New training academies will include Arab women: YPJ

RAQQA, Syria (Kurdistan24) – A spokesperson for the Kurdish Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) in Syria said plans were ready to include Arab women who want to battle the Islamic State (IS).

Nesrin Abdullah, the spokesperson for the YPJ, said the Kurdish forces were “widening its operations to include Arab women.”

“As the women of the YPJ, we aim not only [for] liberation from [IS] but also a liberation of mentality and thoughts,” Abdullah explained.

“War is not only the liberation of land,” she continued. “We are also fighting for the liberation of women and men.”

As the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continue their operation to retake the city of Raqqa, Abdullah said the YPJ were stepping up its assault.

She pointed to the formation of new military councils designed to encourage Arab and Yezidi women from both Syria and Iraq to participate in the fight against IS.

Moreover, the YPJ spokesperson revealed plans to organize a military training academy for female fighters was underway.

“Arab people were the predominant residents of the liberated areas,” she said.

“They were impressed when they saw that women participated in military affairs and played a leading role in clashes,” Abdullah added.

Additionally, the YPJ spokesperson explained the female fighters transformed their battlefield experience into an “academic consciousness.”

“This is because the YPJ is not a brute force but a force of social, cultural, and moral consciousness,” she stated.

“2017 will be the final year [of the war] both militarily and politically,” Abdullah concluded. “The YPJ will always support a democratic, peaceful solution.”

Editing by Ava Homa