When women participated in the revolution in Rojava, they followed in one women’s footsteps; Meysa Baqi, also known as Şilan Kobanê. Şilan Kobanê was born in a family of nine, a family from the Kêtikan tribe in Kobanî. She was a member of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Central Committee when she was killed on November 29, 2004.

Kobanî – Women have struggled for democracy and revolution in the Middle East and Kurdistan territories for years. Şilan Kobanê, also known as Meysa Baqi, was one of these women. “She was a flower of the mountains of Kurdistan, a goddess of Mesopotamia, a commander of revolutionary women; she was my sister with blond hair and black eyes and comrade. She was my brave comrade, who got her strength from the goddesses of the mountains of Kurdistan such as Ishtar and Inanna, from Kurdish women such as Bêrîtan and Zilan,” said her sister Qudret Baqi while talking about her.

“She wanted her thoughts to be respected”

Şilan Kobanê, who was killed in Mosul along with her comrades Zekeriya, Ciwan, Fûad, and Cemîl on November 29, 2004, while she was a member of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Central Committee, was born in 1971, Kobanî. She grew up with her four sisters and four brothers. At a young age, her family had to migrate from Kobanî to Aleppo due to economic problems faced by them. Şilan Kobanê, who rejected the gender roles imposed on her, became the first girl in her family to go to school. When her family didn’t allow her to go to school, she resisted and convinced them. ”She wanted her thoughts and will be respected even when she was a child,” her mother Fatma Hebeş told us.

“She never took a step back”

Şilan Kobanê was arrested by the Baathist when she was only 12 years old for attending a Newroz celebration. After being held in prison for five days, she became a woman who never took a step back. Until 2003, she continued her active political struggle, particularly for women’s rights, in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Southern Kurdistan, and many other countries and regions. In 2003, she became a member of the PYD Central Committee.

“Her struggle keeps me alive”

Şilan Kobanê’s mother Fatma Hebeş told us that her daughter’s struggle keeps her alive even if years have passed since she was killed. “Şilan always demanded freedom. She was tortured for demanding it. She was a child when she began to demand freedom. Many families of Kobanî name their daughters after her and I feel proud of this. Thanks to self-sacrificing women like Şilan, women are free now. Women and girls of Kobanî still follow in her footsteps. I also follow her footsteps.”