by Meredith Tax
Arab, 50–51, 196–97
Kurdish, 55–56, 60–61, 69, 164
Ocalan and, 55–56, 123, 157, 262
tribalism and, 45–46
Turkish, 52, 123
nation-state
model, 19, 45, 55, 122–23, 145, 151, 157, 262–63
Rojava and, 172
Nawfal, Souad, 217–18, 220
neighborhood councils, 159–60
neoliberalism, 22–23, 28
Nezan, Kendal, 92
NGOs, 102, 190
Obama administration, 17, 42, 182–83, 185–86, 240
Ocalan, Abdullah
ceasefire offered by, 114, 116–17, 146
“Declaration of Democratic Confederalism in Kurdistan,” 157
democracy and, 124, 126, 150, 157
dream of, for Kurdistan, 34–35, 123–24
in exile, 50, 73, 122, 146–47
imprisoned, 52, 54–55, 70, 147–48, 155, 261
influences on, 55, 149–51
Kurdish women and, 127–30, 135–36, 142–43, 149–50
Liberating Life: Woman’s Revolution, 56
Mahsum Korkmaz Academy and, 89–90, 125
nationalism and, 55–56, 123, 157, 262
Onderlik Çözümlemeler, 125–26
PKK led by, 18, 31–35, 50, 52–55, 72, 78, 88–90, 107–8, 113–17, 120–27, 129–30, 133–35, 148–52, 155, 163, 259
Prison Writing I, 149
as radical student, 70–72
trial of, 148–49
Ocalan, Osman, 115, 122, 129, 152
oil
Daesh and, 234–35
Iraqi, 64, 98–99
in Rojava, 175
Onderlik Çözümlemeler (Analyses by the Leadership) (Ocalan, A.), 125–26
One Voice, 101–2
Operation Anfal, 81–85
Operation Desert Storm, 95–96
Organization for Women’s Rights in Iraq (OWFI), 96, 210
Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (Engels), 32
Ottoman Empire, 45–46
Oweis, Khaled Yacoub, 193–94
OWFI. See Organization for Women’s Rights in Iraq
Ozcan, Ali Kemal, 46–47, 110, 125
Ozul, Turgut, 116–17
PAJK (Party of Free Women of Kurdistan), 139
Palestine, 109
Paris attacks, 238
parliamentary parties. See Turkish Kurds, parliamentary parties of
Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan. See PJAK
Party of Free Women of Kurdistan. See PAJK
patriarchal belt, 23–24
Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement. See YDG-H
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan. See PUK
peace movement, women’s, 140–41
peace process, 245–46
The Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Freire), 125
Pell, Claiborne, 92
People’s Defense Forces and Free Women’s Forces. See HPG-YJA-Star
People’s Democratic Party. See HDP
People’s Labor Party. See HEP
People’s Protection Units and Women’s Protection Units. See YPG-YPJ
peshmerga (Iraqi Kurdish militia)
female members of, 138–39
founding of, 63
jash and, 63, 80, 84
in Kirkuk, 38
Sinjar Mountain and, 39–44
struggle of, 17, 37
united, 80–81
US and, 65–66
PJAK (Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan), 13
PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), 242, 258
armed struggle by, 86–92, 148–49, 255
Barzani, Masoud, and, 114–15, 190–91
ceasefires, 114, 116–17, 146, 152, 244, 249–50
celibacy and, 142–45
collective leadership of, 155
democratic autonomy and, 155–58, 161–63, 261
development of, 107–11
DTP and, 158
founding of, 72–73
gender relations in, 136, 138–39, 145
human rights and, 116–17, 147–49, 153
ideological transformation of, 54–55
Iraqi Kurds and, 114–15, 151–52, 190–91
Islam and, 161–62
KDP and, 86, 94, 189–91
KH’s blood feud with, 112
KRG and, 151–52
Kurdish women in, 34, 37, 54–56, 108, 128–30, 132, 133–36, 138–46, 258
Marcus on, 115, 122, 129–30, 136, 155, 158, 161–63
