Ş. Gabar Rojava – Ş. Zana Ciwan – Ş. Robin Agirî – Ş. Canşer Zagros – Ş. Ceren Güneş – Ş. Imran Firtina – Ş. Aynur Ayda
We remember our Şehîds of November
Şehîd Gabar Rojava first came to the region in April 2015. He spent May and June fighting with the Peshmerga in Iraqi Kurdistan in the campaign against Daesh. After this he travelled across the River Tigris and continued in the fight against Daesh with YPG. “I’m prepared to give my life in the cause of averting the disaster we are stumbling towards as a civilization,” Heval Gabar wrote in an essay entitled Why the War in Kurdistan Matters, “A free Kurdistan would be good enough cause for any internationalist, but we are fortunate enough to be able to risk our necks for something more important and more righteous than anything we’ve faced in generations. With some fortitude and guts, we can purge the sickness that’s poisoning our society, and come together to defeat this ultimate evil.”
He faced the danger and hardship of war with good humour. On hearing that Daesh was offering a $150,000 bounty for Western volunteers fighting with Kurdish forces, he joked that he was “deeply upset by this news. I am worth at least $200,000.” Heval Gabar Rojava was raised in a politically-minded family and had always been passionate about ecology, freedom, and the struggle against fascism. At the age of 18 he joined the Canadian Armed Forces with whom he served for three years, including a tour of Bosnia. After leaving the military, Heval Gabar went to university and majored in Political Science and Gender Studies, once graduated he ran for Toronto City Council.
“The adjective ‘earnest’ is sort of out of favor, I think,” says his mother Valerie. “But he really did have very strong ideas of right and wrong, moral and ethical ideas. And he tried his whole life to make sure that he was doing what he perceived to be the right thing.” Şehîd Gabar Rojava was martyred on 4 November 2015 in Eastern Hesekê while fighting against Daesh in the countryside around Al-Hol. Upon repatriation of his body to his home of Southern Ontario, he was greeted with a hero’s welcome as he travelled along the Highway 401. A Kurdish-Canadian who came out to show his gratitude for the sacrifice of Şehîd Gabar stated “It’s very important for us to be here, because he’s gone there and spilled his blood for us. It takes a lot of courage to do that.” After his martyrdom, Şehîd Gabar’s family has stayed politically active in Canada in solidarity with the Kurdish Freedom Movement.
“My message to the world is: open your eyes; look at the suffering that takes place here; listen to your heart; support this movement; because it is the only real democratic force in the Middle East.” – Şehîd Zana
Şehîd Zana Cîwan, who hailed from Bielefeld, Germany, joined the struggle in Rojava in 2016. After a period of training at the Internationalist Academy, he joined YPG on the front line in Minbic alongside Arab, Kurdish and International comrades. After participating in the successful liberation of Minbic from Daesh terrorists, Heval Zana remained there alongside many YPG comrades to defend against the onslaught of the Turkish fascist state and its jihadist proxies. In his life in Germany, he trained as an office administrator while living for three years in Berlin. He soon found himself repelled by the emptiness of a life sitting behind a desk,and he left this work behind. He moved to Magdeburg, where his parents also lived, and began to study social work. Although he was not organised in any left-wing structures or part of any movement, Anton was a thoughtful and well-read individual. He came into the contact with ideas of the Rojava Revolution and was excited. “Democratic confederalism convinced him – he wanted to fight for it,” shared Anton’s best friend. Before long, Anton contacted the Lions of Rojava Facebook page and started making preparations for his journey to Rojava. He sold his car and gave up his apartment. In long conversations with his mother, he convinced her that he was doing the right thing. “I was going to buy him a bulletproof vest and give it to him as a parting gift, but he didn’t want that,” said his mother. “If the comrades don’t have one, I don’t want one either.” Anton replied. “I liked him immediately,” remembers his comrade Cîwan Avasîn. “His personality was sympathetic, honest and open. He did not come to Rojava with an idealistic approach – we often discussed openly about contradictions…and difficulties in this struggle. He wanted to know this revolution and struggle more deeply and to understand life properly. He was not one who had come simply for the fight against Daesh. Şehîd Zana was one of the friends who had come to be a part of the revolution and to defend it against all enemies. Şehîd Zana was a leftist, internationalist, revolutionary. Şehîd Zana and I were united not only by the common struggle in Rojava, the belief and hope for a free and better world, but also the youth whose fate is bought and sold in the capitalist centre. We talked about Germany and our motivations for the internationalist struggle. Şehîd Zana brought up a point that represents a whole generation: bit by bit, he had fulfilled the dreams of his youth, which the capitalist system imposes on us: Car, apartment and other material things. But the closer he came to his dreams the more insignificant they became for him. Şehîd Zana saw no meaning in a life that focused on material things and alienates people from one another. He could not go on living this lie. He saw his hopes and dreams of a democratic and socialist society realised here in Rojava.”
