Members of the Free Women’s Units (YJA Star) shared their assessment of the attacks targeting Rojava and the ongoing resistance.
The YJA released a video in solidarity with Rojava.
Saluting the resistance of fighters from the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), YJA Star guerrilla Arjîn Berxwedan said that the Syrian interim administration and the Turkish state were acting in coordination to carry out attacks against Rojava.
Berxwedan said the attacks were specifically directed at women and continued: “First of all, we salute our people and their honorable resistance, and we commemorate all our martyred comrades with respect. Today, the Turkish state and the Syrian regime are attacking the Kurdish people, especially women. This is because Abdullah Öcalan has emphasized that women are the leading force of this struggle; for that reason, Kurdish women are being targeted by mercenaries. From history to the present day, we can see that Kurdish women have led resistance in every period.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) mercenaries seek to destroy the culture of women’s resistance by attacking women fighters. Of course, Kurdish women will not submit to this; on the contrary, women are further intensifying their struggle. Across the four parts of Kurdistan, the Kurdish people have defended their dignity and, through their stance, responded to those who attack women. As a YJA Star guerrilla, I say this: we stand together with our people, and by escalating the struggle we will answer the resistance of the people and the fighters of the YPJ.”
Berxwedan concluded by saluting all resisting peoples and Kurdish women and added:“These attacks are directed against the free will of women. They seek to eradicate Kurdish women. Just as the women resisting on the front lines do not bow, we too will not bow before the enemy; through our struggle, we will defeat them.”
Our people have carried the resistance into the streets
YJA Star guerrilla Arîn Amara also saluted the resistance of the Kurdish people and of women and said: “Once again, our people have demonstrated the spirit of resistance that was shown in 2014–2015. Our people have revived this spirit and carried revolt and resistance back into the streets. This resistance is directed against HTS, which represents the continuation of the Baath regime. Our people are advancing like a storm against the enemy, and I believe that the enemy will be destroyed in the face of this storm. As guerrillas in the free mountains, we draw our strength and morale from our rebellious people.
Everyone knows very well that Kurdish women play a leading role in this resistance; that is why women are being directly targeted. They sought to target the free will of women through Kurdish women. Through the YPJ fighter, they tried to erase the existence of Kurdish women. But they should know this clearly: if one person falls, ten more will rise up and continue the struggle. This brutality, unprecedented in history, we have seen in the murderous mercenary groups of our time.
Yet this has only intensified our anger and resolve. They will never be able to break our strength. They cannot destroy our power by targeting a single funeral. We stand with all our strength alongside our people and our women comrades. We salute those heroes waging an honorable struggle on the front lines and say: Long live the resistance of Rojava.”
Comrade Deniz became a symbol of resistance
Guerrilla Rugeş Arteş said the attacks targeting Rojava amount to a conspiracy against the Kurdish people. Rugeş Arteş also said: “These attacks are being carried out to ensure that Kurds are denied any status. While the Turkish state claims, on the one hand, that it is seeking a solution, on the other hand it is carrying out massacres against the Kurdish people. This is unacceptable. The attacks directed specifically at Rojava, and the targeting of women fighters, show an inability to tolerate Kurdish existence; so much so that they even threw the body of martyred Deniz from a building.
Comrade Deniz carried out that self-sacrificial action out of commitment to her cause. These actions once again showed that Kurdish women will never accept surrender. Through her self-sacrificial act, Martyr Deniz became a symbol of resistance and rebellion for women across the world.
As the YJA Star, we see the reality and the resistance of our people. In particular, our people’s words, ‘we are greater than death’, give us strength and morale. No matter how brutal the attacks against the YPJ fighters may be, as Kurdish women and as the Kurdish people we will never abandon our cause, and we will hold those responsible for these despicable attacks to account.
It is true that our people are engaged in historic resistance. Today, people from all four parts of Kurdistan have come together in Rojava to defend their dignity and their land. We all know this very well; and our people know equally well that we can stand only by defending one another and by protecting our values.
Finally, we say this: Long live the resistance of Rojava.”