RONİDA HACÎ

Hasakah- The 5th Martyr Zilan Festival was held in Hasakah from June 29 and 30, 2025 to mark the 29th anniversary of the death of Zeynep Kınacı (nom de guerre: Zilan), one of the symbols of the Kurdish Women's Freedom Movement.

Zeynep Kınacı was a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who committed a suicide attack in Dersim on June 30, 1996.

Zeynep Kınacı was a Kurdish woman defending women’s struggle for freedom, said Sara Hesen, a member of the Young Women’s Union in Hasakah. “Martyr Zilan is the pioneer of the freedom movement for us, young women. Her action showed that women have an important role and power. As young women, we are followers of Zilan and we will not allow the enemy to attack us.”

‘Zilan is the path of light and hope for women’

Zeynep Kınacı's power and willpower put fear in the hearts of the ruling powers, said Nûra Hemê, a member of the Young Women’s Union in Dirbêsiyê (Dirbasiyah).

“The action of Martyr Zilan echoed across Kurdistan. Her action was a message of hope saying that women will have a free life with dignity. Zilan is the path of light and hope for women. We vow to struggle for our martyrs and Martyr Zilan and the physical freedom of leader Apo (Abdullah Öcalan).”

‘Zilan exposed the conspirators’

Henan Mihêmîd, an Arab woman in Hasakah, thinks that the path of Zeynep Kınacı is a path that saves all people from oppression and slavery. “Martyr Zilan is a pioneer for us. She exposed the conspirators and defeated them by carrying out her action. We will keep struggling to realize the dreams and hopes of all the martyrs and ensure the physical freedom of leader Apo.”