Since April of this year, an international solidarity campaign has been underway to support the Kurdish Women’s Protection Units (YPJ). For more than thirteen years, the YPJ has stood for women’s resistance against patriarchal violence and oppression. It has become a symbol that women do not have to wait for others to protect them, but have the right to defend themselves and determine their own social lives. The struggle of Kurdish women has become an exemplary beacon for women around the world. In difficult times, they have given us hope, and now is the time to support them!

The agreement of January 29, 2026, between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has ushered in a new phase in the development of Syria and Rojava. In the negotiations over the future of a “new Syria”, however, one central issue must not be sidelined: the political, social, and military participation of women. Anyone who speaks of a democratic and peaceful Syria cannot marginalize the women who have been fighting for precisely this vision for years, pushing them out of political and social life.

Therefore, it is clear: The dissolution of the YPJ is not up for negotiation.

The YPJ is not merely a military structure. It stands for self-determination, equality, and the protection of women from violence and oppression. The YPJ’s participation in the Syrian armed forces is therefore of fundamental importance. As part of the Rojava Revolution, an army was built that is based not on oppression, but on peace, security, and social equality; this achievement must not be lost in a “new Syria.”

Especially in light of the ongoing attacks and the increasing threat to women, the issue of self-defense is far from resolved. On the contrary: if the achievements women have made in Rojava are to be preserved, their institutional and legal safeguards must be guaranteed. The existence of the YPJ must therefore be institutionally recognized and protected.

Syria’s ruling HTS regime, of course, seeks to exclude women from all spheres of life, particularly the military. But Kurdish women have shown that they earn their place and fight side by side with men. Anyone who wants a “new Syria” cannot take three steps backward when it comes to women’s liberation. Democracy, peace, and equality are not possible without the equal participation of women.

That is why the international solidarity campaign is making the following demands:

1. Recognition of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) within the Syrian Ministry of Defence.
2. The preservation of the Women’s Protection Units’ structure in the Rojava regions.
3. Protection and consolidation of women’s achievements in Rojava
4. Release of detainees, return of the bodies of martyrs, and revealing the fate of the missing women
5. Support Women’s Protection Units’ integration by relevant international actors
6. Strengthening women’s participation in military and security institutions

We, as ICOR Women, support the international campaign and its demands. We say: Self-defense is a natural right. Women must have the right to defend their lives, their freedom, and their society themselves.

Jin, Jiyan, Azadî