marriage and, 142–44
military conscription by, 91
network, 13–14
Ocalan, Abdullah, leading, 18, 31–35, 50, 52–55, 72, 78, 88–90, 107–8, 113–17, 120–27, 129–30, 133–35, 148–52, 155, 163, 259
organizational culture of, 122
organizational structure of, 163
PAJK in, 139
personal sacrifice in, 126–27
PUK and, 94
Rojava cantons and, 54
Sakine Cansiz in, 130, 133–36, 152–53
Sinjar Mountain and, 42–43
in “Special War,” 113–21
strategy change of, 103, 105, 119–30, 146–53, 260
Syrian Kurds in, 50
TAK and, 244–45
Talabani, Jalal and, 114–15
as terrorists, 18, 106, 152
training program, 125–26
transition of, 146–53
van Bruinessen on, 87–90, 105–6, 112
PKK-Vejin (Revival), 108
The Power of the Word: Culture, Censorship and Voice (Women’s WORLD), 30–31
Prison Writing I (Ocalan, A.), 149
PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan)
Gorran split from, 99–101
Gulf War and, 83
history of, 49
KDP fighting, 80, 94–95
KRG and, 38, 93–94, 98
PKK and, 94
Talabani leading, 13, 38, 66, 80, 94, 98
Putin, Vladimir, 22
PYD (Democratic Union Party)
Abdullah, Asya, co-president of, 44
democratic autonomy and, 53–54, 164–73, 175, 194, 256
founding of, 50–51, 165
gender relations and, 171
KNC and, 191–92
in Kobane canton, 17–18, 38, 168, 183, 185–87
Muslim, Salih, and, 50–51, 164–65, 167, 169, 171, 193, 198
in PKK network, 13
in revolution, 53–54, 164–68
US and, 185–86, 194–95
al Qaeda
Daesh and, 14, 203, 210–14, 216, 218–19, 221
in Iraq, 14, 206, 209–10
Islamism of, 201–6, 209
struggle of, 37
Qasim, Abdal Karim, 62–63
Rabbani, Mouin, 43, 231
rape, 24, 27, 40–41, 67, 94, 98, 101, 141, 144, 209, 225, 228
Raqqa
Daesh in, 215–23
Jabhat al-Nusra in, 215–16, 218–19
women in, 226–30
Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS), 221–23
recruits
Daesh, 237–39
YPG-YPJ, 189, 259
refugees
EU and, 193, 199
from Kobane, 183, 189
Kurdish, 49, 66, 82, 84, 182
Rojava, 183, 189, 198
Syrian, 225
Yazidi, 42
Reich, Robert, 45
Reich, Wilhelm, 144–45
Remnick, David, 221
Resettlement Law, 68
Resolution 1325, UN, 140
Reuter, Christoph, 44, 215, 236
Revival. See PKK-Vejin
revolution
from bottom up, 53–57
cultural, 103
of Daesh, 56–57
Iranian, 79
Kurdish, 53–57, 59, 71–72
PYD in, 53–54, 164–68
of Rojava cantons, 56–57, 103, 164–68, 260–62
strategies, 71–72
Revolutionary Eastern Cultural Hearths (DDKO), 69–70
right-wing identity movements, 24–26
Robertson, Pat, 25
Rojava cantons. See also Afrin canton; Cizire canton; Kobane canton
backlash, 191–99
democratic autonomy in, 164–73, 259–63
democratic economy in, 173–77
experiment of, 35
feminism of, 54, 56
growth of, 241
liberated, from Daesh, 17–19, 34–35, 54
nation-state and, 172
oil in, 175
questions remaining about, 259–63
refugees, 183, 189, 198
revolution of, 56–57, 103, 164–68, 260–62
Russia and, 257
Social Contract or Charter, 171–72
struggle of, 37
stumbling blocks, 259–60
women at center of, 54, 56, 260–62
Women’s Council, 176
Romano, David, 183
Roy, Olivier, 237
Rumsfeld, Donald, 96
Rushdie, Salman, 25
Russia, 22, 257. See also Soviet Union
Sahgal, Gita, 24–25, 144, 196–97
Sakik, Semdin, 117
salafis, 202–3, 206–7, 211, 226, 231, 262
Saleh, Najat Ali, 43
Saleh, Yassin al-Haj, 166
Salih, Cinar, 170
Sartre, Jean-Paul, 72, 87
