SORGÜL ŞÊXO

Zirgan (Abu Rasin)- Fighters in North and East Syria supported by people have been waging a historic resistance on the front lines against the Turkish attacks. They fight against the Turkish state as they did against the Baathist regime. Since January 8, the people from different cities of North and East Syria have been holding a vigil on the Tishreen Dam to protest the ongoing attacks of the Turkish state and Turkish-backed factions. The attacks on the dam have killed 22 civilians and injured dozens since January 8, 2025.

Every area of North and East Syria has turned into an area of resistance. The women of Zirgan (Abu Rasin), a town in the Jazira Canton of North and East Syria, have spent their lives by resisting. 90-year-old Yazî Xelef and 70-year-old Meryem Hamid are two of them.

‘Erdoğan has used all forms of oppression against us’

Yazî Xelef, who lost her husband eight years ago, has 12 children and 29 grandchildren. Although she lives alone in Zirgan, she is determined not to leave her hometown. “I am not scared of Erdoğan’s bombardments,” she told NuJINHA. “I do not want to be killed in one of Erdoğan’s bombardments. Erdoğan has used all forms of oppression against us. Many young people were killed. I feel like food is stuck in my throat because those who were killed in the Turkish attacks were our children.”

‘I will stay here until I die’

Yazî Xelef drew attention to the attempts of the Turkish state to invade North and East Syria and said, “We are not in the territories of Türkiye, so what do they (Turkish forces) do in our territory? This territory is our homeland and we will not leave our homeland despite the ongoing Turkish attacks. I will stay here until I die.”

She lost her husband and her son

70-year-old Meryem Hamid, mother of nine, was born and grew up in Zirgan. “My husband and my son were killed while defending their homeland,” she told us. “My husband was killed while fighting ISIS in Manbij. My son was martyred in Qandil; we did not receive even his body. They both were martyred while defending the dignity of our homeland. Therefore, I will stay in our homeland until the end."