In the mountains of Kurdistan, female guerrillas celebrated International Women's Day on March 8. The event in the guerrilla-held Medya Defense Zones in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) began with a military ceremony at which Gülçin Umut, a commander of YJA Star (Free Women's Troops), gave a speech on the significance of this day.

In her speech in Kurdish, Gülçin Umut said that the 21st century will be the century of women's freedom and emphasized that "It will be the age of freedom for all Middle Eastern peoples and women."

Stating that PAJK and YJA Star have this claim, Gülçin Umut said, "As long as the Kurdish people, especially women, and the peoples of the Middle East are not free, our struggle and resistance against fascism and the male-dominated mentality will continue."

Gülçin Umut stated that they will do their best to organize and act in the light of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan's paradigm and ideas, and underlined that they will not stop until victory, no matter what the cost. Umut ended her speech with the slogan "Jin, Jiyan, Azadî" (Woman, Life, Freedom).