Sarukhanyan, Seval, 99
Sassounian, Harut, 192–93
The Satanic Verses (Rushdie), 25
Saudi Arabia, 203–5, 226
SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces), 190, 241
Sednaya Prison, 211–12
Sener, Mehmet Cahit, 107–8, 129, 135
Serhildan (uprising), 108–10, 114
Seroxan, Newroz, 139–40
Sexo, Ehmed, 168
sex slavery, 40–41
sexuality, 142–46
Shah of Iran, 65–66, 71, 79
shaikhs, 45, 59–61, 64
sharia law, 25, 97, 141, 201–3, 208, 215, 219, 229, 231, 238, 262
Shia Muslims, 83–84, 204–7, 209
Shiv Sena, 25
SHP. See Turkish Social Democratic Party
single-sex military units, 137–38
Sinjar Mountain
battle of, 36, 37–45, 56, 58, 182, 190
investigation of, 43–45
Yazidi and, 36, 39–44, 58
Snyder, Timothy, 234
Social Contract or Charter, 171–72, 198
socialism, Soviet approach to, 119–20
Socialist Camp narrative, 20–21
Soviet Union, 20–22, 25, 119–20, 204, 255
Soylemez, Leyla, 152
“Special War,” Turkey’s on Kurds, 113–21
Stalinism, 64–65
Steinem, Gloria, 140–41
strategic thinking, 31–32
structural adjustment, 22
suicide bombers, 104, 186–87, 240, 251
Sukru, Siddik Hasan, 191
Suleimaniya, 85, 95, 100–101
sultanism, 99
Sumer, 123
Sunni Muslims, 207, 209
Daesh and, 56, 230, 232–33, 239
Kurds as, 45, 194
salafis, 202–3
Sykes-Picot treaty, 233
Syria
Arab Belt in, 164
Assad president of, 50, 53, 165–68, 211–12, 215
civil war in, 165–68, 211
Daesh in, 14, 42, 211, 215–23
democracy in, 35
FSA and, 168, 180, 188, 196, 198, 213, 216–18
geography of, 13
jihadis in, 53
opposition in, 165–66, 194, 198, 257
refugees from, 225
US and, 182–83, 185–86, 190, 211
Syrian Democratic Forces. See SDF
Syrian Kurds. See also PYD; Rojava cantons; YPG-YPJ
democratic autonomy of, 164–73
history of, 50–51, 164
Iraqi Kurds and, 39
in PKK, 50
Syrian civil war and, 165–68
terminology, 19
in three-way struggle, 37
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, 184
TAJK (Free Women’s Movement of Kurdistan), 13, 137
TAK (Freedom Falcons), 244–45
Talabani, Jalal
corruption of, 99
KDP and, 62–64
PKK and, 114–15
PUK led by, 13, 38, 66, 80, 94, 98
Taliban, 25, 204–5
Al-Tamimi, Aymenn Jawad, 231–32
Tammo, Mashaal, 194
Tas, Nizamettin, 152
Taussig, Michael, 144–45
Tekin, Asya, 183–84
terrorism
attacks, 205
logic of, 236–41
PKK and, 18, 106, 152
war on, 46, 205
TEV-DEM (Democratic Society Movement), 13, 53–54
democratic autonomy and, 169–72
KNC and, 192
Tolkien, J.R.R., 19, 35
tribalism
of KDP, 93, 99
Kurdish, 45–46, 60–61, 63–66, 87–88, 93, 99
nationalism and, 45–46
Tribunal on Violence Against Women, 1993, 27–28
Tripp, Charles, 235
Truman Doctrine, 51
Tuncel, Sebahat, 133
Turkey
armed struggle in, 85–92
backlash and, 191–93
battle of Kobane and, 179–80, 182–87, 191
Daesh and, 180, 182–87, 222, 248–49
democracy in, 35
Erdogan as president of, 52, 149, 152, 161, 180, 182–85, 193, 243–46, 247–52, 254
EU and, 106, 119, 149, 193, 246
geography of, 13
Jabhat al-Nusra and, 180, 185
Kemalism in, 51–52, 67–76, 243
KRG and, 38–39, 45
Kurdish refugees and, 84
lobbyists in Washington, 192–3
mass democratic movement in, 105, 110, 126
McDowall on, 52, 68, 110, 117
minorities in, 51–52
“moderate Islamism” in, 246–57
nationalism in, 52, 123
Resettlement Law, 68
in “Special War,” 113–21
US and, 111–12, 146–47, 193, 248, 255–57
in WWI, 46
