From the village of Qilhayde to the west of Kobanê, Newroz Agiri has been in the YPJ since 2013. She told ANF what she witnessed during the resistance days in Kobanê that was crowned with victory on January 26, 2015.

One of Agiri’s siblings is in the YPG and Agiri’s family has been active inside the Apoist movement since its beginning. Agiri did not go to school. She learned how to read and write while in the YPJ ranks. Agiri says “I was in joy when I joined, it expanded my world. I saw that there was a world outside of my house and village. I could actually see this truth when comrades would visit our house.”

Agiri noted that she received military training before Kobanê resistance and was assigned to the Martyr Sozdar Battalion composed of women. Later, Agiri went to western Kobanê where the war against al-Nusra gang groups had begun. She stayed there for 3 months and later got assigned to a mobile battalion that got positioned near the Sirin town which was under the occupation of al-Nusra gangs. Agiri told that she got wounded during the clashes and one of her friends fell as a martyr there. Agiri heard the news about the beginning of the war in Kobanê when she was in training, and joined the war although her wound had not completely healed.

Agiri remarked that she joined the battalion of commander Nucan and got wounded in her feet after fighting in Kobanê for twenty days. She received treatment in a secure part of Kobanê and rejoined the fight after a month of healing. She told: “Commander Serdar was our battalion leader and comrades Ezda and Xwinda led our units that were mainly deployed in the southern part and reinforced other positions when needed. We lost many of our friends and many more got wounded but we never thought Kobanê would fall. Our comrades said ‘Kobanê will not fall until the enemy tramples on the body of last of our fighters.’ It caused us great pain to feel the absence of comrades that fell as martyrs, but knowing why they fell and our desire to realize their dream made us stronger.”

Agiri joined the operations to liberate Mistenur Hill and the last areas under ISIS occupation, and was demoralized when she got wounded again right before the full liberation of the city a few days after the New Year. She returned to Kobanê and joined the military and self-defense efforts after a treatment of 7 months.

Agiri stated that both the material and moral needs of the people in Kobanê increased during the Kobanê battle after the July 19 revolution, and emphasized the importance of organizing the people for the conditions of war and revolution.

YPJ fighter underlined that the revolution needs to spread across the Middle East in order to reach success. Lastly, Agiri said “Reactionism, particularly that of ISIS, wants to enslave women and the rest of humanity. Today is not the day to sit at home.”