Category Archives: Kobane

‘We trusted our people, and they are doing well’: Salih Muslim, PYD Rojava leader

KT Report: “We know our people, we trusted our people, we organised our people and the results are in front of everybody”. Salih Muslim co-chairman of the PYD (Democratic Union Party), the dominant political party in Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan), last night addressed hundreds at a packed meeting in the Palace of Westminster, London. Convened by the Centre for…

Kurdish Victory in Kobani

By Dr. Rashid Karadaghi: After 134 days of heroic resistance, the brave Kurdish men and women of Kobani (Syrian-occupied Kurdistan), with the help of the Peshmerga and the US-led coalition air-strikes, won an incredible victory over the barbaric ISIS terrorists and pushed them out of the legendary city. For the past four months, Kobani has…

Finders keepers, losers weepers

Evin Cheikosman

 By Evin Cheikosman: Congratulations to the Kurdish men and women, who have expelled the Islamic State from Kobanê on January 26th, and are now working harder to extend their influence to the surrounding areas currently under IS control. Support for the YPG, YPJ, and the Peshmerga is growing on many levels: Internationally: The U.S. led…

Kobane: Victory of Humanity

By Junaid Jamali: The Kurdish militia YPG-YPJ, together with Peshmergas of the autonomous Region of Kurdistan, Iraq, drove the Islamic State (IS) group from the North Syrian city of Kobane, which is populated by ethnic Kurds, and raised their flags on Monday, dealing the jihadists an important blow after months of heavy fighting. These Kurdish forces have…

The war against Turkey/ISIS

By Dr. Jan Best de Vries: To my friend Salih Muslim “Under the pretense of stopping an ISIS attack on Turkey (for ISIS fighters constantly attack Kobane from Turkey – JBdeV) , the Turkish army bombarded the center of Kobani with tanks and artillery”, Kurdish newspaper Rudaw quoted Anwar Muslim, the co-chairman of Kobani, as saying…

Sirnak Says Farewell to Şiwan Bayar, YPG Kobane

By Amy L. Beam, Ed.D: Mersin University student Şiwan Bayar was given a martyr’s funeral in his hometown of Şirnak, Turkey, on November 23, 2014. Şiwan (also Şivan) was studying history education when he decided to leave university and join the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS or ISID) to defend the Syrian Kurdish town…

ISIS attacks Kurds from inside Turkey

KT News: ISIS has carried out two suicide bomb attacks today within Turkish territory, near the Mursitpinar border gate linking Turkey to Kobanê. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said ISIS detonated an armoured vehicle at the border crossing at dawn and that clashes then broke out between the jihadists and Kurdish YPG forces….

Kobani Guerrillas, a New Era of Feminism

By Vian Faraj: After numerous defensive activities by the YPJ (Womens Protection Units) in Kobani, evidently equality concepts are going to be reborn from under the sleeveless jackets of guerrillas in a small city-state located at the man-made border between two colonialists, Turkey and Syria. What the egalitarian Kurdish female fighters in Al-Jazira, Al-Hasakah, Afrin,…

Kobani: The Legend

Dr. Rashid Karadaghi: Not many people outside Rojava (Syrian-occupied Kurdistan), except for Kurds, had heard of Kobani two months ago. Today, anyone who can see, read, or hear knows something about Kobani — and what they know honors the women and men of the legendary city, the heroic defenders of freedom on behalf of us…

I Am With You, Kobani

Song written by Faryad Shiri: Translated by Dr.Amir Sharifi Here is the translation of a song performed in Kermanshani. The vocalist (see below) has a great voice and the lyrics and the music are sorrowfully penetrating. Have you seen how autumn has come and destroyed our garden (2) It has dumbfounded and stunned the old…

The Turkish Maneuver in the Kobane Crisis

Ayoub Barzani

By Ayoub Barzani: In a move that pleased the Kurdish nation on October 19th, 2014, the US military delivered military and medical assistance to the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in the besieged city of Kobani via transport planes. The development caught many political analysts by surprise, especially after more than two years of American reservation…

UK trade unions back the Kobane resistance against ISIS

KT News: Two UK trade unions have issued statements in support of the Kurdish resistance in Kobane. Unite – the UK’s biggest trade union – offers “support and solidarity to the people of Kobane who have been in a relentless battle over the past month to protect their city, their human rights and secular society”….

Observing International Day of Solidarity with Kobani

Press Release: Rally in Los Angeles: International Solidarity Day with Kobani We members of the Kurdish American Education Society, Human Rights Advocacy Group, and Kurdish Community in Los Angeles join[ed] hundreds of thousands of people, United Nations agencies and prominent intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky and Archbishop Desmond Tutu in  observing the International Day of…

‘Kobani is the heart of the world!’: Solidarity in Manchester and worldwide – but more is needed

By a Manchester Correspondent: Today Kurds and their supporters all around the world have shown their solidarity with the historic and remarkable resistance of the Kurdish YPG/YPJ army against the ISIS jihadi-fascists. In sunlit Manchester UK several hundred women, men and children joined a lively march through our city centre streets, followed by a rally…

A Letter from Kobane

Translated by Anwar Soltani: Dear Mum, I am alright. We had a small party for my birthday yesterday. I think I am 19 now. My colleague, Azad, dedicated a song to me on the subject of ‘mother’. Azad has a good voice and was in tears while he was singing; he, like myself, was thinking of…