Turkish Kurds. See also PKK
democratic autonomy of, 153, 155–64, 252–53
Erdogan and, 149, 152, 161, 180, 182–85, 244–45, 247–52, 254
genocide of, 68–69, 92
history of, 51–53, 59–61, 67–76
Iraqi Kurds and, 59–61, 114–15
terminology, 19
tribalism of, 87–88
Turkish Kurds, parliamentary parties of BDP, 14, 53, 249
DEHAP, 14, 156
DEP, 14, 118
DTP, 14, 156–58, 245
genealogy, 14
HDP, 14, 53, 163, 181, 184, 249–52
HEP, 14, 52, 110–13, 116, 118
Turkish military intelligence. See MIT
Turkish Social Democratic Party (SHP), 110–13
UDHR. See Universal Declaration of Human Rights
UN. See United Nations
Union of Patriotic Revolutionary Young Women. See YDG-K
United Nations (UN)
conferences, 26–28, 30
Resolution 1325, 140
sanctions, 49, 93–94
United States (US)
capitalist narrative of, 21–22
Christian fundamentalism in, 25–26
CIA, 111, 146
Daesh and, 17, 42, 182–83, 185–86, 194–95
female labor in, 28
Free World narrative of, 20–21
Gulf War, 49, 83
Iran and, 79–80
Iraq and, 49, 79–80, 83, 95–97, 107, 205–10
Iraq
i Kurds as allies of, 38, 96–97
KNC and, 191–92
military interventions by, 18, 25, 42
Obama administration, 17, 42, 182–83, 185–86, 240
Operation Desert Storm and, 95–96
peshmerga and, 65–66
PYD and, 185–86, 194–95
Syria and, 182–83, 185–86, 190, 211
Truman Doctrine of, 51
Turkey and, 111–12, 146–47, 193, 248, 255–57
“war on terror” by, 46, 205
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 26–27
uprising (Serhildan), 108–10, 114
US. See United States
Ustundag, Nazan, 129–30, 172–73, 177, 246
van Bruinessen, Martin, 47, 59–60, 63
Kurdistan’s geography described by, 37
on PKK, 87–90, 105–6, 112
village chiefs (aghas), 45, 59–61, 64
village guards, 87–88, 91
violence
asayish and, 176–77
against women, 23–24, 27–28, 101–2, 176–77, 207–9, 225
Waltz, Susan, 26–27
war, gender relations in, 140
“war on terror,” 46, 205
Watts, Nicole, 250
Weiner, Tim, 147
Weiss, Michael, 184, 188
Western feminists, strategic thinking by, 31–32
“The West’s Darling in Syria” (Oweis), 193–94
White, Paul, 122, 245
Whitman, Lois, 106
Wilson, Lydia, 238
Wobblies. See Industrial Workers of the World
Wolf, Christa, 33
women. See also gender relations; Kurdish women; women’s movement
in Arab Spring, 23
asayish, 172, 176–77
Beijing Conference on, 26, 28, 30
in China, 137–38
councils of, 171
Daesh and, 20, 28, 34, 141, 201, 218–19, 225–30, 238–39
economy and, 175–76
Erdogan and, 247
in Iraq, 102–3, 207–10
labor by, 28–29, 32
in patriarchal belt, 23–24
peace movement of, 140–41
in Raqqa, 226–30
violence against, 23–24, 27–28, 101–2, 176–77, 207–9, 225
Women Living Under Muslim Laws, 29
Women of the Islamic State: A Manifesto by the Al-Khanssa Brigade, 228–29
women’s movement. See also feminism
fundamentalism and, 25–26
global, 25–28
human rights and, 26–28
Kurdish, 31, 33–34, 141–42, 259
Women’s WORLD (Women’s World Organization for Rights, Literature and Development), 30–31
Wood, Graeme, 231
World Social Forums, 29
World War I (WWI), 46, 233
The Wretched of the Earth (Fanon), 72, 87
Wright, Lawrence, 201–2
WWI. See World War I
Yassin-Kassab, Robin, 166–67
Yazidi
genocide, 40, 44
Kurds as, 45
militias, 190–91
Sinjar Mountain and, 36, 39–44, 58
YDG-H (Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement), 14, 184, 250