PKK in Northern Iraq
In the Middle East, often known for the subjugation of women, the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) proposes a new and revolutionary point of view.
This guerrilla movement’s women hold high ranking posts in both the military and political leadership. Indeed a significant proportion of the PKK’s guerilla force is female.
The PKK is socialist, but most notably they are self declared and committed feminists. In a world dominated by men, and by patriarchy, they propose that the only way to obtain freedom is to destroy the dominant patriarchal mentality. With their camps in the mountains and an emphasis on education and equality, the PKK aims to offer an alternative model for Kurdish and Middle Eastern men and women.
These women hold a lot of responsibility within the guerrilla which is fighting a resistance war against Turkey in defence of the region of Kurdistan and Kurdish people on either side of existing borders.
The PKK believes that only the creation of a trans-national Kurdish region will resolve the Kurdish issue. At the same time, they are creating their own daily internal revolution. While these women’s’ battalions are fighting for emancipation and the recognition of Kurdish identity, they remain critical of the notion of a Kurdish state because they believe that the state is a social model which pertains to the capitalism. These apparent contradictions and dualities caught my interest and I was eager to travel there to observe and photograph this remarkable place and people.
These images were made around and with one of the women's units in Kandil region of Northern Iraq, next to the Iranian border. The camps of this region are bombed on a daily basis by Turkey. I was able to spend some time with this people as I began to develop a project about them and their struggle.
