The people of Kurdistan, who have rejected the Treaty of Lausanne ever since it was signed on 24 July 1923, manifest their will for a solution, their identity and their existence in demonstrations and rallies on the centenary of the treaty.

Kongra Star, the Women’s Council of the PYD (Democratic Union Party) and the Women’s Council of Future Syria Party are holding a workshop in the northern Syrian city of Heseke to discuss the Treaty of Lausanne and the destruction it has caused on its hundredth anniversary.

The workshop at the meeting hall of the Syrian Democratic Council (MSD) is attended by around 60 women politicians and representatives of women’s institutions, including MSD Executive Council President Ilham Ehmed, YPJ (Women’s Defense Units) Spokesperson Roksan Mihemed, AANES (Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria) Executive Council Co-President Bêrîvan Xalid and PYD Co-Chair Asya Ebdullah.

Women academics, researchers and activists from Lebanon, Iraq, South Africa, Jordan and Egypt will attend the workshop online.

The workshop kicked off with a minute of silence, after which Kongra Star Coordination Member Şêraz Hemo made the opening speech and said they would highlight the consequences of the Treaty of Lausanne and solutions to the problems.

“Women are the keystone of the Autonomous Administration Project. The women’s revolution, which attracted the attention of the whole world, has turned into a revolution for change and transformation in the Middle East and the world,” Hemo said.

According to the organising committee, the one-day workshop will discuss the historical facts of genocides, foreign interventions in the Middle East after 1850, the genocidal system in Mesopotamia, and the role of women in building common life and good neighbourhood relations.

The workshop will conclude with a final declaration.