Kurdish women played a key role in the battle against ISIS.
This was particularly true in Syria, where thousands of women joined the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ). This was part of the broader effort known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the umbrella group of the Syrian Democratic Forces.
The US has backed the SDF since 2015. In recent days, the SDF announced that it has integrated into the new Syrian security forces.
However, this leaves thousands of YPJ members in limbo. Will the women who played such a heroic and key role in defeating ISIS receive new roles, or be left behind?
What will Kurdish women do in the new Syrian security forces?
According to the Kurdish Hawar News Agency, also known as ANHA, “the General Command of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) revealed details of its meeting with the Interior Ministry of the transitional government, describing it as positive and noting that discussions focused on the future of the units and the possibility of integrating them, in their specialized capacity, into the ministry’s structure.”
This illustrates how the integration process may include the women fighters. This is a complex issue on many levels. The command structure of the new Syrian army is made up of conservative Muslim men, many of them drawn from the group Hayat Tahrir al Sham, or other Syrian rebel groups.
The command structure is also primarily Arab. The Kurdish units from the SDF, including the women fighters, were more left-leaning and secular in outlook than the much more conservative and right-leaning HTS. As such, integration is already complex.
Syria’s Interior Ministry presents a more flexible option for the women fighters. Other units from other parts of Syria have also been integrated into the Interior Ministry. In addition, the ministry played a role in February and March during the process of Syria moving into areas in Hasakah, which had been run by the SDF. As such, the ministry has been seen in a positive light in some areas of eastern Syria.
What is Kurdish media saying?
Hawar reported that “the General Command of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) published a written statement on its official website Thursday, revealing details of a meeting held Wednesday evening between members of the units’ leadership and Interior Minister Anas Khattab.”
“On August 26, the General Command of the Women’s Protection Units held a meeting with an official delegation from the Interior Ministry of the transitional government in Damascus,” the statement said.
“During the meeting, issues of security and stability in Syria, as well as the future of cooperation and coordination between the two sides, were discussed extensively.” Both sides are affirming that the YPJ could continue on as “a special and organized force within the structure of the Interior Ministry.”
This indicates that the interaction has been positive so far.
Kurdish media outlet Rudaw also noted that “the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) could be integrated as a ‘distinct and organized force’ under Damascus' interior ministry, the all-women force affiliated with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Thursday. This comes months after the integration of female Kurdish fighters emerged as a sticking point in the wider integration process.”
It added that “the YPJ, an all-female force affiliated with the People's Protection Units (YPG), forms a core component of the SDF. It played a pivotal role in liberating the symbolic Kurdish city of Kobane in northeast Syria (Rojava) from the Islamic State (ISIS) in early 2015, with significant backing from the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.”
An earlier proposal to have the women’s units integrate into the new Syrian army as separate brigades didn’t work.
DAANES representative Abdulkarim Omar told Rudaw in early August that Damascus rejected the proposal, saying “there are no female [forces] in the [defense] ministry.”
As such, the Interior Ministry is the only place that women can apparently serve. Syria already has women serving in the police, for instance.
Rudaw added that “the YPJ have therefore agreed to join the interior ministry as a counter-terrorism force, accepting a Syrian government proposal on its future role within state institutions, Omar said, noting the force would join ‘as a unit or group together under the Ministry of Interior.’”
In a second report, the outlet said the meeting, attended by YPJ leadership members Newroz Ahmad, Sozdar Haji, and Khalisa Ayed, as well as YPJ Media Office spokesperson Ruken Jamal and Syrian transitional government Interior Minister Anas Hassan Khattab, began at 11 p.m. Wednesday and ended around 12:15 a.m.
Time will tell whether these units can integrate as intact groups or whether a different initiative will take place.
After the immense sacrifice of so many women in eastern Syria in the battle against ISIS, it is natural that the YPJ will continue to press for a future role in the new Syria.