Kader Ortakkaya was shot dead by Turkish soldiers yesterday as she crossed the border intending to join the Kobanê resistance and support the civilian population. Ahmet G. and Muhammed Hemed, who were in the same group with Kader Ortakkaya as they crossed the border, said the troops had fired at them without giving any warning.

28-year-old Kader Ortakkaya, from Siverek in Urfa province, who was a student at Marmara University in Istanbul, came from Istanbul to join the solidarity vigil with Kobanê 25 days ago. At around 12:30 yesterday she was crossing the border in the village of Boydê in Suruç district with a group intending to help the civilians on the other side of the border. Kader Ortakkaya was hit in the back of the head by shots fired by Turkish soldiers. Kader Ortakkaya was the only woman in the group that crossed the border.

Ahmet G. and Muhammed Hemed told ANF what happened.

“The soldiers fired directly at us. Kader was hit from behind”

Ahmet G. said he was in a group of between 15 and 20 people who crossed the border in the village of Boydê at around 12:30 yesterday in order to support the resistance in Kobanê and assist civilians. He said: “As we crossed the border Turkish soldiers attacked us with teargas. After we had passed the borderline they opened fire. The bullets were raining down on us. They were shooting directly at us. We all ran in different directions. As the shooting continued I saw Kader fall in front of me. There was blood everywhere, but she was still alive. Then she was still. The bullet went through the back of her head and came out through her face.”

“People from Kobanê waiting at the border ran to help”

Ahmet G. said three people in the group had been wounded during the attack, one in the leg, one in the foot and one in the shoulder. He said that after the firing had stopped they had tried to leave the area carrying Kader’s body and that they had been helped by people waiting by their vehicles in the Tel Shair area. He added: “They took Kader to the hospital in Kobanê, but by then she had died.”

Kader said to us, “This is not enough, we should be in Kobanê”

Ahmet G. said he had met Kader at the resistance vigil, and that she had encouraged them from the beginning to go to Kobanê, adding: “She said: ‘We must go, it is important to maintain the vigil here, but it is necessary to go and join the resistance in Kobanê. It is not enough here.’”

Muhammed Hemed said that while ISIS gang members cross the border whenever they like, there was only one conclusion that could be reached regarding the murder of a young woman who crossed the border to provide humanitarian aid and join the resistance in Kobanê. “That is the hostility of the Turkish state to the Kurdish people and the Kobanê resistance.”

“When Kader was shot she had clothes she had brought for children in her bag”

Muhammed Hemed said he had met Kader at the vigil in Mahser village, adding: “Kader took a great interest in the people coming from Kobanê. She helped convey aid from the municipality. She was constantly busy. But Kader said at every opportunity that she wanted to go to Kobanê, so we decided to go there together. She had clothes for children in her bag which she wanted to give them herself, but unfortunately she was murdered before she could do that.”

“Young people should join the Kobanê resistance”

Ahmet G. and Muhammed Hemed said they would realise the dream Kader had been unable to realise, join the Kobanê resistance, and endeavour to be worthy of the memory of their friend. They called on young people in North Kurdistan and Kobanê to respond to Kader’s murder by providing even more support to the Kobanê resistance.