2 lives full of struggle: They cannot scare us by killing us

Qamishlo Canton co-chair Yousra Darwish and her deputy Lîman Şiwêş, who were killed by the Turkish state, left behind a legacy of struggle. Before being killed, these two revolutionary women said, “They cannot scare us by killing us.”

News Center- Since the defeat of ISIS, the Turkish state has carried out attacks on North and East Syria, especially targeting women pioneers of the women’s revolution. Yesterday, Turkish drones targeted a vehicle between Bandar and Tal Sh’ir villages in Qamishlo, northeastern Syria. Yousra Darwish, co-chair of the Qamishlo canton, and her deputy Liman Şiwêş were killed in the attack. In the interview with NuJINHA before the attack, Yousra Darwish and Lîman Şiwêş drew attention to the revolution in Rojava, also known as women’s revolution, and said, “They cannot scare us by killing us.”

A life full of struggle

 Lîman Şiwêş was born on November 3, 1968 in Amuda town of North and East Syria. After completing her education, she joined the movement for freedom. In 1989, she joined the Kurdish Women’s Freedom Movement and then she was on the frontline of the Women's Revolution in NE Syria.

She drew attention to the massacres committed against Kurds

In an interview with NuJINHA, Lîman Şiwêş pointed to the Halabja Massacre committed against Kurds by the Baathist regime on March 12, 1988. “Today, the effects of the Halabja massacre are being felt in Bashur Kurdistan. Today, the authorities continue to attack the Kurdish people in all parts of Kurdistan, resulting in the killing of many Kurds. The Turkish state has not been prosecuted although it used chemical weapons in Rojava Kurdistan. The international community acts according to its own interests once again,” she said in the interview.

  Emphasizing in the interview that people can protect themselves under the democratic nation system in the face of massacres and denial, Lîman Şiwêş was a great fighter and worker for the implementation of the Democratic Nation project in North and East Syria.

“The Baathist regime attacked the Kurdish community with the concept of ‘one nation, one state and one religion.’ All states have the same mentality. That's why we reorganize ourselves under the Democratic Nation system and form our own self-defense forces against massacres and attacks. No occupying forces can scare us by killing us because we have our own defense forces and protect ourselves.”

On behalf of Kongra Star, Lîman Şiwêş participated in a workshop called, “The fight against ISIS and the situation of detained ISIS members”, which was held in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In her speech at the workshop, she drew attention to the threats posed by ISIS in the region.

 Yousra Darwish made great efforts for the Kurdish language and education

Yousra Darwish was born in 1972 in the Amuda town of Qamishlo Canton. She studied French at university and graduated from the university in 2001. When the women’s revolution took place in North and East Syria on July 19, 2012, she joined the revolution. She first worked as a Kurdish teacher and then worked as the principal of Betûl Preparatory School in Amuda. She was also one of the founders of the School Management Institutes in Amuda. On November 1, 2022, she was elected as the co-chair of the Qamishlo Canton.

 She revealed her will to struggle

In an interview with NuJINHA about the massacre that took place in Qamishlo on March 12, 2004, she said, “There are attacks on the Kurdish people in the four parts of Kurdistan; the Halabja Massacre in Southern Kurdistan, the execution policy in Eastern Kurdistan, attacks and massacres in Northern Kurdistan, as well as the massacre that took place on March 12, 2004 in Rojava Kurdistan. We will always fight a fascism in the spirit of the uprising on March 12. We call on the Kurdish people to fight racism in every sphere of life. We should unite against attacks and massacres because it is time to build a democratic nation.”