Directed by the Turkish state, ISIS started its attacks on Kobanê from Qereqozax in 2014. The SNA, created as today's ISIS, is also targeting Kobanê today. The future of Rojava will once again be determined by those resisting in Qereqozax.

The words ‘Saet sisê kêm deh deqe Kobanê rizgar bû (Kobanê was liberated ten minutes to three o'clock)’ spoken by a YPG fighter created great hope all over the world. Those who did not blink an eye for Kobanê for 134 days welcomed this news with great joy. The meaning of these words for the Kurds was much different; it took its place in history as a great objection to the future that had been assigned to the Kurds. The Turkish state, which could not digest the fact that Kobanê did not fall, once again turned towards Kobanê after the fall of the Baath regime. This time, instead of ISIS, the Turkish state apparatus created under the label of SNA (Syrian National Army) was put forward. The target is the same; the free and equal life of the Kurdish people in their own homeland embodied by Kobanê and the status they have laid the foundation for this. So how was the Kobanê Resistance shaped and what happened in those days?

Administration based on self-defence

The ‘Arab Spring’, which started in Tunisia in 2011 and spread across the Middle East in a short time, soon spread to Syria. Against the civil war throughout Syria, those who defended Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan's 3rd Way line declared the Rojava Revolution on 19 July 2012. The peoples of the region, led by the Kurds, who shaped their living spaces in the Cizîrê, Afrin and Kobanê cantons with a democratic women's libertarian paradigm based on self-government, implemented a form of governance that would set an example for the whole world.

The unleashing of ISIS on Rojava

On the other hand, ISIS was advancing both in Syria and Iraq. Having turned Turkey into a connection point, ISIS was driving its recruits from all over the world against the peoples in Syria and Iraq, taking over entire cities. As of mid-2014, it was rumoured that ISIS would take action to capture Damascus, the capital of Syria. This attack was considered a certainty, but ISIS advanced on Kobanê, the reason for which would be understood later, and which had no strategic importance for it. Later on, important figures of ISIS captured by the YPG and YPJ forces would confess that the Turkish state had directed them towards Kobanê. Although it was of no importance to ISIS, Kobanê was important for the Kurds, connecting the Afrîn and Cizîrê cantons. It would later be understood that the Turkish state used ISIS in its attempt to destroy the Kurdish gains.

Human will against conventional weapons

ISIS turned its steps towards Kobanê as of 15 September. Its goal was to occupy Kobanê in a short time, as it had done in many parts of Syria and Iraq. ISIS advanced on Kobanê with the conventional weapons it had captured in Iraq and Syria. What the YPG and YPJ forces, who decided to resist ISIS, had, were their individual weapons and human will. In fact, what started in Kobanê on 15 September 2015 was a battle of will.

ISIS started from the Qereqozax Bridge

On 17 September, ISIS captured the Qereqozax Bridge, which has been on the agenda of late with the attacks of the Turkish state-affiliated SNA. Qereqozax Bridge is 32 kilometres from the city centre, southwest of Kobanê. After this development, which directly means the security of Kobanê, ISIS started to advance towards the city centre with attacks against the villages of Kobanê. As of 2 October, 350 of the 354 villages around Kobanê had been occupied. ISIS started to hit Kobanê city centre with mortars, tanks and rockets it had captured from the Iraqi army.

Arîn Mirkan changed the fate of war

On 3 October, ISIS elements reached Miştenûr Hill, which overlooks Kobanê. Arîn Mîrkan, one of the YPJ commanders, carried out an action of self-sacrifice on Miştenûr Hill on 5 October. The sacrificial action of a female militant shocked the misogynist gang. It was also a great invitation to resistance for the Kurdish people and their friends. Although ISIS was slowed down here, it continued to approach the city with the support of the Turkish state. Kobanê was surrounded by ISIS on three sides and the Turkish army in the north. ISIS attacked the city from three sides and used the Turkish border as it wished. Even the aid that the people wanted to deliver to the city was prevented by the Turkish government. ISIS occupied half of the city centre.

Öcalan’s historic call

During the meeting held in İmralı on 22 September, Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan said: “Regarding the ISIS attacks, all our people need to shape their lives against the ongoing high-intensity war. There is a high intensity war going on in Kurdistan at the moment. Not only the people of Rojava, but also the Kurdish people in the North and all parts need to mold their lives accordingly. I call on all Kurdish people to take up resistance against this high-intensity war.” This call and Leader Öcalan’s second message ‘There must be resistance until the end’ in his meeting with his brother Mehmet Öcalan on 6 October mobilised the Kurdish people.

Fences of the border drawn by the rulers 100 years ago were removed

Vigil actions started just across the border of Kobanê. The people of Northern Kurdistan flocked to the border in a spirit of mobilisation. The fences of the border drawn by the rulers 100 years ago were removed. Hundreds of young people from Northern Kurdistan crossed the border to shoulder the resistance. Kurdish people almost stopped life and flocked to Kobanê.

Kobanê resistance became universal

More than a million people in more than 100 countries took to the streets and declared their support for the Kobanê resistance. Internationalists, revolutionaries, left-socialist forces and women declared their support for the historic resistance against the ISIS gang. The resistance that started in Kobanê was embraced by the Kurdish people with the call of Leader Öcalan and became universal in a short time.

Kobanê did not and will not fall

The last straw was Erdoğan's words ‘There, Kobane is about to fall’. The uprising for Kobanê, which started on 6 October all over Northern Kurdistan, was raised even more with these words. People in the cities of Northern Kurdistan stopped life until 9 October. The state was almost paralysed in Northern Kurdistan. In the cities of Turkey, on the other hand, the vigil action continued day and night. The protests of the Kurdish people, who gave a clear message that ‘Kobanê did not and will not fall!’ spread to 35 cities and 96 districts. With the attacks of the state, 46 people lost their lives, 682 people were injured and 323 people were imprisoned. The border between the two parts of Kurdistan was de facto abolished.

Kobanê was liberated ten minutes to three o'clock

On an international scale, mass protests were organised from North America to Asia, from Europe to Latin America, calling on international powers and states to take action against the darkness of ISIS. Thus, following the increasing pressure and resistance on the ground, the US-led International Coalition provided air support to the YPG and YPJ forces against ISIS. Afterwards, Kobanê started to be cleared from ISIS. Kobanê was liberated at 14.50 on 19 January 2015, exactly 134 days after the attacks started on 15 September 2014. A YPG fighter said, ‘Saet sisê kêm deh deqe Kobanê rizgar bû’ (Kobanê was liberated ten minutes to three o'clock) and gave good news to humanity. This was the beginning of the end for ISIS.

Kobanê once again calls for resistance

In the 10 years that have passed since, an exemplary way of life for the whole world has been manifested in Kobanê. Progressive forces all over the world point to the resistance in Kobanê as an example. Books were written and films were made on Kobanê. The peoples of the region, led by the Kurdish people, have shown that resistance independent of conditions and circumstances is absolute victory. The Turkish state, on the other hand, wants to do today under the name of SNA what it could not do then with ISIS. Those who resisted on Miştenûr Hill that day are resisting on Qereqozax Bridge today. Kobanê once again calls Suruç, Northern Kurdistan, internationalists and the peoples of the world to resistance.