For days, our regions and Syria as a whole have been subjected to widespread, multi-faceted attacks. The Syrian people, especially in Aleppo, have been left face-to-face with a grave risk of extermination. Simultaneously, these attacks have targeted our regions in North and East Syria. Over the past days, an unparalleled resistance has been demonstrated against these assaults, with our people, particularly women, showing exceptional resilience, especially in the Shahba and Aleppo regions.
The people of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in Aleppo have significant experience in fighting and resistance over the years. To confront these attacks, they reorganized themselves under the name Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh Protection Forces and repelled numerous assaults by the mercenaries of the Turkish occupation state.
Undoubtedly, this multi-faceted war is raging fiercely. As a result, several young men and women from the Sheikh Maqsoud Protection Forces were injured and captured by the mercenaries. These mercenaries, who lack any sense of ethics or war laws, have grossly humiliated the dignity of the captured young women, using it as a means of propaganda in their media to promote themselves. With statements like ‘We will sell you again in the markets,’ they revealed their stance towards women. These acts are anti-humanity and must not be tolerated under any circumstances.
We, in the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), strongly condemn the barbaric practices of the Turkish occupation’s mercenaries against the captured young women. We declare that we will avenge them. At the same time, we call on women’s and human rights institutions to adopt the cause of the captured young women who were defending their neighborhoods and city. We firmly reiterate the necessity of protecting their rights as captives.
The practices of the Turkish occupation’s mercenaries against these captured young women today are the same as those committed by ISIS in 2014 against thousands of women in Shengal, Mosul, and Raqqa by selling them in slave markets. Undoubtedly, these actions reflect the patriarchal mentality, which reached its peak in the person of ISIS and Erdogan’s mercenaries. They know well the legendary resistance Kurdish women have shown against such brutal practices, resisting to the very end. Through these inhumane actions, they express the extent of their hostility towards women.
Thus, we call on the International Red Cross, Amnesty International, all women’s rights protection organizations, civil society institutions, democratic figures, and freedom advocates to adopt the cause of the captured young women, expose the reality of the terrorism and brutality of the Turkish occupation state and its mercenaries at both the Middle Eastern and global levels, and hold them accountable for their actions. We hold the Turkish state responsible for what is happening to the captured young women.
Once again, we, in the Women’s Protection Units, condemn the captivity of the young women fighters of the Sheikh Maqsoud Protection Forces. We declare that we will hold the Turkish occupation state and its mercenaries accountable on the battlefronts. During these historic days, as our regions and Syria as a whole face widespread attacks, we will continue to work in the trenches of resistance to protect women and our people. We also call on young women everywhere to join the ranks of resistance in their regions and the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ). Only in this way can we protect ourselves and our land.
2.12.2024 YPJ General Command
