Women in Iraqi Kurdish capital Erbil (Hewler) voiced support for Iranian women as protests continue throughout the country on day 41 of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Jîna (Mahsa) Amini’s death in morality police custody in mid-September.
“We stand with women in Rojhilat and Iran who took to the streets to restore their freedom and rights taken from them by the regime,” Afsana Ibrahim Mahmood, a member of Kurdish organisation Khabat, told Roj News, using the Kurdish word for the Kurdish majority region.
“History has proven that great revolutions have been led by women, so now the whole world should support women’s revolution of life and freedom,” Mahmood said, referencing the Kurdish slogan that has been at the heart of all protests, “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” – or, “Woman, Life, Freedom”.
Journalist Maryam Ahmad called on Kurds from other Kurdish regions, in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria to support the Iranian protests.
Since the protests started in mid-September, nearly 250 people have been killed by Iranian security forces, and some 12,500 arrested.