JINHA

COLEMÊRG - The commune villages of the Yüksekova area of Northern Kurdistan (in Turkey) bring to life the dream of communal living. Women's communes in the villages attend to women-specific problems in the area.

In Mesopotamia, the idea of communal life awakens images of egalitarian Neolithic villages thousands of years ago. In the communal village project ongoing in the Yüksekova area of Kurdistan (located in Turkey's Hakkari province), this dream comes to life. 11 villages in the area resist capitalist modernity andconsumer culture by producing for basic needs and leading a collective, democratic life.

Since villagers in the area organized into communes in 2009, they have formed committees to deal with financial, legal, educational and cultural matters. In addition, villagers have stopped forced marriage and intervene in cases of violence against women.

NesrinDiri, from the communal village of Bölük, says that women played a large role in the founding of the communal villagers. Before the commune, conditions were harsh for women in the village.

"Since the founding of the communes, women who had problems started to come to this commune. We help them," said Nesrin. "The problems they can't speak out loud, they share with us." One of the women's victories was organizing against the practice of sending women to do the hard labor of gathering fodder, which they found oppressive.

Recently, women in Bölükhave been leading an effort to provide for children fleeing the attacks on Kobanê, located in the Rojava part of Kurdistan. In Rojava, as here, the people have organized communal life. The Bölük women went house to house gathering over 200 kilograms of milk for the children fleeing Daesh attacks. In winter, they sold watches to raise money to send to the besieged city.

In the village of Xurekan, another communal village, Necla Hun serves on the educational committee. "Women in our villages had issues with oppression, with lack of self-confidence and inability to succeed," said Necla. "So we started consciousness-raising programs for women." Next on the agenda is a shared strawberry garden and a communal pastoralism system whose income will be shared among village women.

"The reason behind the epic story in Rojava is absolutely communal life," said Necla, commenting on the resistance in the autonomous region in Syria.Necla said that the leading role of women in Rojava in building communal structures and defending their lands has been an inspiration for women here. "The resistance in Rojava lights our way," she said.

(ro/gk/fk/cm)