QAMISHLI, Syria — Ilham Ehmed chose a path quite different from that taken by most Kurdish women in northern Syria. Instead of getting married and staying at home in line with societal norms, Ehmed chose political action — defying the tribal and social restrictions imposed on Kurdish women in the Afrin district of Aleppo governorate — and became a member of the executive committee of the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM).

Since the Syria revolution and civil war, Ehmed has become a prominent figure on the political scene in Rojava, as Kurds call Syrian Kurdistan, seeking to defend Kurdish areas from attacks by Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra) and the Islamic State (IS). At the end of 2015, she was elected co-president of the Syrian Democratic Council, which formed after the Syrian National Coalition rejected participation by Kurdish and certain other components.

Al-Monitor met with Ehmed in Qamishli Dec. 1 to discuss the impetus behind the establishment of the Syrian Democratic Council and its objectives.

The text of the interview follows: