JINHA

WAN – Sibel Abo (nom de guerre Zîlan Piling), who lost her life in the resistance against Daesh in Shengal, was buried in a ceremony attended by thousands.

Hundreds of vehicles formed a convoy to greet Sibel's coffin on the outskirts of Van as her funeral procession entered the city. Representatives from MEYA-DER (a group that supports the families of those lost in war in Mesopotamia), the Peace Mothers Assembly, the Congress of Free Women (KJA), the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) and the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) joined the funeral.

After the convoy brought Sibel's coffin to the Yeni neighborhood, women bore the coffin on their shoulders, leading a march of thousands. Marchers bore pictures of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, photographs of Sibel and the flags of the PKK and KCK. "Martyrs never die," chanted the crowds as they marched to the ceremony.

"The murderer is ISIS, the collaborator is the KDP" shouted marchers, referencing the peshmerga forces withdrawal from Shengal, which led to Daesh's murdering of thousands of Êzîdî men and boys and kidnapping of over 7,000 women and children.

After the religious portion of the ceremony, attendees held a minute of silence for those who lost their lives in the struggle for democracy.

"An honorable martyrdom isn't everyone's fate," said Democratic Regions Party (DBP) provincial co-chair Hamiyet Şahin, speaking at the funeral. "Women's resistance and heroism in Shengal and Kobanê has been an example for women around the world."

Sibel's father Şaban thanked all the attendees, wishing his condolences to the entire Kurdish people.

(gk-şa/fk)