LGBT members of Kurdish inhabited areas exist in Kurdistan in all ethnicities, religions and cities, and experience various forms of discrimination. [1]
LGBT members of Kurdish inhabited areas exist in Kurdistan in all ethnicities, religions and cities, and experience various forms of discrimination. [1]
Since their founding, the HDP has announced its support for all ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. In their election manifesto of 2015, they strongly condemned discrimination against LGBTI people. [2] Out of all the 80 people from the HDP executive committee elected in 2015, three of their representatives were LGBT. [3]
However, not all pro-Kurdish parties support the LGBTI, as seen in the Newroz clashes. The Kurdish nationalist and Islamist party known as HüdaPar, and the militant group loyal to them known as Kurdish Hezbollah, have always been known to be a danger to the LGBTI community and to anyone they accuse of supporting the LGBTI community. [4] [5]
The situation of the LGBT community in the Kurdistan Region was sometimes discussed in April 2021, when it was announced that the Kurdish security forces had arrested several homosexuals in Sulaymaniyah. The government denied targeting the group and said its operation was more to crack down on prostitution. Members of the LGBTQ community report widespread discrimination across the Middle East. During its reign of terror in Iraq and Syria, the Islamic State terrorist group released videos in which its members killed gay men by throwing them from rooftops. Experts say a legal loophole is still at the heart of the LGBTQ community's problem. Iraqi human rights lawyer Asrin Jamal said: "Neither the Iraqi law nor the changes of the Kurdistan Region have provided any definition for the LGBTQ community." [6]
Gender has never created an important issue in Kurdish culture, art and politics.[ citation needed ] Even though the Kurdish society is still very conservative in this regard, in recent times there has been an increase in the number of artists who stand on their sexual orientation without hiding it. Even: it is part of their image as artists and they are generally accepted as such. Among the pioneers of the last 50 years, the former PKK fighter Rotinda, although he never made a statement about his sexual orientation, wrote many Kurdish songs and had a positive impact on millions of Kurds around the world. The musical and literary projects for children that several generations have grown up with should not be forgotten (for example: The Gulên Mezrabotan group project is one of the most famous and effective Kurdish groups for children in educating children).[ citation needed ]
Since then, there have been some brave artists and their sexual orientation is part of their image: they want to shake people up and therefore provoke some conservative circles with their pride. For example, when Semyanî Perîzade released his first song "Alo", there was a real hype about it. Endless discussions were held, on topics such as "What is the legitimacy of a Kurdish woman, how should she be and what should she wear". When Semyanî herself spoke and announced that she is bisexual, this caused a gender discussion in Kurdish music and art. Today, she is generally accepted and taken seriously as a contemporary artist who has broken taboos. [7]
Gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation have never created any issue in the Kurdish fight for cultural and political rights. Instead, many Kurdish groups and associations are supporting a society with equal rights for everyone. However, in the war against ISIS, gender (women) and sexual orientation became the main focus for the first time. ISIS fighters believe that if they are killed by women in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), they will not go to heaven. [8] [9]
In March 2017, TQILA (which stands for: "Queer Rebellion and Salvation Army") [10] was founded as part of the International People's Revolutionary Guerrilla Forces (IRPGF), a volunteer army made up of radical leftist fighters from around the world. They supported the Syrian Democratic Forces in the attack on the ISIS base in Raqqa. Photos showing TQILA masked militants holding a banner reading "These faggots are killing fascists!" in front of bombed concrete buildings in Raqqa created excitement on the internet. An SDF spokesperson denied that the group is an official member of the coalition, but the group has significant support from the Kurds. The group posted a photo alongside its banner showing Heval Mahîr - the supreme commander of all foreign SDF brigades - with a purple flag. A few years later, a video was released in which Heval Mahîr talks about cooperation with TQILA in Raqqa. [11]
The People's Defense Units (YPG), also called People's Protection Units, is a mainly Kurdish militant group in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). YPG provides updates about its activities through YPG Press Office Telegram channel and social media accounts.
Human rights in Iraqi Kurdistan refer to the human rights issue in the autonomous area of Kurdistan Region.
The Syriac Military Council is an Assyrian/Syriac military organisation in Syria, part of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The establishment of the organisation was announced on 8 January 2013. According to the Syriac Military Council, the goal of the organisation is to stand up for the national rights of and to protect Assyrians in Syria. It operates mostly in the densely populated Assyrian areas of Al-Hasakah Governorate, and is affiliated to the Syriac Union Party.
The Rojava–Islamist conflict, a major theater in the Syrian civil war, started after fighting erupted between the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and Islamist rebel factions in the city of Ras al-Ayn. Kurdish forces launched a campaign in an attempt to take control of the Islamist-controlled areas in the governorate of al-Hasakah and some parts of Raqqa and Aleppo governorates after al-Qaeda in Syria used those areas to attack the YPG. The Kurdish groups and their allies' goal was also to capture Kurdish areas from the Arab Islamist rebels and strengthen the autonomy of the region of Rojava. The Syrian Democratic Forces would go on to take substantial territory from Islamist groups, in particular the Islamic State (IS), provoking Turkish involvement in the Syrian Civil War.
