Cahide Harputlu / Rozerîn Tekin/JINHA

AMED - Women on the frontlines of the resistance in the Kurdish town of Silvan say they no longer recognize the Turkish state's authority and are prepared to fight until the town is liberated.

Starting in the town of Silopi, towns throughout Northern Kurdistan (in Turkey) have been declaring self-government in the face of police attacks. After the towns of Cizre, Nusaybin, Yüksekova and Varto, the Silvan district of Diyarbakır province has declared self-government.

In the neighborhoods of Tekel, Mescid and Konak, the people of Silvan have engaged in efforts to dig trenches under the leadership of the neighborhood youth. Young women in the town have taken up a key role in the effort to keep police out of the neighborhoods, standing guard at the trenches and defending the areas.

The youth noted that after the election, the AKP began using all the forces available to the state to start an attack on the Kurdish people, including by refusing anyone access to jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan for months. Now, towns and cities have risen up. Arîn Amed, who lives in the Tekel neighborhood, is one of the women who has watched the rise of a popular resistance in Silvan.

"Silvan is not alone. As young women, we are going to defend the areas where we live until the end. We won't give up this resistance until Silvan is free," said Arîn. "Right now, all the youth in Silvan are in rebellion," said Arîn, who said Kurds no longer need to recognize any of the institutions of the Turkish state. "For three days, we have been standing guard in our neighborhoods; no one is going inside."

Arîn said that until now, young women in Silvan had been under the rule of the patriarchal mindset.

"The YPJ fighters in Kobanê, who fought the hardest against the patriarchal mindset, became an example for the whole world. For us, we want to prepare for victory with the strength and morale we've gotten from these women," said Arîn. "At this point, the people need to see their own strength and bring the revolutionary people's war to victory.

"Our people have gone through a lot of pain and paid a high price, but victory against this cruelty is near. Once we become a 'we,' no force can stop us," she said.

(gc/cm)