Important role of mothers in Rojava Revolution

Çınar Salih, a mother who has been supporting the fighters since the beginning of the Rojava Revolution and lost her two sons in the fight ISIS, says she will continue to struggle.

SORGUL ŞÊXO

Hasakah- The war that broke out in the Middle East deepened in the territory of Kurdistan. Kurdish people of all ages fought for the revolution that has been going on in Rojava for 10 years. Women, particularly mothers, were front lines in this fight. Çınar Salih, one of the patriotic mothers in the Til Temir district of Hasakah, a city of North and East Syria, was one of these women.

Çınar Salih went to battlefields along with some mothers and cooked for the fighters. She spoke to NuJINHA about the conflicts in the district and how she participated in the resistance as a mother.

“I was in solidarity with the fighters”

Speaking about when the Baathist regime forces were taken out from the district, Çınar Salih told us that she was the first woman, who participated in the revolution and in the establishment of the council in the district on July 19, 2012.

“I never regret that I have carried out the activities since then. The first three years were very difficult; I played my role in the war, establishment of the council and organization of society. After the Baathist regime forces were taken out from Til Temir, we lived under siege for 20 days; the road between Hasakah-Til Temir and Qamishlo-Til Temir was blocked by ISIS. The region was surrendered from all sides and it was impossible to get in and out. I cooked for the internal security forces for three months.”

“I lost my eldest son in the attacks on Til Temir”

Underlining that the resistance waged in the region was the first of its kind all around the world, Çınar Salih said,”Many revolutions have taken place in the world but the Rojava Revolution is a different revolution because it was led by women. ISIS targeted Til Temir on February 23, 2015 at around four in the morning. But the district and its villages were liberated from ISIS in three months. On that day, my eldest son Bahoz was martyred. At six in the morning, I took up my gun and knocked on the doors of my neighbors and woke them up to take their own measures.”

“I was cooking for the fighters while my son martyred”

Indicating that she was cooking for the fighters along with other women when her son martyred, Çınar Salih said:

“I and 17 members of Kongra Star decided to leave the district and help the fighters while my son was fighting ISIS. We were asked to cook for the fighters and we started cooking for them. We cooked in the conflicts. We cooked from seven in the morning to 15:00. After resting for a while, we took up our weapons and defended the neighborhoods from evening hours until four in the morning. While some of us were working at the hospital to help the wounded fighters, others were protecting the kitchen and neighborhoods. At that time, we cooked for four or five thousand fighters every day.”

“I lost my youngest son in the resistance of Zap and Metina”

Speaking about her resistance in the revolution, Çınar Salih said, “We also supported the fighters resisting the attacks in Afrin in January 2018. We went to Afrin four times in two months to support them. I have participated in this resistance since 2012 and as a mother, I will always support the fighters. Bahoz was martyred, Jinda is a member of the YPJ Star now and I lost my youngest son Salih in the resistance of Zap and Metina against the occupying Turkish forces in 2018.”

“We defeated our enemy”

Emphasizing that she will always fight the invaders and stand by the fighters, Çınar Salih said, “I promise on behalf of my two martyred sons that I will always follow their path. The Turkish state has been trying to defeat us for more than 10 years by threatening and attacking us. Despite all the dirty methods of the enemy, we defeated our enemy. We are stronger than before. We will defend our land to the end.”