The 17th edition of the Zîlan Women’s Festival, the largest gathering of Kurdish women in Germany, began on Saturday with the participation of thousands of women.
The festival, organised by the Union of Kurdish Women in Germany (YJİ-E) under the slogan “Jin Jîyan Azadî Ji Kurdistan e bi Cîhanê ve” (Woman Life Freedom from Kurdistan to the World) kicked off on Saturday morning with a panel discussion on women’s revolution and the achievements of the Kurdish women’s movement.
The festival is dedicated to Evîn Goyî (Emine Kara), one of the victims of an armed attack at a Kurdish cultural centre in Paris on 23 December.
Numerous stands were set up at the festival, where women made calls for solidarity and peace. Ayten Kaplan, the spokeswoman for the Free Women’s Movement (TJK-E), delivered a speech urging women to join the revolution with the slogan “Jin Jîyan Azadî” (Woman Life Freedom) and invited them to unite in the fight against the war on women.
The speakers at the festival highlighted the demands for equal pay for equal work, an end to patriarchal policies, and a life free from war.
The festival emphasised women’s solidarity and the struggle of Kurdish women, with messages of support read aloud. The attendees at the festival raised the spirit of sisterhood, solidarity and resistance through the melodies of Kurdish female artists who took to the stage.
