On the 9th of January 2013 three prominent Kurdish Freedom Movement and Kurdish Women’s Movement activists, Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Söylemez were assassinated in Paris, France. Their murders were an attack on the struggle and values their lives were a part of. Their memory lives on in every act of defiance of patriarchy and of building freedom. The Rojava revolution is a part of their legacy.
The Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA), recognising the common struggle fought in different corners of the world, sent the following message to the women of North and East Syria on the anniversary of the assassination.
Greetings from the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA),
We are honoured to say a few words about the brave struggle and exemplary life of Sakine Cansiz today on her 7th martyrdom anniversary, and those of Fidan Doğan, and Leyla Söylemez. We wish we could have participated in the demonstrations to stand by our Kurdish sisters and brothers and condemn the Turkish-imperialist fascism and their fundamentalist hyenas.
Sakine Cansız fought fearlessly to open the path for Kurdish women to join the struggle and armed struggle of PKK. She fought for freedom, equality and social justice, not with slogans but with concrete actions. The story of her life, which we got a glimpse of in her memoirs, shows a resilient, fierce fighter who weathered prison tortures with the resistance of a true legend. The bullying, torture, and threats of the murderous Turkish state didn’t stop Sakine from her struggle. The bullets fired by her coward murderers did end her life, but her spirit and life will continue to live for eternity.
We understand the pain that wrenches the hearts of Sakine’s followers. The leader of RAWA, Meena, who founded it when she was just 20-years-old, was secretly assassinated by her fundamentalist and imperialist enemies just ten years after she had founded the first women’s political organization of Afghanistan. Our hearts still burn with the desire to avenge her death and continue her path. Such is our sentiment towards Sakine, Leila, Fidan, Leyla Qasim, Cylan Ozalp, Sharinalam Holi, Hevrin Xelef, Ekin Van, Barin Kobani, Avesta Xabur, and others, who sacrificed their lives but did not bow down to oppression, treachery and injustice.
We, yet again, send warm salutations to our Kurdish sisters and brothers all over the world fighting for their freedom and equality. We stand by you in this arduous struggle where we share the same enemies: the fascist fundamentalist epidemic and its imperialist creators.
