Baathist regime began to attack women because it couldn’t break the will of people.”

The second congress was held in Qamishlo

Stating that they held their congress every two years, Remziye Mihemed said, “When we founded the Yekitiya Star, we decided to hold our congress every two years. We held our second congress in the Emis village of Qamishlo. Women across Syria attended the congress. We held our second congress in secret from the Baathist regime with the participation of 65 women. Even the delegates who attended congress hadn’t known that they would attend the congress. We prepared our banners in a secret way. Our congress lasted two days. The Emis village is a museum for us now. We held our third congress in the Kefrexiz village of Aleppo. In 2011, we held our fourth congress in Afrin. At that time, we had our women’s defense units and they protected the women attending the congress. The number of our delegates was 150. As the Kurdish people, we led the revolution with years of experience. All the people supported the revolution.”

“We changed the name of Yekitiya Star”

Emphasizing that all peoples saw the Yekitiya Star as a model organization, Remziye Mihemed said, “The Arab women organized themselves under the umbrella of Zenûbiya. Many Arabs took part in the Autonomous Administration. Autonomous Administration was built on the foundation of the Democratic Nation and defended women's representation. We realized that Yekitiya Star had grown and it wasn’t enough for us anymore. We wanted people from different ethnic groups to join us. For this reason, we changed the name of Yekitiya Star to its current name of Kongra Star. Many mothers, who worked for the Yekitiya Star died. We bow our heads respectfully before their memory. We learned many things from them. We keep working with the strength we get from them. We will continue to work with the legacy of resistance of many women.”

Tomorrow: Rihan Loqo: Kongra Star organizes everywhere