SÎLVA EL-ÎBRAHÎM

Manbij- Asya Îsmaîl, a member of the Zenûbiya Women's Community and a displaced person from Serêkaniye, spoke to NuJINHA about the ongoing Turkish attacks in northeastern Syria. Stating that they experienced resistance in Serêkaniyê in 2012, Asya Îsmaîl said, “We paid a high price but we succeeded. We were subjected to brutal attacks for about four months. However, we supported each other to fail the attacks. Women played a great role in the resistance by helping the injured, cooking and taking up arms. We joined hands and failed the attacks.”

“The people did not want to leave their homes”

Emphasizing that women always seek peace, Asya Îsmaîl, “We learned how to protect ourselves. The armed factions attempted to enter our region and women played an important role in preventing them. We established our Autonomous Administration and women's movements thanks to our resistance and unity. But Turkey used brutal methods in its latest offensive; we were subjected to non-stop attacks. For this reason, we had to leave our homes and go to safe areas. The people did not want to leave their homes but they did when the People's Defense Units decided to withdraw to protect civilians because Turkey always targeted civilians and killed many civilians.”

“The attitude of the Syrian regime is shameful”

Stating that Turkey targets everyone, Asya Îsmaîl called on people, “Resist the Turkish attacks and support your defense units. Thus, you can protect your cities. The city of Manbij is a city of revolution.”

Speaking about the attitude of the Syrian regime against the ongoing Turkish attacks, she said, “The attitude of the Syrian regime is shameful. Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdoğan aims to annihilate the Kurdish people and divide Syria. He aims to occupy all cities in Syria. Whole world knows how the people in NE Syria resist occupation. The end of Erdoğan will be in Syria. If the Syrian regime had accepted the dialogue with the Autonomous Administration, Turkey would not have been able to occupy a single inch of our territory.”

“We should protect our region together”

Emphasizing the unity of the people in NE Syria against Turkey’s attacks, she said, “The unity of women shows the unity of people very well. Now, women have their own organizations and participate in all spheres of life. They have a joint cause; protecting themselves. The children of this region are members of the Autonomous Administration and military forces. Only the unity of people can prevent the occupation. I am against the conflicts among political parties. The political parties and leaders should unite against the occupation. They should not destroy the dreams of people for their own interests. We are Kurds and have the same destiny. We can protect our region together as we did against ISIS. We should all unite and strengthen our foreign relations and bring the regime to the table for dialogue.”