The Women's Protection Units or Women's Defense Units is an all-female militia involved in the Syrian civil war. The YPJ is part of the Syrian Democratic Forces, the armed forces of Rojava, and is closely affiliated with the male-led YPG. While the YPJ is mainly made up of Kurds, it also includes women from other ethnic groups in Northern Syria.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a coalition formed by ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). The SDF is allied to and supplied by the United States–led CJTF–OIR international alliance. Founded in 10 October 2015, the SDF claims that its mission is fighting to create a secular, democratic and federalised Syria. The SDF is opposed by Turkey, who claims the group has direct links to the PKK, which it recognizes as a terrorist group.
The al-Shaddadi offensive (2016), also known as Operation Wrath of Khabur, was an offensive launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) during the Syrian Civil War, in February 2016. The main goal of this offensive was to capture the strategic city of Al-Shaddadi and the remainder of the southern al-Hasakah Governorate from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). During the offensive, the US-led coalition conducted more than 86 airstrikes in Al-Shaddadi and the nearby areas, in support of the SDF advances.
The Northern Raqqa offensive was a 2016 military offensive launched by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant in northern Raqqa Governorate, in order to prepare for a future attack on the city of Raqqa. The offensive was launched in coordination with airstrikes by the US-led Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve. After 30 May, the offensive stalled, as the SDF shifted its focus and resources to another operation in the northern Aleppo Province.
Hediya Yousef is a Syrian-Kurdish politician who held the office of co-president of the Executive Council of Rojava from 17 March 2016 to 16 July 2018. Yousef is an ethnic Kurd, and served with fellow co-president Mansur Selum, an ethnic Arab.
The Syria's Tomorrow Movement is a Syrian opposition party founded in March 2016 in Cairo by Ahmad Jarba, a Syrian National Council member. The party was backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates and cooperates with the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, although it is not part of the coalition. They also cooperate with the Syrian Democratic Council of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.
The Raqqa campaign was a military operation launched in November 2016 during the Rojava–Islamist conflict by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in the Raqqa Governorate, with the goal of isolating and eventually capturing the Islamic State's capital city, Raqqa. The SDF's subsidiary goals included capturing the Tabqa Dam, the nearby city of al-Thawrah, and the Baath Dam further downstream. The campaign ended successfully in October 2017, with the capture of Raqqa.
Îlham Ehmed, also rendered as Îlham Ahmed, is a Syrian politician from the Democratic Union Party currently serving as the co-president of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (Rojava) and member of the executive committee of the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) coalition. Until July 2018, she was a co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), a political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces that acts as the legislature for Rojava.
In course of the Raqqa campaign (2016–2017), an international coalition, primarily composed of the Syrian Democratic Forces and CJTF–OIR, captured the Raqqa Governorate from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which had declared Raqqa city the capital of its self-proclaimed caliphate.
The Battle of Tabqa was a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) military operation against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to capture and secure the Tabqa Dam, al-Thawrah (al-Tabqah), Tabqa Airbase, and the surrounding countryside during the 2016–2017 Raqqa campaign of the larger Rojava-Islamist conflict of the Syrian civil war. The SDF assault began on 22 March 2017, and resulted in the capture of Tabqa and the Tabqa Dam on 10 May 2017. The SDF was supported by the United States-led CJTF–OIR coalition during the battle.
The International Revolutionary People's Guerrilla Forces (IRPGF) was a collective of anarchist fighters from around the world. Its formation was announced on 31 March 2017. According to the group, their goals were to defend the social revolution in Rojava in northern Syria, and to spread anarchism. The group announced its dissolution on 24 September 2018.
The battle of Raqqa (2017), also known as the second battle of Raqqa, was the fifth and final phase of the Raqqa campaign (2016–2017) launched by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Islamic State (ISIL) with an aim to seize the city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIL since 2014. The battle began on 6 June 2017, and was supported by airstrikes and ground troops from the US-led coalition. The operation was named the "Great Battle" by the SDF. It concluded on 17 October 2017, with the SDF fully capturing the city of Raqqa.
The Eastern Syria insurgency is an armed insurgency being waged by remnants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and both pro and anti-Syrian government Arab nationalist insurgents, against the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), its military, and their allies in the US-led Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) coalition.
Rasan was a Kurdish non-governmental human rights organization that was established in 2004 in Sulaymaniyah, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. Rasan focused on LGBT rights and women's rights. The organization ran projects that focused on coexistence and social cohesion through the use of arts, social awareness, focus groups, livelihood projects, seminars, workshops, training, and action plans. Rasan engaged community leaders from different sectors in community forums on gender identity, equality and coexistence.
Zhiar Ali is a former animal rights activist and a Kurdish advocate for LGBT rights. He presently resides in the Netherlands after having been based in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. In Iraqi Kurdistan, Ali is well known for his contributions to LGBT rights, including founding Yeksani, a group that works to promote LGBT rights in the Kurdistan Region. He is currently Yeksani's executive director and was a founding member of Kurdistan Vegans, Iraq's first pro-vegan animal rights group. Additionally, he has worked as a freelance journalist for news outlets, specialising in music journalism as well as political and social concerns.
Amir Ashour is an Iraqi LGBT rights activist who founded IraQueer, a non-governmental organisation that advocates for the rights of LGBT people in Iraq, in 2015.