„World Kobanê Day” – In remembrance of one of the most crucial victories for the Kurds 

For nine years, every 1st November, Kurds worldwide celebrate the “World Kobanê day”, invoking the events of the Northern Kurdish town of Kobanê/Ain Al-Arab which gained international recognition after a fierce battle had been fought against ISIS, leading to the latter getting militarily defeated.

The official recognition and remembrance of the “World Kobanê day” can be retraced to the year 2014, when ISIS had occupied and brutally ruled large parts of Northern Syria, with Raqqa as its main stronghold, terrorizing its citizens and perpetrating heinous crimes. During this time, ISIS had spread its rule of terror across Northern Syria and the Autonomous Kurdistan Region in Northern Iraq, with the genocide against the Yazidi population marking the peak of ISIS’ brutality.

Following the launching of large-scale attacks on Kobanê on 15th September 2014 by ISIS and the subsequent siege of the city, ISIS succeeded in capturing many villages, until being incrementally dragged out by Kurdish forces, which recaptured Kobanê in January 2015. The city had been heavily affected by the intense fighting, with 70% of its area being completely destroyed.

With ISIS’ incursion on Kobanê in 2014, multiple intellectuals, journalists, writers and representatives of civil society organizations drafted and signed a joint statement, expressing their undivided solidarity with the people of Kobanê and demanding the immediate provision of humanitarian aid to all affected residents. Simultaneously, thousands of people marched on the streets in many countries all around the world, in solidarity with Kobanê and in condemnation of ISIS.

As the battle of Kobanê and its recapture by Kurdish Forces in 2015 evolved into a pertinent turning point in the overall conflict and fight against ISIS, shattering the myth of ISIS presumed “invincibility”, the city rapidly become the symbol of defiance and Kurdish resistance. This crucial developments in fact, precipitated people all around the world to march in solidarity with Kobanê and support the heroic and fierce resistance against ISIS, which every 1st November since 2014, is now commemorated and remembered.