134 days of resistance leading to victory 

2023-01-24 12:07:31


	 

	URFA - The liberation of Kobanê, which was heralded to the whole world by a YPG fighter with the words "Kobane was saved and it is 02.50", was achieved with 134 days of uninterrupted struggle. The resistance that raised millions was the beginning of the end for ISIS.

	 

	After a young man named Muhammed Buazizi, who was a peddler in Tunisia, set himself on fire on December 17, 2010, the door to a new process was opened in the Middle East. Zeynel Abidin Ben Ali was overthrown on January 14, 2011 following the protests that started after Bouazizi's action. Protest actions demanding "freedom" soon spread to many Middle Eastern countries and ignited the process known as the "Arab Spring". The protests that started in Tunisia extended to Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya and Syria, respectively. The protest actions that started with the demand for "freedom" led to the overthrow of some dictatorial regimes, while in some countries they evolved into a different direction with the intervention of international forces and paramilitary structures. The protests, which started on March 15, 2011 with the demands of democratization and reform in Syria, left its place to the civil war that has been going on for years with the intervention of the regime and other forces. While millions of people had to migrate, hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives.

	 

	After the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, many large and small armed organizations sprang up. The most dangerous of these was ISIS, which has its origins in the late 1990s and changed its name on various dates. Taking advantage of the vacuum in Iraq and Syria, ISIS took control of a large region in Syria and Iraq in the summer of 2014. He invaded Mosul in Iraq in a few hours in June 2014, and Raqqa in Syria on June 29, declaring his "caliphate". ISIS then headed to Deir ez-Zor, Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, the countryside of Damascus and many other cities.

	 

	KOBANÊ AT THE TARGET

	 

	The last target of ISIS was the cities of Northern and Eastern Syria, where the 3rd Way line was put into practice against the regime and the forces opposing it after the civil war, and which was taken out of the regime's control on July 19, 2012. On September 15, 2014, ISIS started to attack the villages of the city of Kobanê, where the seeds of the revolution in Northern and Eastern Syria were planted. ISIS was aiming to occupy Kobanê in a short time, as it did in other regions. It also aimed to cut the ties between the Afrin and Cizîr cantons of Northern and Eastern Syria, and to provide uninterrupted communication and logistical support between previously occupied cities such as Grê Spî, Jarablus and Reqa.

	 

	After taking control of the critically important bridge on the Euphrates River on September 17 of the same year, ISIS began to advance towards Kobanê city center in the villages. While the attacks were carried out with the heavy weapons left behind by the Iraqi army, the center of Kobanê began to be hit with tanks, rockets and mortars. When the dates showed October 2, ISIS had invaded 350 of the 354 villages around Kobanê. ISIS reached Miştenur Hill on October 5.

	 

	THE ACTION OF ARIN MIRKAN

	 

	But ISIS faced great resistance. Arîn Mîrkan and Rîvana, commanders of the Women's Defense Unit (YPJ), managed to stop the advance of ISIS by shielding their bodies. ISIS, which has been trying to infiltrate the city center since October 7, invaded half of the city by mid-October.

	 

	YPG/YPJ fighters defending the city started to evict civilians from the city in order to prevent a similar massacre against Yazidis in Shengal. The people moved to the village of Til Şiîr, 5 kilometers west of the city center, with the increase in the intensity of the attack and the narrowing of the siege. More than 300 thousand people, mostly women and children, migrated to the Suruç district of Urfa. Thousands of people who stood guard at the border became a shield against ISIS for days.

	 

	A CALL FOR MOBILIZATION FROM ABDULLAH ÖCALAN

	 

	The situation in the city, which is under the control of Turkey on one side and ISIS on the other, has become more and more critical with each passing day. While no support could be obtained from other cantons, the YPG and YPJ fought with individual weapons against heavy weapons. Calls for support were blocked by Turkey.

	 

	As the critical hours were approaching for Kobanê, a call for "mobilization" came from PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who met with the HDP delegation in İmralı Type F Closed Prison. Öcalan said: “Those who facilitate, challenge and use these death gangs should know that their attitude is endangering the future of the peoples, especially the peace in the region.”

	 

	The Kurdistan Unity Party (YNK) peshmerga demanded that Turkey open a corridor to cross into Kobanê.

	 

	THE SERHILDAN OF KOBANÊ

	 

	Turkey did not allow the opening of a corridor at first. In his speech in the city of Dilok, AKP President Tayyip Erdoğan made the statement, "Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobani, is falling down right now."

	 

	After Edoğan's words, support actions started in Kobanê. The October 6-9 protests, which were used as a reason for the closure case against the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the prosecution of Kurdish politicians and went down in history as the "The Serhıldan(rebellion) of Kobanê", spread to 35 provinces and 96 districts in a short time. According to the report of the Human Rights Association (İHD), 46 people lost their lives, 682 people were injured and 323 people were arrested during the Kobanê protests between October 7-12, 2014. Most of the deaths were caused by the fire opened by the police and soldiers.

	 

	The protests stopped at Öcalan's call. Later, the peshmerga were allowed to cross into Kobanê via Turkey.

	 

	MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ON STREETS

	 

	While these were happening on the border line and Kobanê, ISIS attacks were going on in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. As the historical fighting of  the YPG and YPJ continue, the world's reactions started to rise. Millions of people in 93 countries took to the street for Kobanê and the resistance. In Latin America, Asia and Europe, mass demonstrations were organized, governments were called to act and support the fighters who are fighting in the last neighborhood in Kobanê.

