Notes from Afrin's Jindires district

Against the bombings of the Turkish state and their ISIS-Al Nusra gangs, the people of Afrin’s Jindires district are on the streets flashing victory signs.

The Resistance of the Age against invasion attacks in Afrin has continued for a month. The people in the Jindires region are on the streets, from the youngest to the eldest, and give a message to the invaders that they will not abandon their lands.

After some rainfall, the residents of Afrin’s Jindires district were sitting under the sun and children were playing on the streets, despite the sound of bombs falling in the district center.

In the first street between the Yelanqoz neighborhood and the center, dozens of people including children were chanting victory slogans with great morale.



A citizen named Abu Henan said the Turkish state is trying to push civilians out of their homes and continued: “The Resistance of the Age has completed its first month, the Turkish state can’t advance. I have 4 children in the YPG, they are defending their lands, their freedom, their future. How can I leave my house and abandon my children? If all four of my children are martyred, I will pick up arms and fight the enemy. We saw what happened in Shengal. We won’t let that happen in Afrin. We will either die here, or we will prevail. That is our decision. If we don’t spill our blood for our country and our freedom when necessary, how can we live in dignity?”

Continuing to walk around in Jindires, we asked children playing in the streets if they were going to school. The expected answer we have all witnessed came right away: “Yes, we are in school, but the Turkish army and their gangs have laid ruin to our schools. We want to go back to our studies, but the Turkish state does not let us.”

The children can’t go to school, because the schools have been demolished. They don’t go to school, because their city is being destroyed. They don’t go to school, because there are those who want to steal their childhood away from them. Because the invaders are killing them. But children are the future of any society. So, when children are killed, it’s the future of a people that is being massacred.

We continued in the Jindires district. Along with the sound of mortar shells, a woman on the street accompanied us. She flashed the victory sign. We walked, and she talked: “With our resistance, we will determine our fate. We will prevail against invaders, victory is ours. We will not let invaders take our lands.”

Koma Zilan members who are studying traditional dance in the Jindires Cultural and Arts Center said they continue their training despite the war and the attacks.



A woman was sitting in front of her house, watching us. We approached her. She was confident and proud. She spoke, as if weighing every word and the message they give: “We are not afraid of the Turkish army and their gangs. We are right, that is why we will prevail.”



The people of Jindires, like all the people of Afrin, continue to resist the Turkish state.