NORŞÎN ABDİ

Kobanê – On September 15, 2014, ISIS attacked the city of Kobanê, Euphrates Region of North and East Syria, by using all kinds of heavy weapons. After the 134-day resistance of the People's Defense Units (YPG), the Women’s Defense Units (YPJ), the people of Kobanê and the people all around the world, ISIS was defeated.

The Museum of Kobanê Resistance

Each street and neighborhood of Kobanê bear traces of the resistance that took place nine years ago. When you walk around the narrow streets, known as “the Museum of Kobanê Resistance" by people, you will see the traces of the resistance.

Each house, each street tells the stories of fighters

Each house and each street of Kobanê tells the stories of the fighters, who sacrificed their lives for victory in the fight against ISIS. One of the areas that witnessed the resistance is an area called Security Square or the Street of Schools by local people. Both women and men fighters resisted until their last breath against the attack of ISIS on the Martyr Azad School by using heavy weapons and artillery. The fighters used their bodies as shields not to allow ISIS to take control of the school.

There is a special box at the Security Square displaying braids of women fighters, who lost their lives while fighting ISIS. The box also represents the strength and will of women fighters. It also tells how women fighters fought ISIS to protect their people and country.

The Freedom Square becomes the symbol of the resistance

Freedom Square is another area that witnessed the resistance in Kobanê. The square was built after French forces were deployed in Syria. There is an eagle statue in the middle of the square. Before the revolution in Rojava, young people of Kobanê painted the statue in yellow, red and green every night, while the Baath regime changed the color of the statue every morning, painting it in white color. Painting the statue became a part of the culture of the young people of Kobanê because it was a symbol of the uprising against the Syrian regime. When the revolution in Rojava started on July 19, 2012, the square became the center of the demonstrators and protests. Its name was changed into Freedom Square and the statue was painted in yellow, red and green colors.

‘Kurdish people wrote a history with their blood’

Dijla Ahmed, an editor of Hawar News Agency (ANHA) is one of the journalists who witnessed the resistance of the YPJ in the city. “I was in Kobanê during the resistance of the fighters. Kobanê is a small city that united the Kurdish people in four parts of Kurdistan to fight the darkness of ISIS. In the city, the Kurdish people wrote a history with their blood. The fighters showed their strong will and defeated ISIS. ISIS used all kinds of heavy weapons with the support of the Turkish state. People all around the world took to the streets in solidarity with the people of Kobanê and November 1 was declared as World Kobanê Day.”

‘Women fighters exhibited a great resistance’

Speaking about the resistance in Security Square or the Street of Schools, Dijla Ahmed said, “The World Kobanê Day was declared as a result of the resistance of the guerrillas. We saw how women fighters resisted ISIS to prevent ISIS from entering the city. Martyr Peyman exhibited a great resistance on the east side of Sarzori School. Martyr Revana and Martyr Arîn sacrificed their lives while fighting ISIS in the south of Kobanê, and Martyr Zozan resisted in the west of Kobanê. They resisted and six women fighters were martyred. Today, their braids are the symbol of the resistance.”

‘Destina Qandil resisted for 10 days’

Samira Ehmed (51) is one of the women of Kobanê, who supported the fighters in the fight against ISIS. She said that Kobanê is known as the castle of resistance and determination of the fighters and the struggle and resistance of the children and mothers of the Kurdish people. She was very impressed by the fighters of the YPJ, especially YPJ fighter Destina Qandil. “Destina Qandil fought ISIS in a building with 10 other women fighters. The building was close to us and we saw how it collapsed. The walls of the buildings tell how they resisted.”

‘They had hopes for the future’

Samira Ehmed said that Destina Qandil was not the first female fighter, who sacrificed her life for freedom. “Dozens of women such as Arîn and Revan fought ISIS. World Kobanê Day was declared as a result of the resistance of the fighters. Many streets and neighborhoods were razed to the ground during the attacks of ISIS on Kobanê. But the fighters resisted because they had hopes for the future.”