In memory of the international volunteers that fell as martyrs in Afrin

The 18th of March of 2019 marks one year since the end of the first phase of the resistance of Afrin and the start of the second one. During that time, 600 fighters were martyred and 226 citizens were murdered, among them 52 children. Today, one year after the ‘Resistance of the Age’, we honor their memory and promise that we are here to continue their struggle.

Anna Campbell (S. Helin Qerecox) member of YPJ International; Oliver Francois (S. Kendal Breeizh) fighter of YPG International; Haukur Hilmarsson (S. Sahin Huseyni) YPG fighter, RUIS volunteer and paticipant of the International Freedom Battalion; the anarchist fighter S. Shevger Makhno and Samuel Prada Leon (S. Baran Galicia), fighter of YPG International, joined this resistance with all their strength, without taking into account the cost of their own lives. The internationalist fighters who have fallen in Afrin’s resistance to defend the Northern-Eastern Syria Federation against the fascist gangs and the Turkish colonization of Erdogan are the symbols of the internationalist struggle, and their example was followed by many young volunteers who joined the ranks of the People’s and Women’s Defense Units.

The 58 days of the first phase of the resistance of Afrin became a legend equivalent to the resistance of Kobani, and once again made Rojava a subject for the whole of humanity. The hard struggle that YPG / YPJ and QSD, together with internationalists, showed against one of the world’s best-equipped armies became a landmark of the fight for freedom in the history of the oppressed.

The invasion of Afrin’s canton was an attack against the people’s right to self-rule. It was a hit on the democratic course of humanity. The timinthey suffered in Raqqa. Afrin’s occupation was defined by the pillaging of monuments, property expropriation, and planned demographic policies to change the population, all of which are characteristic features of the genocidal policy pursued by the Turkish State of the AKP / MHP Regime. Afrin has never surrendered, and the conquerors know it well, as during the year 2018 during the first and second phase of the resistance a total of 2772 Turkish soldiers and mercenaries have been killed.

The Turkish state is trying, by all means, to establish itself as a regional power that will intervene in the Middle East in order to secure its economic and geopolitical interests. Within the international environment under development by the hegemonic powers, the Turkish state sees opportunities to recover the lost territories of the former Ottoman Empire in order to attach to its sphere of influence the regions that can be valuable for its energy routes.

Today, while the last enclaves of ISIS are being defeated by the democratic forces in the city of Hajin, the biggest threat to peace in the Middle East is the fascist Turkish state led by Erdogan. Turkish expansionism is attempting to set up a policy of terror and genocide in the region, with air bomb-attacks like the ones in Mahmur and Shengal, artillery attacks in villages in Rojava and blind attacks with heavy weapons from the other side of the border. This has resultied in injuries and deaths of citizens, the most tragic of which was the murder of six year old Sara Mustafa on the 1st of Nov 2018 in a village near Gire Spi.

The announcement of the “Euphrates shield” operation shortly before the very last phase of the offensive again ISIS in Hajin, and the subsequent withdrawal of Turkey’s fascist troops and jihadist mercenary gangs along the border of Turkey with Rojava, shows the panic of a State that finds itself in a deep economic crisis and that sees in external war a chance to neutralise internal unrest.

Rojava is an organization that learns quickly from past crises and stands ready to face any threat. The crowds of people who demonstrated in every city of the North Eastern Democratic Syria against Erdogan’s statements about new massacre, and ran to become human shields at the border, show in the best way that any aggressive move against Rojava encourages its people more and more.

We declare that, as internationalist volunteers who have come from all over the planet to support the revolution of Rojava, and following the examples of our shehid, we will not abandon the cradle of civilization to the rapacious appetites of the fascist and colonial powers. At a time when Western civilization announced the end of revolutions, the Rojava revolutionary process broke out as a cultural big bang and freed the devastating energy of real democracy within the Middle East. The Rojava revolution breaks the chains of patriarchy, unites the different peoples of the Middle East, highlights the principles of ecological society and establishes and practices the equal participation of men and women in politics, self-defense and justice.

YPG international, in its four years of existence, was present on every front to protect the Federation from the DAIS fascists, the Turkish state and the mercenary gangsters of FSA & AL NUSRA. Hundreds of volunteers received ideological and military training at the YPG International Academy for the defense of Rojava.

We encourage fighters, collectives and movements to engage with YPG / YPJ in order to give value to the concept of solidarity.
We are here to defend the revolution of Rojava from any threat.
We are here to continue the struggle of those who fell with their heads held high.

BIJÎ ŞOREŞA ROJAVA
BIJÎ BERXWEDANA AFRINÊ
ŞEHÎD NAMIRIN – ŞEHÎD NAMIRIN – ŞEHÎD NAMIRIN