Hevrîn Khalaf: A Life Dedicated to Service to Others
On 12 October 2019, Hevrîn Khalaf, the Co-Secretary-General of the Future Syria Party was shot to death at a roadblock by the Turkish-backed militia, Ahrar al-Shargiya.
Hevrîn Khalaf: A Light Has Gone Out But The Tasks of Reconciliation Remain
On 12 October 2019, Hevrîn Khalaf, the Co-Secretary-General of the Future Syria Party was shot to death at a roadblock by the Turkish-backed militia, Ahrar al-Shargiya.
The Future of Syria Party had been formed in March 2018 in Raqqa with its aim of a “democratic, pluralistic, and decentralized Syria.” The Party was active in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria – an area often referred to by the Kurds as Rojava. The area is highly diverse in both population groups and religions.
Thus the Future Syria Party wanted to build bridges of understanding among Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, and other ethnic groups as well as among Muslims, Christians, and Yezidis. The hope was that this bridge-building effort would become a model for all of Syria. Even before the fighting began in Syria in 2011, the Syrian society was divided along ethnic and religious lines.
The fighting, the displacement of people, the rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) has increased ethnic and religious divisions. In many cases, trust among groups has been broken, and even minimal cooperation through economic links has been broken. Rebuilding cooperation, a chief aim of the Future Syria Party, will be difficult. The move of Turkish forces and their Syrian allies into northeast Syria will make cooperation across ethnic and religious divides even more difficult. Hevrîn Khalaf was a symbol of this reconciliation effort. She was also a symbol of the quest for equality between women and men, on that part of the world.
As a Kurdish woman, she had an Arab man as co-Secretary-General of the Party. As an educated woman – she had a degree from the University of Aleppo in 2009 – Hevrîn Khalaf was particularly active for the empowerment of women. She often served as a spokesperson for visiting diplomats, journalists, and aid workers. As a highly visible person, her killing was deliberate.
The driver of the Party car Hevrîn Khalaf was in was also killed at the same time. There is a real danger that such killings increase as Turkish troops advance and control an ever-larger part of what the Turks have ironically called “the safe zone.” The earlier Turkish occupation of the Efrin area has led to the displacement of people, looting, hostage-taking, and torture. We can also fear that areas in northeast Syria newly under the control of the Syrian Government will not be free from revenge killings and politically-motivated violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
With the death of Hevrîn Khalaf at the age of 34, a light has gone out. The tasks of reconciliation remain. New voices are needed. We outside of Syria must see how best we can facilitate this vital role of bridgebuilding.
Today’s world society evolved from an earlier international structure based on States and their respective goals, often termed “the national interest”. This older system was based on the idea that there is an inevitable conflict among social groups: the class struggle for the Marxists, the balance of power for the Nationalists. Thus negotiations among government representatives are a structured way of mitigating conflict but not a way of moving beyond conflict. World Citizens propose a change of values: from conflict to cooperation. Thus there must be a transformation of policies with the aim of finding common interests. This transformation toward a cooperative world society is well underway. The active efforts of World Citizens are necessary for this vital transformation.
Learn more about Hevrîn Khalaf
Hevrîn Khalaf- A life dedicated to women’s revolution
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About the Author
Rene Wadlow is the President of the Association of World Citizens, an international peace organization with consultative status with ECOSOC, the United Nations organ facilitating international cooperation and problem-solving in economic and social issues, and editor of Transnational Perspectives.
