JINHA

ŞIRNEX – Nearly ten thousand people gathered for the funeral of YPJ fighter Saliha Tanrıkulu (Savuşka Spêrtî) in the town of Silopi, Şırnak province, in Northern Kurdistan.

The massive crowd, led by a contingent of women bearing Saliha's coffin on their shoulders, buried her in a cemetery in Silopi's Kobanê neighborhood yesterday.

The YPJ fighter lost her life approximately one month ago while fighting against Daesh attacks on the city of Serekaniyê, in Rojava's Cizîrê Canton. After being taken to the city of Hewlêr (Erbil) in Southern Kurdistan for treatment for her wounds, Saliha lost her life. Saliha's family and members of the association MEYA-DER, which aids the families of those who lost children to war in Mesopotamia, traveled to Hewlêr's Rizgarî Hospital to retrieve the body.

The crowd greeted Saliha's coffin, wrapped in YPJ flags on her final return to her native city. The crowd held a funeral march from the Şehitlik Mosque in the Cudi neighborhood to the cemetery where Saliha was interred.

"The youth who sacrifice themselves for a free and honorable life are our greatest honor," said Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) candidate Leyla Birlik, speaking briefly at the funeral. Saliha's family received thousands of mourners in a tent set up in the neighborhood.

(ma/fk/cm)