Şehîd Zana’s committment to the internationalist struggle would take him to one of the most dangerous fronts of the War Against Daesh. “The people must not be abandoned to tyranny and terror” he said. “I will support this democratic revolution to the end.” Şehîd Zana was martyred alongside Şehîd Robin Agiri (Michael Israel) and a number of Kurdish comrades in a Turkish airstrike on 24 November. He is remembered fondly by his comrades and the people of Rojava for his sacrifice. “You have shown me the potential of the youth of Germany. You have given me strength and joy for to continue the struggle. To the sound of your favorite music, which you gave me before you left for the front. I will always have your face before my eyes. I will never forget you. We will never forget you. You are an eternal part of the heart of humanity and the struggle for liberation.”
Michael Israel, who fought in Rojava under the name “Robin Agiri” first came to Kurdistan in August 2015, returning briefly to California in November 2015 before coming back in July 2016. Michael Israel was a lifelong revolutionary who was deeply involved in the liberation movements in his home state of California, USA. He was an organizer within Mother Lode Progressive, an organisation dedicated to the cause of the working class in his birthplace of Amador County, the Industrial Workers of World (IWW), Sacramento Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and an active participant in many anti-capitalist, anti-fascist and anti-war movements. The day after his 18th birthday, he set off on a 3,000 mile “March For Peace” from San Francisco to Washington to protest the Iraq War.
He was inspired by meeting International Brigadier Delmer Berg of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, one of the last surviving members of the internationalist unit who fought during the anti-fascist war in Spain during the 30’s. He is remembered by his DSA comrades as “one of our closest and dearest friends, always honest, always humble, always a shining example of kindness, bravery, and integrity. A truly beautiful human being who brought positivity, trust, respect, and empathy always to the world.” In his own words “Do what you can to support the struggle and the revolution in Rojava, give what you can. International solidarity is a must for these people who have sacrificed so much to rid the world of these fascists. The Rojava struggle is the most dynamic and ground breaking revolutionary movement of our time. […] Things that we may have only dreamed of in theoretical writing are acted upon in Rojava, modified and adapted to their struggle and made real. Rojava is doing this all and reorganizing society despite the chaos and destruction of 5 years of civil war. The gains of the revolution under such austere and harsh conditions is truly remarkable.”
After the bloody and chaotic struggle to liberate Minbic, some internationalists including Şehîd Robin Agiri and Şehîd Zana Ciwan chose to remain in the area to assist in the security and defence of the region. During operations against the Islamist gangs in the countryside around Minbic, the Turkish Air Force bombed his unit, martyring Şehîds Robin and Zana and a number of local friends. This murderous action is a clear example of the Turkish state’s open support for the mercenary gangs of criminals, many of whom are current or former members of Daesh or Al-Qaeda.
A large convoy escorted his body to the border with Iraqi Kurdistan, where an emotional farewell was given. His friends and comrades promised to continue his struggle: “Brothers and Sisters, Ş. Robin’s struggle did not begin here in Rojava, he was a worker and part of the workers movement. He knew our strongest weapon is organisation, and at home he fought against low pay and casualisation. […] When he heard the call to defend this new society, he did not hesitate to come here and serve the people. He falls. But he lives on: for we will carry forth his struggle. We will struggle in the workplace and the community and when it is necessary the battlefield, for a just and equal society, for a life of joy and purpose. All those that take inspiration from Michael Israel’s example will see that he lives on. In this way although he has fallen, he has also become immortal – the martyrs are immortal – Şehîd Namirin.”
