Şehîd Denîz Çiya was a young woman from Afrîn who fought in the resistance of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh. For three days, she alone defended a building against hundreds of heavily armoured jihadists. After killing 53 of them, she was thrown from the building, and a video desecrating her body was circulated. In response, the society of Rojava shared images of her flying away from the building as an angel. In this statement, Sozdar Avesta, KCK Executive Council Member, evaluated the brave actions of Şehîd Denîz and its meaning for women all over the world.
She is an angel of freedom. She is a goddess. I honor her with respect and gratitude. It wasn’t just this comrade who was thrown down; it was the conscience of humanity. There is nothing more to say about this; no words can describe it. This is a message [from the jihadists] for all women who want freedom, and it should make women around the world afraid.
For freedom-seekers, it is a message of revenge and a warning to women not to raise their heads against the “Casteist Killer”* system. The “Casteist Killer” portrays the history in this way: “I am the casteist killer I came about in this way. In heaven there is God, on earth there is the state, and I am the ruler, and you are under my command”. The Casteist Killer wants to impose this philosophy everywhere. But this doesn’t demonstrate the system’s strength; it demonstrates its fear. What succeeded there [in Sheikh Maqsoud] was the spirit of the free woman, the dignity of the Kurdish people, and the dignity of the people of Kurdistan and all the people and women of the world. Everyone should know that this dignified comrade is the goddess of freedom for all women.
Saddam Hussein did not succeed in hanging Leyla Qasim. In 1974, we saw Saddam Hussein hang women to intimidate them. In the resistance of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, another Leyla Qasim emerged. In Iran, they tried to protect themselves from collapse by executing Şîrîn Elemhûlî, but today millions of Şîrîn Elemhûlîs are on the streets. This has been proven thousands of times. Neither murdering women like Seve, Pakize, and Fatma nor vanguards of the freedom struggle like Sara, Rojbîn, Leyla, and Evîn will stop us. The more they insist on these practices, the more determined we will be in our struggle.
ISIS is responsible for this. ISIS is seeking revenge. This is why the people of Kurdistan, the women of North and East Syria, and all the women of Syria should be aware of the following: According to al-Jolani’s constitution, women will be nothing more than servants and slaves. In the March 10 contract, he didn’t give them any space. He took revenge on those women who are fighting back. They say to us: ” You are opening the eyes of women, giving them knowledge and willpower.” They are taking revenge. We saw the women of Arab society. We saw Minbic. We saw what they did to women working in democratic institutions. We saw Derazor.
This mentality is widespread and oppressive. But this does not show their strength; on the contrary, it shows how small and weak they are. In Kurdish, there is a saying, “Bê çare ne,” which means “they are helpless.” This is what they show. They want to strengthen our fear in this way. But they should know this very well. They will never be an obstacle to women’s freedom. This mentality has oppressed women for thousands of years. Women have formed organizations with thoughts and a philosophy; they have become a force of protection.
All women must take responsibility for the situation in Aleppo and strengthen their defense. They must strengthen their legitimate defense, organization, and unity. They must become politically active. They must learn how to defend themselves. No being can exist without defense. In Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, they defended themselves and their people. They only had individual light weapons. To defend their people, they chose dignified resistance. This is why women need to learn self-defense. Not just in North and East Syria—women all over the world need self-defense. From Venezuela to Ukraine to Palestine. Who has been harmed in all these wars? Women. Millions of women have been massacred. This is why Rêber Apo developed these thoughts and philosophy. This is why they want to take revenge on us. The Kurdistan Women’s Freedom Movement plays the vanguard role in ideology, system, organization, strength, and so on. This is why they attack us so brutally; they want to oppress us. But they will never succeed. The outcome is resistance and rebellion. History has proven this.
*In the new “Manifesto of peace and democratic society”, Rêber Apo describes men who organized themselves to impose oppression on society as the “Casteist Killer”.
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