JINHA

KOBANÊ –A dignified ceremony was held in Kobanê'sŞehitDicle Cemetery for fiveYPG fighters who recently lost their lives in the operations to liberate the city's villages.

Since the city center was liberated in January, YPG/YPJ forces have continued liberating villages from Daesh occupation one by one.

Canton administrators and thousands of YPG/YPJ fighters attended the ceremony, which began with a minute of silence for all who have lost their lives in the struggle for democracy.

"Now when we say 'Kobanê,' the first thing that comes to mind is our martyrs," said Canton Defense Minister ÎsmetŞêxHesen. Saying that of the people returning to Kobanê, dozens of them joined the YPG/YPJ every day, he urged everyone to follow their example.

"Kobanê was reborn from the ashes. It didn't pass into the gangs' hands. The greatest architects of this were our martyrs," said Mustafa Îto, of the Martyrs' Families Foundation.

Givara Efrin, the younger brother of YPG fighter TolhildanEfrin, spoke briefly to say that he would pick up his brother's gun to defend Kobanê.

The five YPG fighters' names were read and they were interred in the martyrs' ceremony to the sound of ululations and cries of "martyrs never die."

(ekip/gk/cm)