Qamishlo municipal massacre increased our determination to develop work

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the massacre of the People's Municipality in the city of Qamishlo, which occurred shortly after the declaration of  AANES in Rojava in 2014 and one day before the anniversary of the March 12 Qamishlo massacre, which was followed by an uprising.

On the afternoon of March 11, 2014, ISIS mercenaries launched an attack on the municipality building, which was located in the middle of the central market on Al Wahda Street, with machine guns, stormed the building and threw grenades into the rooms, causing the martyrdom of 11 male and female members of the municipality.

And the martyrs are; “Ibrahim Aziz, Roshan Muhammad Zaki, Fahd Abdul Aziz, Musa Azad Musa, Ali Bora, Jihan Murad, Amina Bilal, Halabja Khalil, Farhad Abdul Aziz Othman, Aladdin Abdul Ilah, and Awaz Mahmoud Muhammad.”

On the 10th anniversary of the massacre, Berivan Omar, vice co-chairmanship of the Union of Municipalities in Jazira canton, says that the municipality of Qamishlo was one of the first municipalities established after the outbreak of the July 19 revolution, and it was an expression of the radical change in the people’s institutions following the revolution.

The People’s Municipality, in its work, structure and organization, has moved away from the prevailing concept of institutions, in which women play a pioneering and pivotal role, and it represents the implementation of the people’s desires through the proposals and criticisms that arrive through the communes in every district, village, town, district and city.

Berivan Omar adds: “The goal of targeting the People’s Municipality in Qamishlo was clear, which was to strike AANES' project, the women’s struggle and movement, and the co-chairmanship system, as a result of which the first female municipal administrator, the martyr Halabja Khalil, was martyred.”

From 20 male and female members to hundreds and 57 municipalities on Jazira.

On the tenth anniversary of the massacre, the People’s Municipality in Qamishlo, which was launched with 20 members, sought over 10 years to develop its work and employed hundreds of people in various offices and committees that provide services to citizens.

Its workers contributed to the establishment and organization of municipalities in various regions that were liberated from ISIS mercenaries, and the number of municipalities in Jazira canton is 57 municipalities, and in implementation of the provisions of the social contract of North and East Syria, it established the Union of Municipalities of Jazira canton on February 17, and is preparing for municipal elections at the regional level of North and East Syria.

Concerning this, Berivan Omar says: “The municipality faced the attack with more insistence on organizing and expanding the scope of its work to become one of the main institutions in the democratic project, in addition to working to establish democratic municipalities and municipalities specifically for women, and the project that is being worked on, including the establishment of the Union of Municipalities, is a positive answer to be targeted.”

  Berivan Omar added: “We will work at this stage, and on the tenth anniversary of the targeting, to strengthen our organization and develop our work further through the Union of Municipalities and through direct democratic elections in which the people themselves will participate in choosing their representatives in the municipalities.”

She concluded: "We will do what is required of us and we will develop the municipalities through direct democracy with the participation of the people through the elections that will be organized soon."

T/ Satt.

ANHA