JINHA

AMED – A two-day conference for the reconstruction of Kobanê has kicked off in the main Kurdish city of Diyarbakır.

Enver Müslim, co-president of Kobanê Canton, called for NGOs and political parties from across Kurdistan to attend the conference, which is being held in the Cegerxwîn Art and Culture Center. Members of the İmralı Delegation meeting with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan are present, as are top canton officials and party leaders from Northern Kurdistan, Rojava (Western Kurdistan) and Southern Kurdistan.

43 delegates from the Rojava cantons and 78 from Southern Kurdistan have traveled to the city for the occasion. 36 delegates have come from Europe, as well.

The conference council consists of Kamuran Yüksek, co-chair of Turkey's Democratic Regions Party; Melike Karagöz, from Turkey's Kurdish women's association Congress of Free Women (KJA);Xalid Berkel, co-chair of the Kobanê Canton board of directors; Şevin Mahmud, co-chair of international relations for the canton; and Mustafa Abdi, co-chair of the local governments of the canton.

"Reconstructing Kobanê, the city of revolutionaries, is a responsibility that falls to all of us," said Kamuran Yüksek, giving the opening speech of the conference.

Kobanê co-president Enver Müslim also honored the revolutionary martyrs, including famous YPJ fighter Arîn Mîrxan, who sacrificed her life in the battle for Kobanê. He noted that the Daesh gangs' tanks and heavy weapons had seriously damaged the city, calling it a continuation of the long assimilation attempts against the people of the city.

A main topic of debate at the conference will be how to develop an infrastructure to serve the thousands of Kobanê residents who have returned to the ruined city. Few of them have an intact home to return to. Delegates will also discuss how to get humanitarian aid and supplies into the city. Turkey has unilaterally closed the border to Kobanê, which is the only route by which shipments can enter.

Enver Müslim said that after so many gave their lives for a democratic, environmentalist and pro-women way of life, it was time to reconstruct the city in accord with their ideals.

PYD co-chair Asya Abdullah, in town for the occasion, will also speak this afternoon.

(ekip/fk/cm)