YPJ calls on the UN and international community to act for Çiçek Kobane

The deportation of Çiçek Kobane to Turkey and her sentencing to life sentence violate international law and the law of war, the YPJ said, calling on the United Nations to act.

The Women's Defense Units (YPJ) called on the United Nations to act for Çiçek Kobanê. The YPJ fighter, whose civil name is Dozgin Temo, was sentenced to life sentence in Turkey on Tuesday. The court considered it proven that the young woman acted to destroy Turkey's state unity and integrity and committed murders. The YPJ said that this constitutes a violation of international law and the law of war and demanded her immediate repatriation.

Çiçek Kobane is a Syrian citizen. In October 2019, she fell into captivity with the jihadist militia Ahrar al-Sham in Ain Issa, northern Syria. The grouping is part of the Islamist proxy army "SNA" (Syrian National Army) established by Turkey and as such is involved in the invasion of Rojava. After her capture, the Kurdish woman was taken from Kobanê across the border into Turkish territory. Since then, she has been held in a high-security prison in the province of Urfa.

The statement by YPJ on the case of Çiçek Kobane includes the following:

“Our friend, who was taken prisoner in an international war, should enjoy all international laws regarding prisoners of war, and should be defended within the scope of international human rights law. But the process turned out to be the opposite.

In coordination with the gangs, the occupant Turkish state transfers Syrian citizens to Turkey and holds them illegally there. The unlawful and deliberate arrests by the occupant Turkish state have recently been proven and condemned by the United Nations and international human rights organizations. These organizations also called on the Turkish state to stop its crimes against humanity. But the occupant Turkish state ignored the calls of the UN and international human rights organizations. Moreover, our friend was unlawfully put on trial and sentenced to life imprisonment.

We call on all international organizations, especially the UN member states, to condemn the crimes committed by the Turkish state and to release all prisoners.

Such crimes will never crush our insistence, and we will increase our struggle against all kinds of oppression and occupation. The Turkish state which supported ISIS and wants it to revive, seeks revenge. In this context, the Turkish state supports ISIS secret cells in the region. It is no coincidence that this court decision was announced on the anniversary of the liberation of Baghouz from ISIS gangs.

On this basis, we call on all women's organizations to take a stand against violations of women's rights. The withdrawal of the Turkish state from the Istanbul Convention, which protects women's rights and aims to hold criminals to account, proves the crimes it has committed.

In this context, we state that we will follow in the footsteps of our friends who were taken prisoner in the jails of the occupant Turkish state and that we will enhance our struggle for human values ​​and women's freedom."