The Kurdish Women's Movement in Europe (TJK-E) called for 8 March to be the climax of the freedom struggle against sexism, fascism, nationalism, religious fanaticism and reactionary thinking.

The Kurdish Women's Movement in Europe (TJK-E) is presenting its activities for this year's International Women's Struggle Day on 8 March under the slogan “With Jin-Jiyan-Azadî to the women's revolution”. Events, seminars, film screenings, women's meetings, picture exhibitions and other cultural events are planned from 1 to 10 March.

A highlight of the program are all-gender conferences against sexism on 2 March in Frankfurt am Main and on 3 March in Paris and Basel. The conferences titled “Sexism Kills, Fighting Liberates” are part of the TJK-E's educational offensive and aim to change awareness in the Kurdish community. On 8 and 9 March, demonstrations and rallies will take place together with other women's organizations across Europe.

Let's create the time of freedom together

The TJK-E statement said: “We call on all women to make 8 March the climax of the freedom struggle against sexism, fascism, nationalism, religious fanaticism and reactionary thinking. Let us brighten every moment everywhere with freedom consciousness and actions to overcome the patriarchal system as the source of all ugliness and wickedness and build a free life with free women and free men. Let us create the time of freedom together, and let us not forget that fascism will lose and women will win!”

The century of women's liberation

The statement continued: “We celebrate 8 March with the conviction that the 21st century will be the century of women's liberation. With this conviction and great love, we remember our friends Sara, Rojbîn, Ronahî, Evîn, Bişeng and all those who died in the fight for freedom. In the first quarter of the 21st century it has become very clear that capitalist modernity has little chance of survival in the face of awakened and conscious women. The resistance of women like Rosa, Sara, the Mirabal sisters and Hevrîn Xelef has grown wave by wave and has paved the way to a free life for the entire world today. The struggle of free women has become the hope of humanity in the 21st century. The dynamic power of Kurdish women plays a crucial and inspiring role in this struggle. They have shown their social, political and military strength to the whole world. It became particularly visible with the women's revolution in Rojava and stands for the fight against femicide and genocide. Expanding this hope is the common goal of women’s movements around the world.”

Big opportunities and big risks

The statement added: “The current era has created conditions for a radical change in the political and social structures and ways of thinking that have developed over centuries. We are at a critical turning point with great opportunities and great risks for a collective and free future for women and all other ignored identities. A social opposition is developing all over the world and is becoming increasingly more organized and active. In contrast, the forces of the capitalist monopoly system are unable to control and direct alternative movements and crises worldwide. This represents a serious burden on capitalist modernity.”

Kurdistan at the center of conflict and possible solutions

The statement insisted: “In the Third World War that is taking place, Kurdistan has become the center of the current violent conflicts, but also the center of possible solutions. All global, regional, local and social forces must inevitably take part in this historical process. While the central hegemonic powers are trying to maintain their rule and assert their interests in the reshaping of the Middle East with new power relations and arrangements, democratic forces that claim to be elements of democratic modernity are looking for ways to transform the chaotic environment in favour of women and women to benefit peoples.”

Patriarchy and the nation state are a dead end

The statement underlined that “the democratic social model has the greatest prospects of success for resolving the conflicts in the Middle East. The solution of a democratic modernity, defined by Abdullah Öcalan as the third way, aims to build a democratic confederalism in the Middle East. The capitalist male monopoly and the nation-state model have proven to be a dead end, causing chaos and massacres. The movement that emerged, with Abdullah Öcalan as the source of ideas, created the ground for the development of democratic modernity as a third way. The simplest and clearest expression of this is the slogan "Jin Jiyan Azadî", which resonates throughout the world. This shows a solution for women and peoples that goes beyond traditional ideas. This applies not only to Kurdish women, but also to Afghan, Arab, Persian, Baluchi, Armenian women and women around the world.”

Call to women: Fight together

The statement said: “It is of fundamental strategic importance for us to fight patriarchy together. The global and regional politics of patriarchal capitalist modernity since the beginning of the century have hit us women hardest. In the wars waged by patriarchal powers to maintain their hegemony, the number of defenseless women who are killed, raped, confiscated as spoils of war, forced to flee, turned into cheap labor and used as prostitution goods runs into the millions. For this reason, we women are the ones who want the way out of this chaos the most and will fight for it the most. Therefore, we must organize ourselves universally, starting from the local level, based on the ideological and political principles of women's liberation. We need to get practical and build common institutions. In addition to raising awareness of the issue of women's liberation, it is necessary to discuss solutions and jointly develop areas of application. In this sense, it is essential to organize women politically, socially, culturally, ecologically, ethically, economically, in self-defense and in diplomacy with self-confidence, their own will and autonomous structures. It can already be said that the coming year of struggle will be enthusiastic and content-rich for us. We invite all women to participate in our women’s system and to walk together hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, with love, enthusiasm and hope.”

Actions on 8 March

The TJK-E action plan includes demonstrations and rallies in Germany, France, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium and England. The following dates are given for Germany, Austria and Switzerland:

Cologne: 6 p.m. Roncalliplatz

Duisburg: 3 p.m. central station

Wuppertal: 5 p.m. Laurentiusplatz

Dortmund: 4 p.m. European Fountain

Osnabrück: 4 p.m. DGB House

Bielefeld: 4 p.m. Old Market

Münster: 5 p.m. Stubengasse

Hamburg: 6 p.m. Town Hall Market

Bremen: 4 p.m. market square

Kiel: 4 p.m. Place of Children's Rights

Saarbrücken: 6 p.m. Max-Ophuels-Platz

Mannheim: 4.30 p.m. trade union building at Hans-Böckler Straße 3

Darmstadt: 5 p.m. Friedensplatz

Hanau: 5 p.m. Aschaffenburger Straße 5

Giessen: 5 p.m. Berliner Platz

Stuttgart: 4 p.m. Schlossplatz

Karlsruhe: 5 p.m. Stephansplatz

Munich: 5 p.m. Marienplatz

Hildesheim: 5 p.m. market square

Trier: 5.30 p.m. Porta Nigra

Hanover: 3 p.m. Opera Square

Celle: 5 p.m. Gertrud-Schröter-Platz

Kassel: 5 p.m. town hall

Dresden: 4 p.m. Königsufer

Berlin: 2 p.m. Unter den Linden 21

Basel: 6.30 p.m. De Wette Park

Bern: 6.30 p.m. Quartiergasse 17

St. Gallen: 6 p.m. Marktgasse

Winterthur: 8 p.m. Steinberggasse

Geneva: 5:30 p.m. Rue Du Mont-Blanc

Lausanne: 6.30 p.m. Place du 14 Juin (St.Laurent)

Graz: 5 p.m. Square of Reconciliation / Paulustor

Innsbruck: 5 p.m. Anna Column

Actions on March 9th

Düsseldorf: 2 p.m. DGB Haus / Friedrich-Ebert-Straße

Frankfurt am Main: 2 p.m. Central Station

Zurich: 1:30 p.m. Paradeplatz