Record of a lecture in London, by Havin Guneser, spokesperson of the International Initiative – Freedom for Ocalan, and David Graeber:

“At mid-afternoon on 15 September 2014, the foreign minister of Kobane, Omer Mus, received a call from a UN official stating that Turkey was prepared to take in 40,000 refugees crossing the border from Kobane. Hours later, ISIS began attacking the city from all three sides and the YPG and YPJ forces began a massive evacuation of tens of thousands of villagers. Those that remained took part in a historic defence of their city, which, had it not been successful, could have had disastrous consequences for the people of the region.

In the months that followed, Kurdish fighters refused to keep to the expected script and fought an extraordinary battle to maintain control of the town. The Kurdish region of Syria, known as Rojava, and its little-known revolution in the midst of Syria’s civil war was suddenly thrust into the spotlight. The question was repeated over and over again: how can it be the poorly equipped YPG and YPJ can hold off one of the most brutal fighting regimes the region has seen, a force which overran Iraq’s second largest city in a day and had the Iraqi army running for the hills?

The answer, it seems, lies in the foundations of the social revolution that has been sweeping the region.
This event will go beyond the siege on Kobane to explore the depth of Rojava’s revolution and its potential impact on the region.”

Watch the video here: