The Women’s Self-Defence Units (YPJ) are currently negotiating with the Syrian transitional government regarding their continued existence as an autonomous women’s army. Following several weeks of war waged by the Syrian transitional government against the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, a ceasefire agreement was signed on 29 January this year, which stipulated the integration of the military alliance known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the Syrian army. However, although the YPJ are part of the SDF, the Syrian transitional government does not accept their integration into the Syrian army.
The campaign “We are all YPJ – Self-defence is our natural right!” supports the YPJ internationally in their demands. This article is based on an onlinepanel with YPJ commander Newroz Ahmed and Emîne Osê, member of the Kongra Star Diplomacy Committee. It provides insights into the current integration talks, explains the YPJ’s stance against the backdrop of the revolution in North and East Syria, and describes the situation of women in Syria and Rojava following the war in January.
YPJ was founded on the base of the free will of women
The YPJ was founded in 2013 as an autonomous women’s defence unit. Since then, it has taken part in various military operations against a range of Islamist groups and militias. It played a central role in the fight against Islamic State (IS) and, through its courage and spirit of resistance, became a role model for women worldwide who are struggling for self-determination and women’s liberation. A guiding principle in the establishment of the YPJ was that women, acting of their own free will, should build an organisation that enables them to defend themselves and their society against patriarchal and Islamist violence. Their ranks include not only Kurdish women, but also Armenian, Assyrian, Syriac and Arab women.
Over the past 13 years, the female fighters of the YPJ have not only gained important military experience in self-defence against Islamism and patriarchal violence. The YPJ has demonstrated – as an achievement of the Rojava women’s movement – that it need not be women’s fate to stay at home and look after their husbands and children. They have not only set and upheld moral standards in the military, but have also transformed society’s perception of what it means to be a woman and what she can do and build.
The achievements of the women’s movement in North and East Syria – the active participation and co-determination of women in all spheres, including the economy, politics and society, secured by the co-presidency system – are defended by the YPJ and, at the same time, further advanced by it. In recent years, thousands of female fighters have given their lives for this. A great responsibility continues to rest on the shoulders of the female fighters in the ranks of the YPJ, a burden they have borne for over a decade with great courage and a spirit of resistance.
Integration goes along with changing the patriarchal and Islamist mentality of the Syrian Army
If the YPJ is not formally integrated into the army, it cannot continue to exist. However, we mistakenly imagine the term ‘Syrian Army’ to refer to a unified state army or institution. Under the name of the Syrian Army, various militias and gangs have joined forces, some of which are under the influence of regional states such as Turkey. They are all united by a patriarchal and Islamist mentality that neither represents nor tolerates the women or the cultural diversity of Syria.
One of the YPJ’s key achievements in recent years has been to ensure ethical standards in warfare. The YPJ sees itself as a defensive, not an offensive force. Its approach towards society and enemy combatants is derived from this principle. Commenting on the prevailing mindset within the Syrian army, Newroz Ahmed says: “The army is a force of power in the hands of a government – a state – that’s often defined as a means of violence. That’s why we give importance to the presence of the women’s forces, particularly as YPJ, within it – in order to break the current mentality and approach, to hinder and prevent this. Because of the past years of experience we have shown, the YPJ have all shown, in the 15 years that we’ve gone through, that this mentality can be changed. We’re not obliged to accept it in this form.”
Negotiations show the dangerous trend towards centralisation within the Syrian state
This mindset is evident in the negotiations between the YPJ and the transitional government, both in their attitude towards women in general and towards female fighters in particular. Representatives of the transitional government argue that the Syrian army is an all-male force and that this must hold true throughout Syria. They claim that a women’s army or women’s battalions in North and East Syria cannot exist because this would call into question the army’s unity.
This line of argument not only negates the achievements and capabilities of the YPJ, but also highlights the dangerous trend towards centralisation within the Syrian state that is slowly emerging. The cultural, political and social particularities of the region of North and East Syria are no longer being taken into account and, it seems, will not be permitted to exist in future. The fact that the women’s movement has fought for a political system of equality here over the last 13 years, that society has built a system of self-administration from the bottom up, and that the population groups living here each have their own language and culture, is gradually being denied.
This development is therefore dangerous not only for the issue of women’s participation in the army, but also for the continued existence of self-administration in North and East Syria, the safeguarding of the women’s movement’s achievements, and religious and ethnic diversity throughout Syria. To date, neither the parliament nor the government has been democratically elected, but both have been appointed by Al-Jolani. Elections are due to take place soon, but the seats allocated to ethnic and religious minorities do not correspond to their share of the total population. Kurdish and Armenian parties are already criticising this and fighting for more seats.
The integration talks must be understood, on the whole, as a continuation of the January war on a political level. During the war, the transitional government’s militias abducted thousands of SDF fighters and civilians. In recent weeks, around 1,000 prisoners have been released, but several hundred, if not thousands, of people remain in detention. There are no exact figures, and the transitional government claims that, due to the fragmentation of its own army, it does not always know itself where the prisoners are. At the same time, it is using the prisoners as leverage in the negotiations. The transitional government’s aim is to force the delegates of the autonomous self-administration of North and East Syria to give up. But the YPJ has no intention of giving up.
