Caroline MsKusick-Eda Ağca/ JINHA

ISTANBUL - Barbara Ferusso, from the Torino Anti-sexist Assembly, talked about women’s resistance in the Susa Valley in Italy against a high speed train project. She said that, “We are hearing Kurdish women’s message of ’We are not scared!’. This message influenced us deeply and we have tried to spread it.”

A message of solidarity came from the Susa Valley in Italy on the anniversary of the resistance of Kobanȇ. Italian women held a march in solidarity with the struggling Kurdish women.

On March 6, the World March of Women started in the district of Nusaybin-Qamışlo in Kurdistan to salute the women’s revolution in Rojava. Feminist Caravan activists joined the march. They reached Turkey, Greece, the Balkans and finally the city of Torino in Italy. Barbara said that they hosted the Feminist Caravan in order to recognize the NoTav movement and the role of women in the movement. They focused on these movements because they thought that it could be interesting to tell their experiences. They also wanted to be there in September 15 to salute the resistance of Kobanȇ.

Barbara talked about how local people have struggled against the high-speed train project and protected the valley for 20 years. In the last three years, the state encircled the way with barbed wire, policemen and soldiers. They sued members of the movement.

Italian women’s slogan in the march was “the struggle is continuing from the Susa Valley to Kurdistan.” This slogan also has a second meaning: the struggle cannot be jailed.

“We are aware that the barbed wired is the same, in Kurdistan and in the Susa Valley: an expression of a fascist logic that puts profits before people, and this is why we think that we need to organize ourselves,” she said.

In Italy, one in three women are abused, and one in five women are raped. Barbara noted that Italian society confines women to the home rather than struggling against these problems.

“According to the church and Catholic society, a woman can only be a loving mother and wife. They do not see women as individuals,” said Barbara.

Barbara said that Kurdish women were a model for their struggle. They noticed, thanks to Kurdish women, that they stopped seeing themselves as victims, and they could take control of their lives. Barbara explained that, “Kurdish women reacted to Daesh and to the Turkish state with great courage, acting as subjects. All over the world women's oppression exists, but nowhere in the world do we see women taking such a leading role. This makes us grateful and gives us strength.”

Barbara mentioned recent events in Kurdistan.

“An autonomous society is very dangerous for government. As a result of this autonomy, they will lose their authority and money. The Turkish state is closing border and supporting the ISIS to prevent autonomy in Rojava. They are killing and torturing militants. They are massacring civilians like in Cizre. Under the cover of counter-terrorism, they are acting with impunity, and the whole world is watching,” she said. “We can see clearly that women who talks about Erdoğan is treated oppressively. We know Ekin Wan. She was tortured and killed. Co-chair women were arrested.

“We are hearing Kurdish women’s message of ’We are not scared!’. This message influenced us deeply and we have tried to spread it,” said Barbara.

(ea-cm)