Asiti Rebin, a young fighter from Ireland, said that “In Kurdistan, there is a strong emphasis placed on internationalism within the struggle.”

I first heard about Rojava in around 2014, said the young fighter who spoke to ANF about his motivations to join the revolutionary struggle in northern Syria.

“There was a lot of discussion about Rojava, many people were talking about coming here to support the resistance. I wanted to come to Rojava because it is an example of a 21st century Revolution, somewhere where a real change is being made on the ground,” said Asiti, who further stated the following:

“In Ireland we have a strong memory of colonial oppression and armed struggle against it. Also, most people who know about Rojava would also support the Palestinian cause.

One of the first things I saw when I came to Rojava were the celebrations of 8 March. It was just truly impressive to see the strength and also the joy that was amongst the women’s movement.

I think that internationalism has always been a central tenet of the socialist movement. In Kurdistan, there is a strong emphasis placed on internationalism within the struggle here. The structures are very open for internationalists to come. They tell you, ‘come and be a part of a revolution and see it as your own’.

The struggle is not just in Kurdistan but everywhere in the world. It was really something special to be amongst friends here and to be a part of collective life.

Of course, the ideas of Abdullah Öcalan were a huge part of my decision to come here and to be a part of the revolution.

What I have seen so far in my two weeks is that the women’s struggle is at the forefront of the revolution. To see collective solidarity and love for one another among the YPJ and women in other units was impactful.

The conditions here have been very difficult. The people here are under attack from Turkey and ISIS. There are drone attacks against both civilian and military targets. The Turkish state is funding jihadist groups including Al-Qaeda and ISIS to attack the civilian population here. Very recently we saw a massive attack by ISIS on a prison where ISIS detainees remain. Hundreds of people lost their lives. One of the other things I saw here is that Turkey is controlling the water and electricity supply that affects people’s lives.

There are things we can do without coming here to Rojava. We can try to put pressure on the arms industry which supplies arms to Turkey and put pressure diplomatically and politically on the Turkish state. We can also build revolution in our countries because the revolution is everywhere,” Asthy concluded.