Geneviève Garrigos: Have to support the revolution led by the women in Rojava
- 11:10 2 February 2025
- News
Gülistan Gülmüş
AMED - Geneviève Garrigos, a member of the Paris City Council who visited Rojava, pointed out that women of many races showed solidarity after the women's revolution in Kobane and said that this model should be spread around the world.
A French delegation consisting of deputies and representatives of many political parties paid a visit to Northern and Eastern Syria (Rojava) between 22th and 28th January. The delegation met with Kurdish representatives and visited institutions throughout Qamishli (Qamishlo) amid ongoing Turkish attacks and humanitarian challenges. Raqqa (Raqa), Kobani (Kobanê) and Hasakah (Hasekê), Yekitiyen Parastina Jin (YPJ), Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Commander Mazloum Abdi, Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria (AANES) Foreign Affairs Co-chair İlham Ahmed and AANES co-chairs Meetings were held with important names such as.
Geneviève Garrigos, a member of the Paris City Council, told our news agency JINNEWS about the purpose of the delegation's visit to Northern and Eastern Syria.
Geneviève Garrigos expressed that no matter how much they say they are grateful to the YPJ, it is not enough: "It was the victory in Kobani. It means a lot. Because, first of all, it was the beginning of the defeat of DAESH. DAESH terrorised the region with the dictatorship it imposed. But it was more than a dictatorship, because the way they were killing people and massacring and so on. It was really a nightmare. When the YPJ and the Kurdish people defeated them in Kobani, it was the beginning of the tunnel to victory against them. But it was also the victory of women against obscurantism. On the one hand, we had men who were really with the regime, who took women as objects, put them in slavery and reduced them to nothing. On the other hand, there were very brave women who showed that they were very strong and powerful and that they could defeat them. And that was very impressive and we will never thank the YPJ and the Kurdish people enough for what they did in Kobani. We know that some of them are sacrificing their lives for them.”
‘Turkey is attacking civilian, non-armed with drones’
Geneviève Garrigos said she was very emotional when she first visited the cemeteries in Kobani, noting that they later met with officials there and talked about Turkey's attacks on the Tişrin dam, and continued: "Turkey is taking advantage of the chaos with the regime change in Syria. Everyone is very happy that Bashar Al Assad has gone. But it has created the kind of chaos that Turkey is using to attack Rojava and AANES again. This is really very dangerous.
We've seen what's happening in 2018 with a framework and Minbiç, and now they want to destroy Tişrin. Tişrin is crucial because it will not only mean an ecological disaster, but it will also cut off the electricity for the region, and it will also allow the Turkish proxy to cross, maybe the efforts and enter Rojava. Civilians go there every day to protect the fishing bridge. Although there are civilian, unarmed people, Turkey attacks them with drones. Every day people are injured, people are killed. We met some of them.”
‘Put pressure on Turkey to stop attacks now'
Geneviève Garrigos said they wanted Turkey to put pressure on international forces to stop its attacks: "That's why with the delegation we asked the French government, the European Union and also all the members of the coalition to put pressure on Turkey to stop attacking right now, to have a ceasefire and a no-fly zone to protect Northern Rojava."
‘We will spread the 'Jin, jiyan, azadi' revolution faster'
Geneviève Garrigos, who pointed out that she had met many women during her visits and that women of all races lived together here, noted that this was related to the management model of use after the Rojava revolution, and added the following "It's not just about women's rights. It's about a whole new vision of society, where women take their place in society, where they share power. It is not just about giving them rights. It's about seeing women as more powerful than men. And I think people around the world need to understand the second level. Because that is the most important level. It is a completely new society based on feminism. It is an inclusive egalitarian is about freedom is for everyone. It is not just for women, it is for everyone in society. Whatever their background, whatever their religion, whatever their gender. Everyone is equal in the society of Jin jiyan azadi. At the moment, women only see it as women, right? No, it's much more than that. We have to explain this to the world because it has changed completely. Women are not fighting for rights, they are fighting for a new society. We will spread the ‘jin jiyan azadi’ revolution faster.
‘We must support the Kurdish people'
Geneviève Garrigos said that the new management model that has emerged after 50 years of the Kobani revolution in Syria is innovative, especially for women, and stressed that this is an opportunity for Syria and that the whole world should benefit from this model. Geneviève Garrigos concluded: "I think the international community has a duty. We owe you what you did against DAESH. We owe you the sacrifices you made to defeat these people who were a nightmare for the world. We know that there are still sleeping cells of DAESH in Syria and not only in Rojava. We know the danger. As we owe you for what you have done, it's time for us to give something back to you. To support you and give you all the protection you need today. It's not the time to play political games, it's not the time to start any negotiations. We must support the Kurdish people. We must support the revolution led by the women of AANES. We have to stand with you for your future, for the future of Syria, for the future of the Middle East, because this is very important for the Middle East and for the future of the world.”