Şehîd Canşêr Zagros first came to Rojava in August of 2017. Born in Portsmouth, UK, Oliver Hall attended Bay House School in Gosport before studying to become a telecommunications engineer at Farnham College. “He was a fun loving, cheeky, mischievous boy, who grew up to be a courageous and handsome man,” Jane Lyndon, Ollie’s mother said. Angered by the wave of ISIS terror attacks across Europe, in particular the Manchester Arena bombing, and the brutal fascist regime being imposed on the people of Iraq and Syria, Oliver felt that he could no longer stand by and watch. “He had talked about terrorist attacks in Barcelona, London, Manchester. He was really bothered the government wasn’t doing enough… he was mad about them,” his mother remembers. Oliver was inspired by the resistance of the YPG and their allies against Daesh and decided to play his part. He took this undertaking seriously – he spent six months preparing for his trip, gave up alcohol and smoking and worked hard to get fit.
After arriving in Rojava, he took on the nom-de-guerre Canşêr Zagros. (Canşêr translates as “Lion Soul” and the Zagros mountains, home and battleground of the gêrîla, mark the border between Iran and Iraq.) He then went through a period of training in the YPG internationalist academy. One of his former comrades remembers: “He was there to stop ISIS and help the people. He wasn’t a soldier before he came to Syria, but he was professional and was really keen to learn. He was a very popular guy, everyone liked him.” “He wanted to be at the front, and wanted to be right where the action was, and he wasn’t scared to go.”
Soon after training Heval Canşêr went to the frontline in Deir-Ez-Zor, which would prove to be the last stronghold of Daesh. There he served as a machinegunner, and fought with distinction. When a lull in the fighting came, he transferred to Raqqa, where he participated in operations to clear out remaining pockets of Daesh within the city, and also to clear it of the thousands of mines and booby traps that Daesh had left behind to wreak havoc on the returning civilian population. It was this work that would claim the life of Heval Canşêr. When a civilian family with children alerted him and his patrol to the presence of a mine in their house, Heval Canşêr moved to disarm the trap as he had done many times before. On approaching the trap, he triggered a second IED, killing him instantly and wounding a comrade who was with him. His body was repatriated to the UK where he was greeted by a cortege of Kurdish and British mourners to escort him to his final resting place. “I would never want another family to go through this but at the same time Ollie is my hero, I am so proud of my son and miss him greatly,” said his mother, speaking to the press on the day of his funeral.
In a memorial written by internationalists who had fought alongside him in Rojava, they said “We lived, trained, laughed and fought together. We are his comrades and his brothers in arms. Together we faced an enemy capable of inflicting inhuman suffering upon its fellow human beings. The crimes in which they engaged are some of the worst travesties in human history. There are no words in any language that can accurately describe their cruelty. We had the honour of being welcomed by the brave and unified people of Northern Syria; who had led the resistance of the age on behalf of all of humanity and inspired us all to stand side by side with them.” Speaking of his character the statement continues, “Protecting the people was always at the forefront of his mind.” Describing his final work protecting a Raqqa family from IEDs planted in their house, “His sacrifice saved their lives. He is a hero, dying after an act of selfless determination to protect the ones, who suffered from the brutality of the Islamic State. His story is and always will be, that of a role model. His courage sets a precedent for the behaviour and courage of all people that fight in this struggle, whether they are from the region or internationalist comrades. The things you did outlast your loss. You saved people, you inspired people. The bravery and selflessness you showed in your life, are your legacy after your life. Şehîd Canşêr Zagros, Oliver Hall, you are immortal! Şehîd Namirin!”
“If death is at the hands of the enemy, living is in our hands.” – Şehîd Ceren Güneş
Özge Aydin was born to a working class family in Muğla in Western Turkey. As a member of DKP/BÖG and later with DKP/Birlik, she spent over four years tirelessly supporting the revolution in North & East Syria. From a young age she worked as an agricultural labourer in fields, olive groves and vinyards. With her own hard work and that of her parents, she was able to study Medicine at Hacettepe University in Ankara. As a young woman, Şehîd Ceren participated in revolutionary socialist and feminist organising in her native Turkey. She joined the Gezi Park/ Taksim Square uprising against the Turkish regime in 2013. She found herself drawn to the women-led people’s revolution taking place in Kurdistan. As one comrade remembers “She did not believe in any way that a Turkish revolution could be realised without a Kurdish revolution. So because of this, she was equally as dedicated to the revolution here as she was to the Turkish revolution.” In December 2015, she was involved in an attack that resulted in the destruction of a jihadist headquarters, striking a blow against those who had plotted massacres like the one in Suruç which killed 32 young socialists. Shortly after this action, in March 2016 she crossed into Rojava, where she served with the military forces of DKP as part of the International Freedom Battalion.
