JINHA

ISTANBUL – At a meeting in Istanbul's Taksim Hill Hotel, the group Lawyers in Solidarity with the Rojava Revolution released a report summarizing their observations conducted in Cizîre Canton.ÖzlemGümüştaş, one of the observers and a member of Legal Bureau of the Oppressed,said of her observations of the YPJ: "We're talking about a real level of women's involvement."

The principle of self-defense "doesn't just mean everyone taking up a weapon," explainedÖzlem. "It means the people solving their own problems and governing themselves." This is why self-defense committees were among the first institutions Rojavans set up when they started building government mechanisms in the cantons.

Lawyer İlknur Alcan also shared her observations on the way Women's Houses and other institutions helped women solve their own problems and organize their own education.

Also present at the meeting were Efrîn Government Chair Hevî Mustafa and Kobanê Canton Assistant Prime Minister XahidBerkel, who brought greetings from the people of the Rojava canton and expressed the urgency of defending the revolution, as it is still under threat.

Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Provincial Co-Chair Ayşe Erdem; NuranAğırnaslı, mother of SuphiNejatAğırnaslı, who lost his life in Kobanê were in attendance, in addition to members of multiple political parties and civil society organizations.

(rt/fk/mg/cm)