The Dem Party Women’s Assembly issued a statement to mark the 11th anniversary of the liberation of Kobanê.
The statement said: “We salute the heroic Kobanê resistance, led by women against the ISIS gang, on its 11th anniversary. Once again, we raise our voices and declare: Kobanê did not fall, and it will never fall.
26 January 2015—the day Kobanê was liberated—is also the day a free and equal life began to flourish. It marks the historic defeat of the ISIS mentality, which targeted women under a male-dominated mindset, enslaved and sold them in markets, by the women’s freedom struggle.
On that day, the resistance of women in Kobanê —against the gangs that besieged the city from all sides seeking to spread their dark ideology, and against the imperialist powers feeding those gangs—became the very foundation of the Rojava Revolution.”
The statement added: “Kobanê stands as a symbol of how a city devastated and burned by gangs can flourish again through a democratic, ecological, and women’s liberationist paradigm. It is the name of the place where the gains achieved through international women’s solidarity.
This way of life, built under the leadership of the women of Kobanê and Rojava, and dedicated to women across the world, has once again been targeted by the same mentality.
Those who were defeated in Kobanê in the past under the name of ISIS by women’s will are today attempting to besiege Kobanê, this time under the name of HTS, in order to suffocate the Rojava Revolution. The torture inflicted on the bodies of women fighters resisting this mentality, and the cutting and public display of their hair, are clear proof of their intolerance toward the free and equal life being built under women’s leadership in Rojava.”
The statement continued: “Let it be known that both the cruelty inflicted on women in Kobanî and Rojava, and the women’s will that defeated this cruelty, remain vivid and alive in our memory. We will never allow this cruelty to suffocate the Rojava Women’s Revolution. We will grow our solidarity with the faith and determination of the women who led the Kobanê resistance.
By raising our international women’s struggle, we will not let Kobanê fall. We salute the Kobanê Resistance by declaring that the will of the women who fought against what was imposed on Kobanê eleven years ago, and whose achievements continue to illuminate our struggle, is our will.”