"Whether in the resistance in Afrin or in the liberation offensives against ISIS, comrade Avrîn was the voice of the women's liberation struggle with her weapon and her camera," said the YPJ in memory of the fallen war reporter Avrîn Mahsum.
The Women's Defence Units (YPJ) released a statement and a video in memory of Avrîn Mahsum. Avrîn Mahsum, whose real name is Bêrîvan Mustafa, fell a martyr in an attack by the Turkish army in the Medya Defence Zones on 12 September 2022. Before her death, the female fighter from Afrin had worked for the press office of the YPJ in Rojava for years and most recently in the press centre of the Free Women's Troops (YJA Star) in the mountains of Kurdistan.
In an obituary published on Saturday, the YPJ Press Office said: "Thanks to comrades like Avrîn Mahsum, the tradition of the Free Press has spread and taken root in Rojava. The Free Press has paid a high price to expose the dirty occupation policy and the true face of the Turkish state to the whole world. Comrade Avrîn was one of our companions who followed in the footsteps of Gurbetelli Ersöz and Apê Musa [Musa Anter] and inherited their legacy."
YPJ said that Avrîn Mahsum worked for the Rojava Revolution from 2014 onwards and has always been both a freedom fighter and a war reporter ever since. As a militant, she fought on the front lines against ISIS, and at the same time she reported on the war and the revolution for the YPJ Press Office. “She never lost hope, even in seemingly hopeless situations. This became particularly clear when she lost touch with her unit during the Turkish invasion of Afrin in 2018 and hid in the war zone for 26 days in an injured state. In the bloody chaos of the invasion, she was declared dead and she was rescued after barely four weeks.”
"Whether in the resistance in Afrin or in the liberation offensives against ISIS, comrade Avrîn was the voice of the women's liberation struggle with her gun and her camera. From 2020, Avrîn Mahsum continued her struggle in the mountains of Kurdistan and took a defining role in the resistance against the Turkish occupation attacks. Her enthusiasm in the fight for freedom lasted until the last moment of her life,” said the YPJ.
The YPJ Press Office stated that the struggle of Avrîn Mahsum and all the martyrs of the Free Press will continue without interruption, adding: "We will not pause for a moment and will lead the struggle led by comrade Avrîn to victory."
