ROJAVA – Sarya Özgür, the first female international martyr in Rojava, says the following on her first visit to the region: “Coming to Rojava and participating in the resistance here is of great importance for this bond. We are based on the motto ‘Wherever there is an oppressed, we are there’. Rojava is an important place to fight for all the oppressed and exploited by leading them.”
In the second part of our file, we will talk about the life of Sarya Özgür (Sibel Bulut), one of the commanders of the MLKP (Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Turkey), who lost her life in Kobanê, and her struggle that goes back to Kobanê.
STARTED HER FIGHT AT A YOUNG AGE
She was born in 1986 in Dersim, Bakûre Kurdistan. She began to take part in the organized struggle at a young age. She fought in cities such as Istanbul and Van. She also served as the editor-in-chief of Atılım newspaper published in Turkey for a period. Known by her comrades for her dedication and clarity of purpose, Sarya constantly states that the liberation of the Turkish people depends on the freedom of the Kurdish people. She evaluated this situation as ‘there is a connection of fate’. When she came to Rojava in October 2013, she emphasized this and used the following expressions:
“We have a fateful connection. Coming to Rojava and joining the resistance here is of great importance for this bond. In addition, we communists also have a duty. ‘Wherever there is an oppressed, we are there. No matter where in the world or in any country, we base ourselves on the motto. To be with all the oppressed and exploited. To lead and fight for them. This is the importance of Rojava for us.”
‘FIGHT ON THE FRONTLINES, DON’T STOP, TEACH, IMPRESS’
“I came to the revolution, I came to create a new Sarya. I left the other Sarya beyond its borders,” and at first stays at the People’s Defense Units (YPG) headquarters to get used to the region for a while. Sarya Özgür, who started her first fight in Rojava in a mobile battalion, is at the forefront of all operations and actions. In line with the requirements of the struggle, she went to the heavy weapons battalion two months later. Despite the language problem she had in the region, she was quite fascinating in communicating with people and making an impact in her environment. She was incredible at pushing herself and those around her to the determination to learn and grow further. She didn’t pretend to know if there was something she didn’t know, but she was making an effort to learn it. She was a commander who learned while teaching.
‘IT IS HUMANITY DUTY, I SHOULD BE IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS JUSTIFIED FIGHT’
“It is the duty of every honorable person to be with Kobanê. Everyone with a conscience should stand with the people of Kobanê in this war. As a communist, I must be in the middle of this just fight,” she demanded to move to Kobanê, and with a great dedication and international spirit, she moved from Cizîrê Canton to Kobanê on 16 October 2014.
As a woman fighting at the front, as a female commander, as a revolutionary, Martyr Sarya wholeheartedly believed that women’s freedom should be at the forefront of the revolution. Sarya said at that time;
“The Rojava Revolution is also a women’s revolution, women are always seen as the second sex. They are oppressed and despised. The severity of this pressure is more in the Middle East. With the Rojava Revolution, women came to the fore. Women took to the streets. They took up arms and began to fight. They are fighting at the front, they are martyred, they are commanding. And they really show tremendous willpower. They continue the fight with determination. It is the same in the Cizire region, the same in Kobanê.”
SAYING ‘WELCOME TO SAKİNE CANSIZ’
Martyr Sarya Özgür was martyred in the resistance against ISIS gangs in the southern front of Kobanê on December 12, 2014. She became the first internationalist woman to be martyred in Rojava. In her death, she remained true to her dreams and intentions in life.
While her mother, Zekiye Bulut, commemorates all the revolutionary martyrs who fell martyr in Kobanê, she says, “I will be the dust and soil of their feet,” and her father, Murat Bulut, said, “My daughter came here as a revolutionary with the words, ‘Everyone who is revolutionary must be here’ and fought. We are proud of her and all her martyred comrades”. While her body was buried in Dersim, she was sent off to eternity by saying “Welcome to Sakine Cansız”.
LIVES WITH THE FIGHT AND THE NAME IN MANY PLACES
The name of Martyr Sarya Özgür, full of resistance and struggle, was given to a battalion affiliated with MLKP on a street in the center of free Kobanê. While the people are constantly commemorating him on that street in Kobanê, his MLKP comrades continue their struggle by saying “Comrade Sarya’s weapon is now in the hands of his comrades and he will not be silent until victory”.
Her party comrades said, “She was more sensitive when it comes to women, she believed that women’s education should be given importance. Freedom is a must for women’s comradeship! It was an expression of her strong belief that he mentioned the Rojava Revolution as a women’s revolution at every opportunity and in every speech she made. She saw the real reflections, the will for change from her own practice. She could not tolerate the dominant approaches developed by male comrades. Her reflex was equal not only for herself but for all her female comrades in this regard. She was aware that an approach that weakens a woman in the environment would weaken not only that woman, but all women. She was also a struggle against their passivity in the face of the problem. As women, we have to protect each other, but there is always someone to protect. Therefore, it is imperative that every woman has the strength and ability to protect and defend herself.”
Sarya Özgürler and many of her comrades made Kobanê a place of victory today. Maybe they could not join the victory dance, but the people of Kobanê will not forget them and their comrades will never lower their flag of struggle. The people of Kobanê will remember him and his endless struggle every time he passes by the Martyr Sarya Özgür Street, after which she is named…
TOMORROW: International Martyrs of the Rojava Revolution – III : Rojvan Kobanê
International martyrs of the Rojava Revolution -I-: Paramaz Kızılbaş
