Sekîne Cansız, alias Sara, a leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), was assassinated in Paris, France, on January 9, 2013, by the Turkish state and its allies, along with two other female activists. Cansız’s martyrdom had a huge impact on the world stage. Of course, Kurdish women were the most affected.
A History of Revolutionary Resistance:
A clear name for anyone who follows the affairs of women and the freedom revolution, she is a woman from the city of “Dêrsim”, which is located in Northern Kurdistan, a city whose name was changed by the Turks to “Tunceli”. After the suppression of her last rebellion 20 years before her birth in 1958, which knew how to take revenge on her city from the Turkish consciousness, this city has seen many massacres at the hands of the modern Turkish state, and most recently the Dersim massacre in 1938, where thousands of men and women were killed and children were enrolled in schools specifically to become Turks in order to change their identity, consciousness, thoughts and culture.
Sekine Cansız has a strong personality and a strong personality:
She completed her education stages with hard work and success in the city of Dersim, until she reached university, she grew up; Day by day, the contradictions in her consciousness increased, until the day she met the consciousness and thoughts of the leader of the Kurdish people through her friends, and through her participation, she found all the answers to the contradictions that were searching for her, from then on, Sekîne Cansız shone a light in the darkness. She was also one of the first women to break the barriers of silence and took the name “Sara”, and with a strong will, she set out to achieve two main goals: building a life, a free Kurdistan and creating free women.
The fighter Sekîne Cansız was very influential with her determination, organization and personal skills:
During the September 12, 1980 coup, Sakine Cansiz was arrested in Turkey and held in the notorious Diyarbakir prison, in the notorious cell number 5, which was known for its pressure and hardship, due to the organized activities in all the cities of northern Kurdistan. After her arrest, Sakine began a prison resistance that was characterized by a very diverse change, where revolutionary struggles were emphasized, even though comrades Mezlum Dogan, Kemal Pir and Xeyri Durmuş and many heroic resistance fighters were martyred in Diyarbakir prison. Sakine was released in 1991, after spending more than 11 years in prison.
“My life was always a war” is the title of the book she wrote, in which the content of which reveals the transformation of the reality of life, and the love of the Kurdish people, despite the courage she has written about the truth of the life of a revolutionary and struggling woman, the book has been distributed in all parts of Kurdistan and other countries, and in 2006 a documentary film was made about her life.
On April 9, 2013, Sakine Cansiz (Sara) and her friends, Fidan Dogan (Rojbin), a representative of the National Congress (KNK), and Leyla Şeylemez (Ronahî), a representative of the revolutionary youth movement, were killed in Paris. While they were in the building of the Kurdish Association. In the capital of France, Paris, Sakine Cansiz was formally buried in her birthplace in Dersim, with the participation of tens of thousands of Kurdish girls and boys and other peoples of Turkey and the world.
Yes, Sakine gave her entire life full of war to the freedom of women and the people of Kurdistan. Therefore, she herself said about her war and dreams: “As a person, I love war very much. I do not believe that war lasts for a certain time and then ends. I say that in my dreams, too, the war will last until the end. That is, in an independent Kurdistan, war must be fought in the greatest and most successful way. My greatest hope is a Kurdistan where war is fought, there is a great war and this war and struggle is carried out on the basis of equality and freedom.” Of course, one can never describe the personality of Sakine Cansiz in words and writings. Because she is a great seeker of truth and a great fighter for the liberation of love. She fought for the freedom of women throughout her life with her war and struggle and in every moment of her life. That is why her companion of 40 years, the Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan, says about the life and struggle of Sakine Cansiz (Sara) ‘Sarah’s life is an example. Women’s liberation is Sara’s struggle’.