	 

	November 1 was accepted as World Kobanê Day with the call of thousands of people, including Nobel Peace Prize winners, academics, intellectuals, writers and representatives of non-governmental organizations

	 

	THE BEGINNING OF THE END FOR ISIS

	 

	The coalition forces formed under the leadership of the USA and including 6 Arab countries began to strike ISIS positions from the air upon the growth of the ongoing protests all over the world. In November 2014, the YPG cleared the critical Miştenur Hill from ISIS. The YPG also took the Helinç road, where ISIS made logistics shipments to the cities of Raqqa and Grê Spî, thereby reducing its ammunition support to ISIS.

	 

	ISIS, which is hit every day, launched a new wave of attacks on Kobanê, this time through Turkey. Co-Prime Minister of Kobanê Enver Müslim made a statement regarding the attacks, "ISIS members entered Kobanê this morning through Turkey and attacked. They drove a bomb-laden vehicle into Kobanê from Turkey and detonated it."

	 

	After this attack was foiled, the "beginning of the end" began for ISIS. ISIS started to lose position every day against the YPG/YPJ forces. One by one, Kobanê villages were removed from ISIS domination.

	 

	NOVEMBER 1

	 

	The defeat of ISIS and the good news of the historic victory in Kobanê were given to the whole world by a YPG fighter who took part in the defense of the city. YPG fighter, 134 days after the attacks, announced his victory on January 26, 2015, with the words "26'ê meha Çile 2015. Kobanê rizgar bû. Saet 3 kêm 10 deqe (January 26, 2015. Kobanê was liberated. It is 02:50").

	 

	After Kobanê was liberated from ISIS, YPG and YPJ fighters headed for Girê Spî. Girê Spî was liberated on June 15, 2015; thus, the 3-year siege of Kobanê by ISIS and Cebhet Al Nusra was completely eliminated. The fight against ISIS did not end there; On July 27, the town of Sirin in Kobanê was liberated.

	 

	After this victory, which opened the door to a new era, the establishment of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was declared in Cizre Canton on October 10, 2015. Thousands of fighters from Syriac, Armenian, Arab, Assyrian and Kurdish military forces took part in the SDF.

	 

	BALANCE SHEET OF WAR

	 

	YPG Kobanê Command Spokesperson Şoreş Hesen announced the 4-month war balance sheet of the war on January 29, 2015. Hesen said: "The number of actions taken is 220, the number of actions with unclear results is 98, the number of vehicles carrying bombs is 37, the suicide attack by ISIS gangs is 19, the number of dead by gangs in the war is 3,710, the number of gang funerals in the hands of the YPG is 316, the number of gang bodies destroyed by the YPG. The number of vehicles destroyed is 87, the number of detonated tanks is 16, the number of dockas destroyed is 8, the number of Hummer military vehicles destroyed is 5, the number of panzers destroyed is 2."

	 

	In the continuation of his statement, Hesen announced that 408 fighters from YPG, 13 from Suvar al-Raqqa, 1 from the peshmerga, 2 from Turkey's leftist organizations and 2 from Shams al-Shamal lost their lives.

	 

	WITNESS SPEAKING WHAT HAPPENED

	 

	Dicle Ahmed, who worked as a journalist in the city during the 134-day resistance in Kobanê, spoke that she witnessed the process that cost the whole world. Stating that the July 19 revolution (Rojava Revolution) was targeted with the attacks on Kobanê, Ahmed said: "There have already been attacks on Kobanê since 2013. Kobanê was occupied and Kobanê was under siege. The attacks evolved into another dimension. First, the attacks started in the village of Teqlik. Thousands of ISIS members gathered around Kobanê with their tanks and artillery. In that process, great logistical support was given to ISIS from the Turkish border, especially with Jarablus and Grê Spi."

	 

	'THE FIGHTERS FOUGHT WITH A SELF-SACRIFICING SPIRIT'

	 

	Stating that the YPG/YPJ fighters only resisted heavy weapons with ballasts and hand grenades, Ahmed said: "Those fighters fought with a self-sacrificing spirit and did everything to prevent ISIS from entering Kobanê. ISIS was defeated by the unwavering will of the fighters. They were receiving heavy blows from the YPG/YPJ fighters every day. When ISIS entered Kobanê, they were advancing in fear because there was a historical resistance against ISIS. As ISIS struggled, they tried to break the will of the YPG/YPJ fighters and attacked them with bombed vehicles to scare them."

	 

	THE FIGHTERS DID NOT LEAVE KOBANE

	 

	Stating that the YPG/YPJ had a few streets left with the intensification of the attacks, Ahmed said: "All the houses, streets and avenues of the city were battlefields at that time. The people took part in the resistance as well as the fighters. There was hunger and thirst on the one hand, and freezing cold on the other. Most of the fighters could not eat for days. Despite everything, there was a great belief and commitment that they would win. When we asked the fighters how will we get through these days? They gave the answer that they will not leave Kobane until there is one last person left in Kobanê. They fought with this belief. A historical resistance was exhibited for 134 days. We witnessed those days as journalists who followed the war in that process. The warriors became a shield with their bodies. People who could not take up arms were cooking for the fighters. They were taking care of the wounded. Many young people from 4 parts of Kurdistan and foreign countries came here for the defense of Kobanê. The Kurds became human shields at the border. Kobanê was won by displaying a great spirit of resistance."

	 

	'WE SHOULD ANNOUNCE THE RESISTANCE TO THE WORLD'

	 

	Stating that they had very limited opportunities and worked in difficult conditions during the intense conflicts, Ahmed said. "However, we had a responsibility to announce the events that took place here to the world. We had to displace the historical resistance  to everyone. Many of our friends lost their lives for this cause, but after the resistance here was announced to the world. The coalition stepped in and launched an airstrike against ISIS. The whole world recognized the Kurdish people and the resistance of women with the Kobanê resistance."

	 

	MA / Ömer Akın

	 

	Tomorrow: Kobanê rising from the ashes