The YPG /YPJ (People’s/Women’s Defense Units) International released a statement marking the tenth anniversary of the 19 July Rojava Revolution, stating the following:

“On the 19th July 2012, exactly 10 years ago, the revolution in Rojava started. A revolution that gave hope to the people in Kurdistan and from there spread it all over the world. A revolution that, on the basis of grass-roots democracy, women's liberation and ecology, gave answers to the multi-ethnic and multi-religious backgrounds in the Middle East and proposed an alternative besides the failing system of capitalism and nation states that is exploiting the planet and destroying the values of humanity. A revolution that from its very beginning was confronted with daily attacks and embargoes from all sides.

Here we can find a light of democracy and a self-responsible and free life. A place of sisterhood of the people and stability for a region that was for centuries threatened by war and destruction and had become a playground of the power games of the western world. In the Rojava Revolution, the vanguard role and participation of women in all sectors of life and self-defense, especially in times of war, became an historical role model.

In the Rojava Revolution, women play a vanguard role. In particular, their participation in self-defense did not just shatter the patriarchal understanding that women can’t protect themselves but gave inspiration to women all over the world to fight for their liberation. During the revolution, women in Rojava built women's justice councils, the co-chair system that guarantees women's participation in all political bodies, an autonomous women's economy, education structures and their own self-defense units that profit all of society. The participation of internationalist women who came from all over the world to protect this revolution shows that these are universal achievements that are not restricted to Rojava or the Middle East. Here in Rojava, women found concrete methods of liberation, which mark a big difference to former revolutions and that are one of the main factors of victory.

On this day we commemorate the nearly 11000 martyrs and more than 20000 war-disabled friends, that gave their blood and their lives to defend this revolution and the world against ISIS. Internationalists from all over the world played an important role in this war. A huge number of them got injured and more then 40 comrades lost their lives, like Ivana Hoffmann, Anna Campell, Konstantin Gedig and Lorenzo Orsetti. They are our shining stars, and we are walking in their paths.

After the worldwide glorified defeat of ISIS, nowadays we are confronted with daily attacks by NATO member Turkey and numerous embargoes, like for water or different goods, that, before anything else, are harming the people. Besides that, the democratic confederation that is still in a process of building, has to take the huge burden of dealing with thousands of remaining ISIS fighters that are not taken back by their home countries. To which extent this can become a danger for the whole world, was shown only some months ago in the war of Heseke. Here again it was the people of Rojava and the fighters of YPG, YPJ and SDF that protected the world from another uprising of the Islamist power. This war also showed once more the backing of ISIS by the Turkish state that is continuing ethnical cleansing and its genocidal politics with non-ending attacks, not only on military targets but especially on civilians.

While YPG, YPJ and our friends from SDF defended the world from a threat that was feared by the most powerful western states, now the world must take responsibility to defend the people and the revolution here in Rojava.

That's why we made our ways to be a part of this revolution. Our promise and main duty of upcoming times is to liberate occupied territories like Efrin, Serekaniye and Gire Spi and to liberate the people there from cruelty and terror.

We call on all internationalists all over the world to come and join the revolution and the defense of a great hope by taking part in the ranks of YPG and YPJ International.”