Asya Tekin/JINHA

COLEMÊRG - In the town of Yüksekova, in Northern Kurdistan (in Turkey), women's resistance against police attacks takes the form of an effort to continue everyday life.

In Turkey, local assemblies across Kurdistan have declared self-government in recent months. As police attacks continue against these neighborhoods, the youth continue their armed resistance. JINHA traveled to Yüksekova to see what life is like as people try to organize their lives according to the principle of self-government.

The first thing we notice as we enter the neighborhood is a young women running a variety store. As she attends to her customers, the shopkeeper tells us that life is continuing as normal in the town.

"The only thing that has changed here is that now, we're living without needing anyone," the woman tells us.

As we head into the neighborhood, two young men offer to escort us. When we ask if there are any women in the "self-defense forces," they respond quickly: "Sister, how could there not be!" Positions on the other side of the neighborhood, they explain, are under the command of women. They recommend that we speak with a woman known as "Comrade Baran."

As we pass through the neighborhood, we see neighborhood women heading to the trenches. They regularly check in on the youth and ask if they need anything. We ask the women if they know the youth on the frontlines.

"These are our sons and daughters. Why would we go see them if we didn't know them?" the women reply. One woman tells us that she has one son and one daughter serving in the self-defense force.

When we speak with the members of the self-defense forces, they explain that they took up this duty when their neighborhood assemblies declared self-government. Self-defense is just one of the necessary duties. They also help with work on healthcare, economic needs and the environment.

"We're defending ourselves and our neighborhoods. We won't let the occupying forces rule us," they say. 15 women have joined the self-defense forces within the last two days. We ask if there are other people besides the neighborhood youth taking part in the defense effort. "All our people here have begun leading their lives according to the war. So all our people are taking part in self-defense," they reply.

A group of women are preparing food for the youth in the self-defense forces. "Come, my girl," says one woman. "Our youth are standing watch day and night, and we meet their needs. This is how we support them."

We find the woman named Comrade Baran holding her position at the frontlines. When we note that we make news about women, she congratulates us.

"You're doing good work. So you're going to make women's voices heard. Just make our voice heard," she says. We reply that we'll write what we see, although we can't be sure that it will reach women around the world. We ask her reasons for being here.

"Erdoğan has declared war on the Kurds," she replies, referring to Turkey's president. "So Kurds will form their lives according to the conditions of war. Cities will be rebuilt on these conditions. Whatever force attacks out basic right to govern ourselves, we will fight back against that force as hard as we can. Women, especially, are going to pursue this."

She refers to the Kurdish woman and guerrilla Ekin Wan. Turkish police stripped and tortured Ekin Wan's dead body and posed for photographs with it. Baran explains that women here are fighting to prevent such patriarchal attacks on Kurdish women. Next, she takes us to a home that has repeatedly come under fire with tear gas. Residents have hung wire and sheet metal in the windows to keep out the tear gas canisters.

As we meet the women in the neighborhood, we find that the police and military attacks have been hard on them--particularly mothers.

"This is our land. They're forcing us to migrate again. But we won't ever leave this place; we were born here and we'll die here," says one woman. Another, whose son is in the guerrilla, answers in song.

"There's a war in our land; rise up, guerrilla mothers, rise up," she sings.

(gc/cm)