From December 2016 to April 2017, residents of Hakkari, a Kurdish-majority province of Turkey on the border with Iraq and Iran, found themselves completely lacking in elected representation. All three of the province’s elected MPs had been jailed. Just one MP would be able to complete his term; two would…

A Kurdish woman political prisoner was found dead after speaking out about torture and sexual assault in custody. Now the Turkish government is blocking an investigation. — Garibe Gezer was a district official for the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) in Dargeçit, Mardin. In 2014, her brother Bilal Gezer was killed while protesting the Turkish government’s refusal to fight ISIS in Syria. Her other brother, Mehmet Emin Gezer, was shot and paralyzed when he went to the Dargeçit…

Seven years ago, the world watched in horror as ISIS attacked the Yezidi (Êzidî) community of Sinjar. The armed forces of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG left the region undefended and its people disarmed, despite knowing that the jihadist group was on the offensive. In the days that…

This is a translation of an article originally published in Kurdish by Roj News on June 8th, 2021. Read the original article here. The Democratic People’s Assembly of Martyr Rustem Cudi Refugee Camp (Makhmour Camp) called on people around the world, the United Nations, the Ministry of Migration and Refugees…

This is a translation of an article first published in Kurdish by Hawar News Agency on June 5, 2020. Find the original article here. The occupier Turkish state has carried out dozens of air attacks on the Martyr Rustem Cudi (Makhmour) Refugee Camp. The camp was established in 1993 for…

A Syrian woman abducted by Turkish-backed rebels has been sentenced to life in a Turkish prison after an illegal and unfair trial. — In October 2019, a video showing Turkish-backed Syrian militiamen threatening an injured and traumatized captive surfaced on social media. The woman, Çiçek Kobane (Dozgin Temo), was a Women’s Defense Units (YPJ) fighter who had been captured near Ain Issa, Syria. The Turkish-backed fighters filmed themselves calling Kobane a “pig” and…

This article analyzes women’s political representation in Kurdish-majority regions of Turkey before and after the 2019 crackdown on elected mayors from the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), as well as women’s political representation in the Syrian region of Serekaniye (Ras al-Ain) before and after Turkey’s Operation Peace Spring. Both political and…

Apparent censorship of parliamentary inquiries from MPs concerned by reports of kidnappings and sexual violence in Turkish-controlled Syria suggests that the government is actively hindering attempts to investigate these atrocities in the wake of a groundbreaking UN report. — Since taking control of the Syrian Kurdish region of Afrin in 2018, the Government of Turkey has only responded to one parliamentary inquiry on the status of women and girls abducted by Syrian National Army (SNA) factions, official records show.

This is a translation of an article published in Kurdish by JIN News on December 23, 2020. Find the original article here. (JINNEWS/Sorgul Şêxo—Qamishlo) Armanc Mohammed, head of the Women’s Economy of North and East Syria, evaluated their work during the past year and discussed the projects that had been…