DİREN ENGÎZEK

 Kobanê-The assassination of three Kurdish women Sakine Cansız (Sara), Fidan Doğan (Rojbin) and Leyla Şaylemez (Ronahî) in Paris on January 9, 2013 was the beginning of a new concept of attack of the Turkish state and international forces on pioneering women. On August 10, 2015, Kurdish guerrilla Ekin Van lost her life in a clash with Turkish soldiers. Her dead body was naked and photographed by Turkish soldiers.

Tayber İnan, known as Mother Taybet, was shot dead in the street by snipers while returning home from her neighbor on the 5th day of the curfew declared in the Silopi district of Şırnak province on December 14, 2015. Her dead body was left in the street for seven days and seven nights because the Turkish forces did not allow her children to pull her body in. Kurdish women politicians Pakize Nayır, Fatma Uyar and Sêvê Demir were killed by snipers in the district of Silopi on January 4, 2016, during the curfew.

On October 12, 2019, Hevrin Khalaf, the Secretary-General of the Future Syria Party, was killed by the Turkish forces and Turkish-backed factions near the M4 Motorway south of Tell Abyad. On June 23, 2020, Kongra Star Coordination member Zehra Berkel, Kongra Star Assembly member Hebun Xelil and Emine Weysi were targeted and killed in the Helincê (Halinja) village of Kobanê by Turkish drones. On July 22, 2022, YPJ commander Jiyan Tolhildan and her two comrades, Roj Xabûr and Barîn Botan were targeted and killed by the Turkish drones. On 27 July, 2022, Zeyneb Saroxan, co-chair of the Justice and Reform Office of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) was killed by Turkish drones on the road of Derik. On October 4, 2022, Nagihan Akarsel, journalist, writer and member of Jineology Academy, was targeted and killed in Sulaymaniyah.

On December 23, 2022, Evin Goyi (Emine Kara), Mir Perwer and Abdullah Kızıl were killed in a gun attack carried out on the Ahmet Kaya Kurdish Cultural Center in Paris. This attack is called the second Paris Massacre by Kurdish people. On June 20,2023,  Qamishlo Canton Co-chair Yousra Darwish, her deputy Lîman Şiwêş and their driver Fırat Tûma were killed between Bandar and Tal Sh’ir villages in Qamishlo by Turkish drones.

NuJINHA spoke to Mizgin Xelîl, Deputy Chair of the Executive Council in the Euphrates Region, about the attacks on pioneering Kurdish women.

‘Women have been under attack for thousands of years’

“Women always resist although they have been under attack for thousands of years,” Mizgin Xelil said. “I commemorate all resisting women, who sacrificed their lives for freedom. Their resistance influenced the revolution in North and East Syria against slavery, sexism and captivity.”

“In North and East Syria, women led the revolution. All people, especially women, rose up against the government and fascism. Thanks to this revolution, women take part in all facets of life. We have rebuilt a life based on democracy, ecology and women’s freedom. Women did not only fight ISIS or the Turkish state, but also organized themselves in all facets of life; they improved themselves in military, politics and diplomacy.”

 

Speaking about the revolutionary women in history, she said, “Thousands of women such as Rosa Luxemburg and Clara Zetkin rose up against injustice. Their struggle created a link in the chain. The thoughts and the philosophy of leader Apo (Abdullah Öcalan) paved the way for Kurdish women to organize themselves. The women have improved and organized themselves to achieve freedom.”

‘The thoughts of leader Apo were targeted in the person of Evin Goyi’

Mizgin Xelil recalled the attacks on Kurdish pioneering women. “Comrades Pakize, Seve and Fatma were targeted and killed. Three women were killed in the village of Helincê. Two young women, Viyan and Nujiyan, were targeted in Kobanê. Hevrin Khalaf, Zeynep Saruxan, Yousra and Reyhan were targeted and killed. The pioneering women were targeted in the person of Evin Goyi. Women, who fought ISIS, were targeted. The pioneering women are still targeted. The thoughts of leader Apo and the Kurdish women’s freedom movement were targeted in the person of Evin Goyi.”

‘We will struggle against all attacks on women’

Mizgin Xelil stated that pioneering women struggled to organize society by fighting not only their enemies but also sexism and feudalism. “As women in the Euphrates Canton, we struggle to build a life based on democracy, ethics, justice and equality. We want to realize the dreams of thousands of women such as Sakine Cansız, Evin Goyi, Yousra and Reyhan. We will struggle against all attacks on women.”