Speaking to ANF on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the PKK, Agirî Tolhildan, one of the guerrillas in the ranks of YJA Star (Free Women’s Troops), said that women, who realised their own power with the PKK, fought a great struggle under the leadership of YJA Star in the mountains as they did everywhere else, and stated that they fought in positions with their belief in victory. She pointed out that with the PKK, Kurdish women realised their own power and will and re-established themselves.

Stating that the women who joined the PKK revitalised the goddess culture in Kurdistan, Tolhildan said: “The leader gave women the mission of leadership and instilled in them the belief and strength to fight against all kinds of difficulties and patriarchal mentality. In the Rojava Revolution, everyone saw that women can achieve success with faith, courage and a great will. Women have a great role and mission. Last year, the sacrificial action carried out by Comrade Sara and Comrade Rûken in the footsteps of Zîlan reminded us of the power and courage of Kurdish women.

Universalisation of ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadi’

With the rebellion that developed in Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan in Iran), the slogan ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’ (Woman, Life, Freedom), formulated by our Leader, spread all over the world and became a universal slogan. As a result of the re-greening of life, which was wanted to be destroyed and left hopeless, thanks to our Leader, ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’, which is the basis of Jineology, turned into a universal struggle.

Women regained their power thanks to the PKK

Before the PKK, Kurdish women were in a position of no importance, with their thoughts, pain, love and existence being ignored in society. With the PKK and after our leader developed the ideology of women’s liberation, women regained their mission and role, or rather their former power. All women took on the mission of freedom and played a pioneering role. This is an indication of how important a role patriotic women play in the struggle for freedom. The leader gave women the pioneering mission in the revolutionary struggle.

A great struggle in the mountains

Our leader’s motto ‘society cannot be free without women being free’ is essential. Women who realise their own power in the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle led by the PKK are fighting in the ranks of YJA Star in the mountains as everywhere else. They fight against the fascist Turkish army in the Medya Defence Zones, in war tunnels and in the field. They fight in positions with their belief in victory. The sacrificial action carried out by Comrade Rojhat and Comrade Erdal in Ankara against the Turkish Republic, which wants to destroy and marginalise the Kurdish people and the PKK in the person of our leader, shows the PKK’s power of revenge. No one can take us away from our leader. Our leader is the hope of all oppressed peoples. Correspondingly, the PKK is the guarantee of freedom for all oppressed peoples.”