Hediya Yousef ( ku, Hediya Yûsif, ar, هدية يوسف) is a
Syrian-Kurdish politician who held the office of co-president of the
Executive Council of
Rojava
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, Ma ...
from 17 March 2016 to 16 July 2018. Yousef is an ethnic
Kurd ug:كۇردلار
Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ira ...
, and served with fellow co-president
Mansur Selum
Mansur Selum ( ar, منصور سلوم) is an Arab politician. Since March 2016, he holds the office of co-president of the Executive Council of Rojava. Selum, serves alongside fellow co-president Hediya Yousef, an ethnic Kurd.
Selum, a local A ...
, an ethnic
Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, No ...
.
Early life
In her twenties, Yousef, then a guerilla, had been imprisoned by the Assad government for two years in Damascus on charges of having been a member of a secret organization aiming to break up Syria.
Co-presidency of Jazeera Canton
Yousef first held the office of co-president of
Jazeera Canton in the northeast of the newly established Rojava federation. Yousef served as co-president with fellow co-president Humeydi Daham al-Hadi, an Arab tribal leader.
Yousef's office was located in the former headquarters of the state-owned
Syrian Petroleum Company in the oil-rich
city of
Rmelan
Rmelan ( ar, رميلان, ku, Rimêlan) is a town in the al-Hasakah Governorate in the northeast of Syria. Administratively part of the al-Yaarubiyah nahiyah of al-Malikiyah District, the town is located 900 km northeast of the capital Dam ...
,
the city where the Rojava federation had been declared.
"Co-governance" and Kurdish-Arab cooperation
During her tenure as co-president, Yousef worked towards greater inter-sectarian cooperation particularly between Kurds and Arabs.
[ The Rojava federation, Yousef said, "is something beyond the nation-state. It's a place where all people, all minorities, and all genders are equally represented."] Also during her tenure, Yousef pursued the policy of "co-governance" which, as she explained in an interview, ensures that "every position at every level of government in Rojava . . . includes a female equivalent of equal authority."
Co-presidency of the Rojava federation
In March 2016, Yousef was elected co-president of the Rojava
The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, Ma ...
federation. The federation covered about 16 percent of Syria's land area. In an interview upon her election, Yousef described the mission of the committee as creating "a wider and more comprehensive system" in the areas liberated from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ' ...
(ISIL) "that ives
Ives is both a surname and a given name. Notable people with the name include:
Surname:
* Alice Emma Ives (1876–1930), American dramatist, journalist
* Burl Ives (1909–1995), American singer, author and actor
* Charles Ives (1874–1954), Amer ...
rights to all the groups to represent themselves and to form their own administrations."
Referring to the principle of co-governance's attempt to ensure that Syria is government so as to include the country's many ethnic groups (predominantly Arabs and Kurds), Abdulsalem Mohammed said that "Hediya ousefrepresents Rojava and ansurSelam represents northern Syria." Mohammed, a Kurdish teacher and activist from Qamishli, added that "This is based on the principle of our co-chair system and different nations, and equality between women and men."
"Democratic confederalism" and Kurdish separatism
In addition to supporting the policy of "co-governance," Yousef also supports the policy of "democratic confederalism
Democratic confederalism ( ku, Konfederalîzma demokratîk), also known as Kurdish communalism or Apoism, is a political concept theorized by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan about a system of democratic self-organization ...
" which honorary Group of Communities in Kurdistan leader Abdullah Ocalan wrote in 2005 was "not a State system utthe democratic system of a people without a State." Yousef has spoken in support of Western intervention in the Syrian civil war but, in line with her democratic confederalist beliefs, opposes intervention for the purposes of establishing a Kurdish state separate from Syria. "We will not allow the fragmentation of Syria," she said in July 2016. "We want the democratization of Syria."
The Unification of Rojava
As the Syrian civil war unfolded and the Rojava federation emerged, Yousef voiced her "desire for Manbij city in the Governorate of Aleppo then occupied by ISIL forcesto be part of the democratic federal area f Rojavaafter its liberation." This was part of a wider campaign to unify the cantons of Rojava into a contiguous federation.
Early offensives
Throughout June 2016, roughly three months after Yousef became co-president, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces
, war = the Syrian Civil War
, image = Flag of Syrian Democratic Forces.svgborder
, caption = Flag
, active = 10 October 2015 – present
, ideology = DemocracyDecentralizationSecularism ...
(SDF) carried out a campaign to liberate the territories still held by ISIL in northern Syria and to unify the cantons. On June 10, less than a week after liberated eight surrounding villages and the Manbij Military Council cut off ISIL's supply route between Manbij
Manbij ( ar, مَنْبِج, Manbiǧ, ku, مەنبج, Minbic, tr, Münbiç, Menbic, or Menbiç) is a city in the northeast of Aleppo Governorate in northern Syria, 30 kilometers (19 mi) west of the Euphrates. In the 2004 census by the Cent ...
and the de facto ISIL capital of Raqqa
Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) ( Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, R ...
, the SDF captured the city of Osajli Ten days later, the SDF captured Arima.
The liberation of Manbij
In July 2016, roughly one and a half months after the launch of the Manbij offensive
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict= Manbij offensive (2016)
, width = 400px
, partof= the Rojava–Islamist conflict and the American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War
, image=Manbijof.png
, image_size=350px
, caption= Map showing S ...
by the SDF during which Osajli, Arima, and other cities were captures, ISIL suffered heavy losses in the west and north of the city of Manbij despite repeated attempts to break the SDF siege. As ISIL's expulsion from the city neared, Yousef announced that Manbij, a city of strategic importance, would soon join the Rojava federation via a popular referendum.[ ] The incorporation of Manbij would be a significant step toward uniting the currently non-contiguous Rojava federation cantons of Afrin and Kobani.
On Thursday July 21, 2016, the Syrian Democratic Forces gave ISIL forces a 48-hour ultimatum to leave Manbij. ISIL refused the ultimatum, and clashes broke out on Friday. By Monday the 25th, the Manbij Military Council (MMC), aligned with the SDF, had gained control of a majority of the city. By August 5, the MMC had captured roughly 80 percent of the city. On August 6, Syrian Democratic Forces declares that they had gained "almost complete control" of the city. Manbij was liberated on August 15, 2016.
The al-Bab offensive
Shortly after the liberation of Manbij, the "al-Bab Military Council" was created for the planned offensive to liberate the city of Al-Bab
Al-Bab ( ar, الْبَاب / ALA-LC: ''al-Bāb'') is a city, ''de jure'' administratively belonging to the Aleppo Governorate of the Syrian Arab Republic. As of December 2016, the city is under the control of pro-Turkish militias, as part of ...
from the ISIL.[http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/140820162 ]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yousef, Hediya
21st-century Syrian women politicians
21st-century Syrian politicians
Democratic Union Party (Syria) politicians
Living people
People of the Syrian civil war
Syrian Kurdish politicians
21st-century Kurdish women politicians
Year of birth missing (living people)