Fidan and Leyla lighted the way for women

  • 16:51 8 January 2021
  • News
HABER MERKEZİ - Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez were massacred together with Sakine Cansız in 2013 in Paris, the capital of France. Although they passed their lives in exile, they did not stop fighting. These women whose journeys took from Mesopotamia to Europe, lighted on the path of today's women's struggle for freedom.
 
They found life in Mesopotamia and became saplings. The three saplings from three different zones of these lands met on a road. Sakine Cansiz (Sara), Fidan Doğan (Rojbîn) and Leyla Şaylemez (Ronahî) ...
 
The Kurdish freedom struggle and the Kurdish women's freedom struggle witnessed a big  political assassination and massacre when the dates showed January 9, 2013. Kurdish politicians Sakine, Fidan and Leyla were massacred by Ömer Güney, a member of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), at the Kurdistan Information Office near the central train station Gare du Nord in Paris, in France. Kurdish women, Turkish women and women of the world showed their anger in the fields for it. Despite the 8 years that have passed, the anger of the women has never stopped. Where the three women left off, the women's struggle for freedom continued with anger and determination.
 
PKK founder Sakine Cansız's, Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) Paris Representative Fidan Doğan's and European Kurdish Youth Movement member Leyla Şaylemez's comrades all over the world are walking in their path…
 
Like Sakine, Fidan and Leyla have sacrificed their lives to pursue their passion for freedom...
 
February 15 is the turning point for her
 
Fidan Doğan was born on January 17, 1982 in the village of Hançıplak, in Maraş's Elbistan district. Her family had to settle in France when she was only 2 years old. When Fidan was 9 years old, she went on the migration paths to go near her family. Fidan also met refugee camps at this age. After a difficult period, she moved to Europe and completed her secondary and high school education in Strasburg, France. Although she was in the diaspora, she grew up in the Kurdish culture and Kurdish national struggle because of her family.
 
Fidan, who started attending the Strasburg Kurdish Cultural Association in France, took part in cultural activities. PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan on 15 February 1999  was brought to Turkey by an international conspiracy. Fidan was very impressed by this. She overcame her emotional attachment and actively participated in the fight. During this period, she got involved in youth work in Europe and decided to use the name "Rojbîn".
 
She sided with people's diplomacy
 
In 2002, Rojbîn became the Paris Representative of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) on behalf of the women's movement. Carrying out diplomatic activities in many European countries, Fidan had contacts with numerous politicians in Europe while carrying out this duty. However, although she met with so many top politicians, she was one of the believers in public diplomacy. The most striking aspects of her were her seriousness, assertiveness and persuasion in her work. Rojbîn also worked as the spokesperson for the foreign public for the 39-day hunger strike, which was carried out in 2007 with the request of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) to send a delegation to Imrali Island about the poisoning of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.
 
She became Information Bureau Specialist
 
Rojbîn, who developed herself in the field of diplomacy for years, was appointed in 2011 to the responsibility of the Kurdistan Information Office in Paris, where she worked for many years. She tried to announce the war in her land on international platforms with the diplomatic activities she carried out here.
 
Rojbîn became the diplomatic figure of the Kurdish delegation of political and diplomatic institutions from social forums to senates, parliaments to the Council of Europe. She continued to work uninterruptedly until the day she was massacred.
 
A struggle that begins with exile ...
 
Leyla was one of the three women who were massacred in Paris and the youngest one... Leyla Şaylemez's journey to Europe started in Lice district of Diyarbakır before she was born. Leyla's birth coincided with the immigration of her family, from Lice to Mersin as a result of state pressure. Leyla, who was born on January 1, 1989 in Mersin, spent her childhood in Mersin. When the pressure did not disappear from her family’s life here, she started her exile life with her family when she was 8 years old. These exile routes extended to Europe.
 
Leyla and her family, who settled in the city of Halle in the state of Saxony-Anhalt in Germany without any belongings, struggled to survive in difficult conditions for many years. In addition to the education of their children in German schools, her family took their children to Kurdish associations so that they would not stay away from their cultural values. Leyla, who went to Kurdish cultural associations, took part in folklore groups.
 
Leyla, whose anger was growing even more in the face of state pressure and examined the reasons for being in Europe, decided to turn her anger into a fight like Sakine. Leyla, who was actively involved in youth work in 2008, joined the PKK in 2010 after 2 years. She returned to Europe after a while and continued her youth work here. Leyla, who approached with discipline and devotion while fulfilling her responsibilities, all life passed with struggle.
 
Leyla, known for her determination and sincerity in her struggle, was massacred 8 years ago with Sakine and Fidan on January 9...
 
After the massacre, in which Kurds and women shouted their perpetrators for 8 years, the struggle against massacres and  against oppression has grown even more.