This analysis by lawyer Mardin Jalal, head of the National Social Kobast, is a manifesto that invites
Kurdish women from every tribe, family, and region of Kurdistan, from south to north, from east to west,
to begin a new struggle to create a vibrant, just, conscious, and unified society. From now on, the task
of social reconciliation is the primary duty of Kurdish women. Eliminating conflicts between political
and social parties, extinguishing internal wars and fratricide, is a responsibility entrusted to women.
Kurdish women must play a role with their own will and decision in Kurdistan's golden stage.
Today, within the framework of establishing the "Kobast Center for Reconciliation," which was founded as
part of the goals of the National Social Kobast to empower women and resolve social issues in
Kurdistan, we analyze this topic to demonstrate a strong history full of leadership by Kurdish women.
The vision of the National Social Kobast is a new manifesto for the struggle of Kurdish women, and all
women of other nations will benefit from it. It is very clear that this vision, within a new
philosophical framework, is based on Kurdish traditions and culture, so that Kurdish women can once
again see their leadership and pioneering role. Through their struggle based on the principles of the
National Social Kobast, we are creating a special kind of women's struggle for all women of the world,
in accordance with the nature of the Kurds and the environment of Kurdistan.
Since freedom is the main slogan of women's revolutions worldwide, it is important to have a good
understanding of the term and content of the word "freedom." From our perspective, freedom has no
absolute definition that we can all strive for uniformly. However, what all women agree on regarding the
absoluteness of freedom is that it is the work of conscious and intelligent individuals. For some of us,
freedom might mean having a place in the highest administrative positions of government and making our
own decisions. For others, freedom might mean being able to raise our children with our own hands
without interference from those around us. Achieving both aspects makes us happy in different ways. But
in each of these, how much do I take steps with my feminine will, with my own intellectual thinking,
with my own decision? Therefore, in the pursuit of freedom, getting to know ourselves is very important.
We must be able to evaluate ourselves, analyze our good and bad sides. If we want to be free
individuals, we must develop our good sides and judge our undesirable traits and thoughts that harm
ourselves and our society. We must not be afraid to correct ourselves and review our actions, because
cowardly, selfish, and opportunistic people can never talk about freedom, or they become slaves to small
and worthless acts, or they become slaves to their interests and blow with the wind. The Kobast
Reconciliation Center must start this self-judgment and be fearless in self-criticism and correcting our
own shortcomings.
When we first began our human and social struggle, with the aim of spreading the Kobast vision within
our families, tribes, relatives, and acquaintances, many of our close ones confronted us. Today, as
Kobast has grown very large and widespread, forming its councils in all cities and towns, and in most
countries, this is the result of respecting our own decisions.
A successful woman is a woman with her own decisions. The woman who determines her own path and has her
own will and decision is the woman who continuously educates herself and develops herself. What I want
to point out is that if you want to be successful and exist, you must sacrifice for it, you must strive
for it, you must stay up late for it, and above all, you must have self-confidence.
Therefore, self-education and regaining our self-confidence and strength is one of the tasks we must
fulfill. Otherwise, a weak woman, a woman who does not believe in herself, a woman who lacks complete
knowledge and does not know herself, cannot achieve the dream of true freedom, cannot create a free
family and society, and cannot spread her respect, kindness, and love from within herself to the entire
society.
Today, the National Social Kobast is organizing itself across all segments. We do not want to separate
a part of the social organization of Kobast based on gender, whether male or female. However, it is
important, just as our academic and experienced political figures organize themselves in the National
Council, and religious scholars in the National Council of Religious Scholars of Kobast, and tribal
chiefs and social figures in the National Tribal Council of Kobast, and youth similarly, that we
announce this center based on the character and peaceful, kind attributes that embody the essence of
women. Kobast women will manage this national center of Kobast, and at the same time, they can include
peace-loving men as a symbol of reconciliation and the spirit of kindness as members of the National
Reconciliation Center. The establishment of this center, which demonstrates the true essence of Kurdish
women, is necessary and important.
Because Kurdish women have always played an important and central role in their nation's history of
struggle. When we talk about the role of Kurdish women, it was not merely a secondary role, but they
played a role as leaders and pioneers. Our historical and current situation assessment will serve as
guidance for the struggle we have started at the Kobast Reconciliation Center. Kurdish women must
understand the truth that the National Social Kobast will be a strategic gateway for gathering the
superior and positive strength of Kurdish women from all classes and segments, with all their religions
and ideologies, for education, empowerment, and resolving issues in a fair and appropriate manner in
accordance with Kurdish traditions. It will set its own plans and strategies.
Kurdish women have historical foundations and a past. On this basis, they must provide an example of a
true struggle to the women of the world through social reconciliation. No woman can succeed outside her
home without the consent of every single member of her family. Therefore, creating free men is the duty
of women. They must create understanding and mature sons, husbands, and brothers so that they can talk
about freedom. Prioritizing family and family education must be among the primary tasks of the
Reconciliation Center. A woman who cannot manage her family with a mature and peaceful mind cannot lead
successfully outside either.
Kurdish women, by the nature of Kurdish society, without striving for it, have been leaders and
pioneers. When Kurdish women were at the peak of governance, European women were deprived of their
rights. Historical sources show us that Kurdish women have played a key role in advancing society since
the beginning of sedentary communities. Early villages emerged in the Mesopotamian region (Tigris and
Euphrates), and sedentary life began. Kurdish women in these villages created tools for progress, taught
people domestic life, introduced the use of dishes, pottery, and ceramics, established families, and
spread respect and love. They also laid down laws and managed society. This shows that today's
modernity, which the capitalist system advocates, is unfounded and for self-interest, built on the
foundations of global powers, where women are organized as a commodity and a propaganda tool of that
system, and under the name of democracy and protecting human rights, they have made gender balance and
feminism merely a way to detach women from their essence, distancing them from their families, their
societies, and their homelands. This does not mean that we belittle the struggles of other nations; on
the contrary, every revolution has recorded a historical value in its own stage, which was specific to
the social reality of that society. What is unusual is that Kurdish women want to struggle for something
they already have. Kurdish women themselves possess the original and primitive modernity of humanity.
When Kurdish women were at the peak of governance, European women were deprived of their basic rights
and treated as slaves.
Even now, human society is on the verge of a historical fall. Kurdish women, through the struggle of the
National Social Kobast Reconciliation Center, can become the saviors of all humanity, protecting the
sacredness of individuals and the importance of families and societies. This historical task rests on
the shoulders of Kurdish women.
I invite women's organizations: come and abandon being appendices to international women's
organizations. What are the environment, land, traditions, language, clothing, and foundation of the
Kurds? Based on these, let us all organize ourselves in this kobast, not just women, but Kurdish women
must show the entire Kurdish society a path to a true life, beyond gender struggle, based on a true
national citizenship, let us have our organization and struggle. Kurdistan needs social and national
struggle.
We have Qadam Khair, Adila Khanum, Mastura Khanum, Khanzad Mir of Soran, the daughters of Badr Khan,
Hapsa Khan Naqib, Zaki Alkan, Layla Qasim, Layla Zana, and Hero Khan. We have Jina Amini. That's why our
ancestors said, "When a lion comes out of the bush, whether it's female or male, there's no difference."
This history must be preserved and developed, not only in Kurdistan but as an example for the women of
the region. The Kobast Reconciliation Center strives to revive this history and empower women to play a
leading role in society, not within the framework of external feminist movements, but based on Kurdish
culture and tradition.
The National Reconciliation Center is a collector of the experiences of all Kurdish women and a spark in
the social revolution of the National Social Kobast.
