Sisters and friends,

On the anniversary of the heroic resistance of Kobanê, we salute those fighting for freedom across the world. The martyrs of the YPJ and YPG, and all others who fell in the fight against Daesh, are with us today. The attacks against the Kurdish people, against the freedom and democracy built on the ruins created by colonialism and capitalism, continue today.

The attacks against the Kurdish people, against the freedom and democracy built on the ruins created by colonialism and capitalism, continue today. The Turkish state continues its attacks in the mountains of Kurdistan, as well as its ecological warfare against North and East Syria. Tens of thousands of our friends face imprisonment and brutality for opposing the Turkish state within Bakur. Meanwhile, Erdogan’s government continues to manipulate and bribe its allies to attack the Kurdish freedom movement across the world, including in our own towns and communities. Abdullah Öcalan remains imprisoned and in isolation. And our sisters continue to be brutalised and killed by the forces of patriarchy. How do we defend ourselves against hopelessness when there is so much darkness facing us? We do it through unity and solidarity, and a commitment to our work. Through remebering what has been sacrificed by those who came before us. The resistance of Kobanê will forever be remembered as a victory of women against the forces of patriarchy.

And the solidarity that the world showed those fighting against Daesh is proof of the importance of that victory. It is a lesson to us: global unity among feminist and women’s movements will create a resistance against fascism and patriarchy too great to be beaten.

We walk in the footsteps of the women who gave their lives for liberation. Just like our comrades, the Zapatistas across the ocean in Chiapas, have written: “We know what we’re doing. It is worth it.” The path lies ahead. It has been walked by our friends already, and our duty is to continue walking towards the horizon of freedom. Onwards!

Jin, jiyan, azadi!

@LNDKurdSol