The flower of Andok Cotkar continues to flourish

Seats in the spacious Mega-Saray Event Center were scarce when around 300 people gathered on Sunday for the memorial ceremony to mark the fifth anniversary of the death of Kiel internationalist Andok Cotkar (Konstantin Gedig) in his home town. The young farmer had joined the Kurdish People’s Defense Units (YPG) in northern and eastern Syria on his own initiative at the age of 21 to protect the local population from the jihadist terrorist militia “Islamic State” (IS). Three years later, he was killed by Turkish Air Force bombs during the defense of Serêkaniyê while securing the evacuation of a hospital there.

“Sacrifice and courage in the service of global peace and justice”

For an intense afternoon, relatives, companions and internationalists in solidarity kept alive the memory of the story of a special person, his humanist values and the fight for which he gave his life. Participants traveled from all over Germany to commemorate Andok Cotkar alongside his parents Ute Ruß and Thomas Gedig and his brother Benjamin, and even a delegation from Ireland joined the ceremony.

After a minute’s silence for all those killed in the struggle for freedom in Kurdistan, a letter from Mazlum Abdi, General Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (QSD), was read out. In it, he praised Andok Cotkar not only as a fighter for human rights, but also as a consistent revolutionary in the ranks of a movement “that aims to liberate people from all forms of oppression and injustice, whether political, social or economic”. Within the revolutionary construction in North and East Syria, Andok has been an outstanding advocate for the rights of workers, farmers and disadvantaged groups. On behalf of the QSD, Abdi promised to “remain true to this legacy and continue to strive for the realization of the goals for which he lived”.

“Hope is a ray of light in the midst of barbarism”

Family members subsequently took the word. Andok’s father Thomas began by condemning the current attacks by the Turkish military on homes and civilian infrastructure in the Kurdish regions over the past week. He called on the German government to stop its support for the Turkish state and to support a lawsuit against Turkey at the International Court of Justice in The Hague.
Andok’s mother Ute praised her son as clever, strong-willed, courageous and convinced that he was doing the right thing. Benjamin characterized his older brother with quotes from the memoirs of Marcello, who was the commander when Andok was injured during the liberation of Raqqa in 2017. In addition to his bravery and determination, which saved his unit several times, he praised his wit, light-heartedness and ability to “feel joy in the middle of hell”.

In this sense, the family’s joint speech was also an appeal against discouragement. In the words of Jewish Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, Ute called for us to defy the overwhelming power of horror and to continue the fight against all injustice: “There may be times when we are powerless against injustice, but we must never fail to protest against it.” […]

The Combat Medic Academy Şehîd Andok Cotkar (Akademiya Şehîd Andok Cotkar Ya Tenduristvanên Şer) presented itself in video messages as the final contribution to the content of a long afternoon that generously exceeded the actual time frame. In honor of his admirable commitment as a front-line medic, first aid workers for war situations are trained at the academy under the name Andok Cotkar, who can continue his former work today.
At the end of the well-attended, lively and meaningful commemorative event, the Italian partisan song “Bella Ciao” was sung together, which has also long been obligatory, to ensure that the flower of Heval Andok, who died for our freedom, continues to bloom on the fifth anniversary of his murder.

This is a translation of an article in german that you can find here.