The eighth annual World Kobanê Day, on 1st November, marks the anniversary of Kurdish forces’ successful resistance of a harrowing siege by Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists in the northern Syrian city of Kobanê, also known by its Arabic name Ayn al-Arab.
Throughout 2014, ISIS forces carried out a brutal campaign of conquest, seizing control of vast territories in Syria and Iraq.
Kobanê, the centre of one of the autonomous regional administration that had sprung up in North and East Syria, or Rojava, after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces withdrew from the region, lay in the path of jihadists who had thus far swept away all resistance.
Bordered to the north by Turkish neighbours who vehemently opposed Kurdish self-government, and surrounded on all other sides by jihadist forces, the defenders of Kobanê were well and truly isolated.
Yet the fighters of the Kurdish Peoples’ Protection Units (YPG) and the all-female Women Protection Units (YPJ), equipped with heavy weaponry, staged a heroic defence against ISIS forces earning a victory, the impact of which is still felt today.
By October, US forces had begun airstrikes on ISIS positions, as well as delivering crucial supplies to the Kurdish fighters.
By December, the YPG and YPJ had fully driven the ISIS militants out of the city. Over the next three years, the Kurdish forces would form the backbone of the multi-ethnic Syrian Democratic Forces, which played a key role in the international coalition to defeat ISIS.
The heroic actions taken by the defenders of Kobanê, and the progressive and feminist ideology that bound them to their cause, have provided rare inspiration to freedom fighters around the world.
This year, the Kurdish phrase, “Jin, Jîyan, Azadî” (Women, Life, Freedom), which was a key slogan for the YPJ fighters in Rojava, has rung out in the streets of Iran and around the world, as Kurds once again are at the centre of a liberatory movement against repressive Islamist forces.
The death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Jîna (Masha) Amini on 16 September, days after she was beaten by the Islamic Republic’s notorious morality police, sparked the wave of ongoing anti-government protests in Iran.
As the Kurdish slogan continues to be heard among supporters of the protesters, it serves as a timely reminder of the Kobanê resistance and its enduring significance.
“In Kobanê, ISIS took its first defeat & since then the city has become a symbol of free, equal & common life,” said Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in a tweet marking the occasion.
On the 8th anniversary, we salute the historic resistance of the people of Kobanê against ISIS. In Kobanê, ISIS took its first defeat & since then the city has become a symbol of free, equal & common life. Happy #WorldKobaneDay to all people around the world who resist oppression pic.twitter.com/22rIGSeajB
— HDP English (@HDPenglish) November 1, 2022
“Rojava has spread hope around the globe, and no matter what attacks will reach it, this hope for a free life is irremovable and will grow out of the ashes of any fascist enemy that tries to trample them,” the YPJ said in a statement on World Kobanê Day.
“We call on all people around the world to stand with us on November 1st and take to the streets anywhere they can to show solidarity with the revolution in Rojava, and to remember the resistance of Kobanê against insurmountable odds.”