Şehîd Ceren went on to fight in many of the key battles in defence of the Rojava Revolution, including Minbic, Raqqa, Afrîn and Til Temer. She served as commander of the International Freedom Battalion in 2017 and led the IFB into the Raqqa campaign. In her role as commander she was known for being a model of revolutionary discipline and dedication, always actively working and often getting little sleep. Her comrades remember how she always made an effort to get to know the friends around her on a deep level, and to make sure that everyone was cared for. She would often provide military and ideological education for the friends from the structures of the IFB. Despite being a highly capable military commander, Şehîd Ceren was not a one-dimensional soldier. She also excelled at political work. She had a talent and dedication for organising and connecting with revolutionary movements all over the world. To her, internationalism was a key principal of the revolution. She believed that without a united international revolutionary movement, the movement can not succeed. Reflecting her attitude of challenging half-measures and pushing the revolutionary work forward, she wrote this in her diary: “There is a misconception. Coming to Rojava is not a sufficient criterion for being revolutionary. The top approach of the understanding that sees this as sufficient has been revealed. Here we, as great people, are fighting for all humanity. Lie. We are not superheroes. We came after a happy life for ourselves. Rojava is not an end, it is a beginning. It’s certainly worthwhile to be here. It takes courage and willpower. But it’s not enough. It’s empty if you can’t put anything on it. Here, the high probability of death does not mean anything by itself. Our criterion should not be death, but what we contribute to life. Yes, we can die here. But if there is nothing left of me for this life, this struggle, if I have not been able to put a piece of it, what is the point of the death of an “ordinary” person? For us, not where you die, your contribution to life and the values you leave should be the measure. Only this can give meaning to our death.”
In a letter to her parents, she explains her choice to join the fight in Rojava “Why am I here? Because this is a requirement of being human, feeling your humanity, conscience, the sense of help and justice you teach. I didn’t waste my life, I didn’t spent it emptily, I didn’t have silly dreams. I don’t see myself as a hero. It was the most natural human task, so here I am. As a woman, it was my duty to fight the woman trafficker, rapist ISIS and every mentality it produced, as a revolutionary here, in Turkey or anywhere else in the world, as a human being…”
Şehîd Ceren was martyred on November 3, 2019 while on operations on the Til Temer front during the Turkish invasion of 2019. While in combat against Turkish state forces, she and her comrades were carrying out reconnaissance on a small group of houses between their lines and the enemy’s line. Şehîd Ceren was gravely injured by a mine that was placed in the entrance of one of the houses. Refusing to leave her behind despite her fatal injuries, her comrades carried her for hundreds of metres over rough and dangerous terrain in order to get her to hospital. She later died of her injuries. Şehîd Ceren gave all of her life’s energy to the struggle for a free humanity. Her comrades in DKP have vowed to carry on her struggle to victory.
Şehîd Imran Firtina was born to an Alevi family in Ankara in 1995. The Alevis are a religious minority found throughout the Anatolian region. He grew up in the left-wing Keçiören neighbourhood of Ankara, where in 1979 the Piyangotepe Massacre had taken place. Seven people were murdered by Grey Wolves fascists in a left-wing coffeehouse in the district. The stories about his uncle Imran, who was tortured to death in 1991, had a lasting effect on the young Yasin. After completing his education at the İncirli Industrial Vocational High School in Ankara, he came into contact with Devrimci-Liseliler (Revolutionary High School Students) saying: ‘They wrote on the wall of my house, so I wanted to meet with them’. In this period he was organised with the leftist Eğitim-Sen (Education and Science Workers’) Union and the Sosyalist Demokrasi Partisi (Socialist Democracy Party). Here he expanded and honed his theory and practice, gaining skills and experience and already demonstrating his effectiveness as an organizer at home, at school, at work and in his neighbourhood. In 2014 he moved to Istanbul to carry on his work, and soon left behind youth organising with Dev-Lis. He dedicated himself to anti-fascist and anti-capitalist work. In 2016 he was imprisoned for his revolutionary activities and carried on his resistant approach with the same determination within the dungeons of the Turkish state. 
