100,000 people honor martyrs of Turkish airstrikes on Tishrin Dam sit-in

Today, a massive crowd, numbering in the tens of thousands from Jazera Canton, gathered to bid farewell to the Kurdish theater artist Jumaa Khalil (Bavi Tayyar), members of the Martyrs’ Families Council Kifo Othman and Akram Rikho, the co-chair of the Democratic Union Party office in Qamishlo, Maniha Haidar, members of the Qamishlo City Council Muzafar Muhammad and Abdul Qadir Ibrahim, who were martyred due to the Turkish airstrike on protesters at Tishrin Dam, as well as an SDF fighter, Khabat, who was martyred while confronting cells of the Ba’athist regime and the National Defense Forces in Deir ez-Zor.

The comrades of the martyrs carried their coffins on their shoulders and proceeded toward the Martyr Dalil Sarokhan Cemetery for the funeral ceremony.

Upon arrival at the cemetery, thousands of Kurds, Arabs, Armenians, and Syriacs, along with representatives of political parties, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria in Jazera Canton, Kurdish and Arab tribal leaders, the Syrian Democratic Council, and religious figures, were waiting for the funeral procession. They chanted, raising victory signs, "With our soul and blood, we sacrifice for you, martyr,".

The brass band played, the mourners observed a minute of silence in honor of the martyrs. Then, Fawza Youssef, a member of the co-chairs of the Democratic Union Party, said: "From Qamishlo, the capital of the martyrs, we salute the resistance of the Syrian Democratic Forces, the People’s Protection Units, the Women’s Protection Units, and our people. Long live the people who struggle for their freedom and dignity."

Fawza Youssef explained that the Turkish state seeks to deny the existence of the communities in North and East Syria in the new Syria. She added: "They want to impose a centralized state where we have no rights. We are resisting for our freedom and dignity, and we will not submit to living in slavery."

She emphasized the necessity of guaranteeing the rights of the Kurdish people in Syria and stopping this war, stating: "We are open to solutions, but if they insist on war, we are ready for it. We will not allow the fall of Kobanî or Rojava. This is our pledge to our people."

For his part, Mohammed Mullah Rashid al-Gharzi, the co-chair of the Democratic Islam Conference in North and East Syria, said that Tishrin Dam "has become the Dam of Resistance, the impenetrable dam against enemies, the Dam of the Martyrs."

Meanwhile, Rehan Loqo, the spokesperson for Kongra Star, pointed out that the Turkish occupation state continues to target the peoples of North and East Syria, and that this is met with heroic resistance from the sons and daughters of the targeted communities. She stressed the importance of continuing the resistance.

Additionally, Kurdish poet Ferhad Mardi stated that the people of North and East Syria are closer than ever to achieving their rights. Addressing the martyr, theater artist Jumaa Khalil (Bavi Tayyar), he said: "If only you were here to see the crowds marching behind you and your comrades out of love and pride in your resistance."

Mardi highlighted what the Kurdish theater artist (Bavi Tayyar) left behind by heading to the dam and participating in the resistance there, saying: "This is a message to us and to all artists in Kurdistan, that theater is not just on stage, but also in real life. This message says: Here I am, I exist at Tishrin Dam. The true comedy of the final act, we witnessed it at Tishrin Dam."

During the ceremony, the martyrdom certificates of the seven martyrs were read and handed over to their families before their comrades carried their bodies on their shoulders to be laid to rest in the Martyr Dalil Sarokhan Cemetery.

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ANHA