Only participation of women in an organized way will allow fighting the patriarchal approach
The transitional government proposes that female YPJ fighters could join the Asayîş internal security forces – comparable to the police. Newroz Ahmed comments that these are two distinct areas of work. Of course, women should also be able to join the Asayîş, and indeed they already do so. However, there are currently major problems there too with the organised participation of women in the work of the Asayîş. Nevertheless, Newroz Ahmed states that the participation of women solely within the ranks of the Asayîş is not acceptable. The integration of women into the army in the form of the YPJ is therefore important, as this ensures the organisation of women in the military sphere.
Newroz Ahmed draws parallels with other state armies, in which women participate actively but only individually. The problems women face affect them as a group and not as individuals. A response to, and solution for, these problems must therefore be in an organised way. Specifically, this means that women are organised into their own battalions or groups, that they have their own female command structure, and their own female contact persons within the Ministry of Defence. The organisation of women must be implemented at all levels so that their own will and their own decisions are represented.
Defending the YPJ means defending women’s rights as well as ethnic and religious diversity in Syria
In the integration talks, the YPJ is not merely defending its own continued existence. The aim is to recognise the achievements of the women’s movement in the form of women’s rights and to enshrine them in the constitution. Thanks to the successes of the women’s movement in recent years, this is no longer merely a demand made by women, but by society in North and East Syria and beyond.
Emîne Osê explains: “To ignore this today means to ignore half of society. The origin of this rapprochement lies not only in the mentality of how Syria is governed today. The origin lies in a mentality that does not perceive women and society. That includes a future image of Syria with harsh centralisation and just run by a male, sexist and jihadist mentality. What does this mentality mean for women? Besides what we see, such as Alawite and Druze women being abducted as loot, Kurdish women in areas with a small Kurdish population experience the same crimes. The dangers women face today are greater than ever before. And more than ever, it is necessary to highlight what these crimes demonstrate: that the future of Syria, of women, society, and democracy is in acute danger. The intention of our current campaign lies within this framework.”
This mindset is also directed against Syria’s ethnic and religious diversity. This has been demonstrated in a bloody manner over the past few months – not only during the war in January. In the months following the transitional government’s takeover at the end of 2024, militias affiliated with the Syrian army gradually attacked and massacred Alawite and Druze civilians. There was no intervention by the government or subsequent punishment for these acts.
The war against the autonomous administration began in January this year with the attacks on the Kurdish neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyah in Aleppo. Arab tribes were also called upon by government forces to take part in the attacks. Some complied. The war was marked by numerous war crimes committed by government forces against the civilian population and fallen fighters. Since then, the division between the Kurdish and Arab sections of the population has been fuelled on social media. There are even calls for further massacres of Kurds, Alawites and Druze. These developments are also affecting the YPJ: Arab families are being threatened that their daughters must withdraw from service in the YPJ. Despite this pressure, however, there is a strong determination among the Arab female fighters to continue fighting side by side with their Kurdish, Armenian, Assyrian and Syriac comrades in the YPJ’s battles.
Emîne Osê believes that Syria is currently – driven by the transitional government – moving towards a situation comparable to that in Afghanistan: an Islamist system based on hostility towards democracy, women and minorities. Already, women’s organisations are unable to operate in the areas annexed by government forces in January. Staff members of the women’s organisation Zenobia, for example, are forced to go into hiding because they are being targeted by government forces. The women want to continue their work, but the danger is too great. Staff members of Kongra Star are maintaining contact, but are unable to travel to support women in other areas due to the security situation.
Pressure on the transitional government is highly needed – from internal and external sides
However, all of this is being ignored by public opinion worldwide and by the international community, which is cooperating with the transitional government. The agreement of 29 January was indeed reached with the involvement of countries such as France and the US. However, they have not yet stepped in as guarantors of the implementation of the agreements. The struggle being waged by the YPJ and the women’s movement in North and East Syria requires pressure to be brought to bear on the transitional government. Newroz Ahmed says:
“Across the legal sphere, the human rights sphere, the existing international institutions, people need to be activated to participate, particularly the women who are involved in these institutions. But of course not only women, although the participation of women will make the system more democratic. And this means, also for men and for society as a whole, a guarantee of becoming a democratic and equal society. … It’s maybe difficult to make a big change towards democracy. It’s difficult to change everything at once, we know this. But we need to put pressure on them so that they are forced to change and at least take steps forward. And we see a strong struggle is still needed for this – from our side and from external sides, in particular from all these different institutions. There is a strong need for support and pressure.”
Emîne Osê adds “In this way we are waging a struggle now and I say this again, the struggle we are waging is not just for Kurdish women. Every step we take is undertaken with great responsibility, for all Syrian women, for a model for a future Syria that carries the views, ideas and spirit of women, and so that this is expressed in all forms and laws of the new future Syria.”
