JINHA

RIHA – For six months now, the border vigil in Northern Kurdistan's Suruç area has stood guard over Kobanê's resistance as the city has risen from the ashes.Activists have promised that they will continue their communal vigilof resistance until all of Kobanê is free.

Ever since the first Daesh attacks on Kobanê, over the summer, the villages just north of the border from Kobanê have witnessed a border vigil solidarity action. Activists aim to guard and support the Kobanê resistance and to monitor and block Daesh's actions (which frequently take place with the support of the Turkish state). Now, with the city center liberated and YPG/YPJ forces continuing mop-up operations in the towns and villages of the canton, the border vigil continues.

In July, with Daesh attacking from the west, citizens set up the first vigil to watch over Kobanê in the villages west of Suruç. Then, on September 15th, Daesh began its primary assault—initially from Til Abyad (Girê Spî), on the eastern front, then from three sides (east, west and south). The border vigil has moved from village to village with the moving fronts.

In the first week of October, with fighting intensifying in the city center, the vigil moved to Etmanek, a village directly facing downtown Kobanê. At this point, Turkish security forces began their heaviest attacks on the vigil, using tear gas and batons. Daesh mortars frequently made their way across the border, as well. Solidarity activists, often fleeing Turkish and Daesh repression, moved amongst the eastern villages of Elizer, Qop, Bethê, Zehwan and Dewşen and the western villages of Boydê, Swêdê, Aşme Serxet, Henêrk and Kolik.

As thousands of people flooded into the villages from across Turkey, Kurdistan and the world, the Turkish state stepped up attempts to remove them. Security forces announced that the area around the villages of Etmanek, Zehvan and Mürşitpınar (Kobanê Serxet) would be a military zone. Military armored vehicles and countless blockades were brought in in an attempt to disperse the vigil.

On November 29^th, 2014, a car wired to explode traveled from the Turkish side of the border through the Mürşitpınar border gate, where it blew up. The event drew international attention to the tiny border towns.

On the 134^th day of the Kobanê resistance, in January, the YPG/YPJ forces liberated the city center, leading to a festival atmosphere in the border villages. Thousands headed for the villages to see the TEV-DEM (grassroots Rojava democratic movement) flag waving from Miştenur Hill.

Since the liberation of the city center, the YPG/YPJ has been pushing Daesh back on all fronts, lifting the Daesh occupation of villages and towns throughout the canton.

In the west, the YPG/YPJ reached the Euphrates River, just across from the strategic Daesh-held town of Jarablus, liberating the villages of Zor Mixar, Zaret, and Şêxler.

In the east, the YPG/YPJ are 15 kilometers from the city of Tel Abyad (Girê Spî), creating panic among Daesh members in their "capital" of Rakka. Daesh forces have attempted to slow the advance by opening attacks on Til Xenzir, 30 kilometers from the city of Serêkaniyê in Cizîrê Canton. The YPG/YPJ forces have made the attempt a costly one for Daesh and are now advancing on Tel Abyad from that side as well.

On February 21^st, Turkish forces sought the assistance of YPG/YPJ forces in protecting the Süleyman Şah Tomb, a site on Syrian soil but under Turkish jurisdiction. In a nighttime operation, forces moved the tomb from Kereqozax village to Aşme village. Turkey advertised the operation to its own public as one carried out by Turkish forces, although it was carried out entirely under the protection and control of the YPG/YPJ and the canton government.

Tens of thousands of people from Kobanê are now beginning to return to the city from their temporary homes in the six tent cities in Suruç, set up by the local Democratic Regions Party (DBP)-held municipality. As of now, 30,000 citizens have returned and reconstruction operations are underway.

As long as the resistance continues, the solidarity vigil and communal life in the villages of Suruç will continue alongside it, activists have vowed. Currently, this communal life continues in the villages of Mehser, Miseynter and Elizer.

Through communal labor, the vigil participants have built the Arîn Mîrxan Museum to commemorate those who have lost their lives in struggle. The museum is named for the YPJ fighter who threw herself under a tank in a critical point in the battle of Kobanê. Activists have also opened the Kader Ortakaya Library, named for the young woman shot down by Turkish soldiers while trying to cross the border to join the resistance.

Cooperative gardeninghas enlivened the village with fields of green onions, pepper cress, mint and lettuce. Greenhouses will be up soon and the Şehit Zinar Social Sciences Academy is also planning to open its doors shortly.

Now, in the villages where forming a human chain along the border to greet the resistance has become a daily ritual, vigil participants are preparing for a massive celebration of Newroz, the Kurdish New Year, in the village of Etmanek. The celebration is expected to draw tens of thousands of visitors from political groups and civil society organizations across the region to celebrate the historic resistance.

(ekip/mç/mg/cm)