YPJ Commander: Syrian Peace Process Cannot Succeed Without Recognition of Women’s Military Rights

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YPJ Commander in Chief Rohilat Afrin.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), Rohilat Afrin, has stressed that lasting success and stability in Syria’s peace process cannot be achieved without formally recognising women’s military identity and rights.

Speaking at a dialogue seminar organised by the Kurdish Peace Institute, Afrin said it was vital to apply serious pressure on the government in Damascus to acknowledge women’s legal and political rights within the military establishment. She added that discussions and understandings on the matter are ongoing with US Presidential Envoy Tom Barrack.

Afrin further argued that the dominant patriarchal mindset in the region has historically turned armies into tools of exploitation and repression, rather than institutions designed to protect society.
She warned that excluding women from military structures places armed institutions under complete male control, creating a threat to the core values of society. She cited the period of ISIS control in the region as an example of the consequences of such exclusion.


PUKMEDIA