In 2018, in order to escape the repression of the Turkish state, he moved to Greece, before coming to Rojava in 2019 with DKP/BÖG (Revolutionary Communards Party /United Freedom Forces), a Marxist-Leninist guerrilla movement which has given many martyrs to the struggle in Kurdistan. With DKP, he took on the nom-de-guerre İmran Fırtına in honour of his uncle. In Rojava he fought with the International Freedom Battalion against the 2019 Turkish invasion. He fell on the Til Temer front alongside fellow revolutionary Şehîd Aynur Ada on November 6, 2019. At a massive ceremony in Derik, attended by thousands, 14 comrades from SDF who had given their lives in defense of the people, including Turkish internationalists Özge Aydın (Ceren Güneş), Yasin Aydin (Imran Firtina) and Göze Altunöz (Aynur Ada) were bid farewell in an emotional ceremony.
Şehîd Aynur Ada, Göze Altunöz was born in Tekirdağ province of western Turkey, the eldest daughter of the three children in the family. Her parents were civil servants. Growing up in Ankara, she was organized from a young age with Devrimci-Liseliler (Revolutionary High School Students) at the Çankaya High School. At this early age she started on a path of revolutionary militancy from which she would never turn back. Moving to Istanbul, she studied Economics at Galatasaray University, before switching to the faculty of Law at Marmara University. During her time in university, she was deeply involved in women’s organising and youth organising, and applied herself to these tasks with dedication and skill. She was one of the founders of the DKP/BÖG (Revolutionary Communards Party / United Freedom Forces), its women’s organisations KKB/KÖG (Women’s Communards Party / Women’s Freedom Forces) and joined its newly founded guerrilla force, serving on both the party’s central committee and on its military committee. She took on the nom-de-guerre Aynur Ada in honour of Aynur Sertbudak, a militant revolutionary woman who was assassinated by fascists in front of Ankara University in 1976.
In a written statement, the United Revolutionary Movement of Women (KBDH) said: “Comrade Aynur Ada (Göze Altunöz) struggled with an awareness of women’s freedom in every area from high school to barricades on the streets, the stands on campuses to the guerrilla field. She fell a martyr together with Imran Firtina (Yasin Aydın) in the resistance against fascist occupation in Til Temir, Rojava. Comrade Aynur Ada has chosen the organized struggle against injustice and repression since her early youth and went to Rojava with a militant stance at a young age.” The statement recalled that “Comrade Aynur Ada, acting with the consciousness of freedom, did not take a step back from the tasks she took, and shouldered the resistance with a revolutionary will until the last moment.”
On 8 March she gave a statement to Commune Radio, where she said “We are sure that no woman in Turkey is satisfied with the existing conditions and is not in a position to live under these conditions. In fact, when we talk about the women’s freedom struggle, today we need to underline something like this; The slightest noise, the slightest action on behalf of women’s freedom in Turkey is an action on behalf of all women. I think we should highlight this…As women calling out from the free areas, we want to tell you as Women’s Liberation Force militants, as militants of the Women’s Communards Union…we believe that one day, maybe 9 March, maybe 10 March, our voices, strength, and action will meet with the women of Turkey… We mobilize ourselves for this. All our concentration, all our consciousness, all our soul, all our excitement is on it. The Women’s Freedom Force says resistance is possible. The Union of Women’s Communards says resistance is possible. We are dying to show that resistance is possible with all the means in our consciousness, and we know that the reality of the Turkish Revolution depends only on women’s ability to organize and rise in the liberation struggle…as women who are in free fields today, we would like to state the following when addressing women from Turkey; The streets should be ours, everywhere we are should carry our color. Do not be afraid, comrades, of any words thrown at you from any glance, to withdraw from words, not to resist them, to develop reflexes…If we want to develop such a course of action or if we want to have the power to do it, we have this potential. Please take it upon yourself to develop appropriate organizational tools. We set out on these roads knowing that we owe them to ourselves…We have acquired the tools to turn our potential into a hot war against male domination, the potential of all women from Turkey, actually our mothers and sisters. ”
As a commander of the Mahir Arpaçay Battalion of BÖG, Heval Aynur fought on many fronts of the war to defend the Rojava Revolution, at Süluk, Hol and Minbic. Şehîd Aynur was martyred by Turkish bombardment on November 6, 2019 while defending Til Temer from fascist invasion. She was martyred alongside Şehîd Imran. Her sacrifice and revolutionary spirit were commemorated at a ceremony in Derik that was attended by thousands, where she was bid farewell alongside 13 other comrades who fell during the Turkish invasion.
