Memorial for internationalist YPG fighter Konstantin Gedig in Kiel

The Kiel Kurdistan Solidarity will organise a tribute at the Kurdish Community Center SH to Konstantin Gedig and his struggle on 17 October. The 24-year-old internationalist fell as a martyr in a Turkish air strike on Serêkaniyê in 2019.

The Kurdistan Solidarity Committee in Kiel invites activists to a memorial for Konstantin Gedig (Nom de Guerre Andok Cotkar) on 17 October 17. Two years have passed since the internationalist YPG fighter fell as a martyr in an air strike carried out by the Turkish army in Serêkaniyê in northern Syria. His body has not been recovered to this day.

“Konstantin - Andok we will never forget you and continue your struggle. The fallen are immortal - Şehîd namirin! Each of our tears is a sign of our anger and water for the flower of solidarity,” writes the Kurdistan Solidarity in Kiel in its invitation to the commemoration for the 24-year-old. It continues: "Andok fought for the Democratic Federation of Northern and Eastern Syria (Rojava) side by side with other freedom fighters: from the US, England, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Canada and Rojava against the Terror of the Islamic State, against the attacks of the Turkish army and for the freedom of the Kurdish people."

Constantine is described by his parents and comrades as a clever and politically interested young man with a very great sense of justice. He wanted to protect the people of Rojava from the atrocities of the Islamists. That is why he joined the People's Defense Units -Yekîneyên Parastina Gel (YPG) in 2016. He took the name Andok and the Kurdish surname "Cotkar" (farmer). Before that he had trained as a farmer. Despite being wounded several times, Constantine returned to Kurdistan in March 2019 saying that "Daesh (ISIS) has not yet been defeated".

Andok Cotkar protected the return of the displaced Yazidis to the Shengal Mountains in the ranks of the Yazidi People's Defense Units - Yekîneyên Berxwadana Şingal (YBŞ). After Turkey's war of aggression in 2016/17 with the military annexation of the Kurdish canton of Afrin in 2018, the Erdogan regime continued the illegal invasion of Rojava in October 2019. "Heval Andok – said the statement of the Kiel group - he voluntarily went to Serêkaniyê to join the YPG / YPJ to fend off the jihadists allied with Turkey. While securing the evacuation of the Şehîd Roj hospital and trying to prevent a massacre, Konstantin and his comrades were killed by a Turkish air strike. Instead of punishing the illegal war of aggression, the Federal Republic of Germany continues to export submarines, weapons, spare parts and ammunition to Turkey."

Andok's consistent solidarity with the people in Rojava and in the Shengal Mountains deserves to be remembered, added the solidarity group. "It is our task to keep this memory alive and to continue his courageous struggle politically in Germany. Constantine gave his life for his beliefs and the freedom of the Kurdish people. To honour his commitment to freedom, we would like to invite everyone to join us in commemorating Heval Andok. The memorial will take place on Sunday, 17 October 2021 at 2 pm in the Kurdish Community Center Schleswig-Holstein e.V. at Hermann-Weigmann-Strasse 20 in Kiel."