MORE than 300 women have gathered for a conference in northern Syria which they said “represents the failure of the Turkish plot” to eradicate women from political life.

Delegates and guests from cities including Aleppo and Damascus were joined by those from Iraqi Kurdistan and Europe for the 8th conference of Kongra Star: a confederation of women’s organisations founded in 2005 which follows the political line of jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Participants expressed their pride in holding the conference in the city of Rumelian in the largely Kurdish enclave known as Rojava, in defiance of Turkish attacks on organised women.