Thousands participated in Sakine Cansız Festival in Zurich

A women's festival in memory of Sakine Cansız took place in Zurich for the tenth time this weekend. The motto was "With Jin-Jiyan-Azadî to the women's revolution".

The annual women's festival in memory of Sakine Cansız took place at the Kasernenareal in Zurich on Sunday. The PKK co-founder was murdered ten years ago in Paris by the Turkish secret service, together with Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez. Since then, she has been remembered and her struggle continued in Switzerland.

Like the previous festivals of the Kurdish women's movement, the Zilan Festival in Gelsenkirchen and the Rojbin Festival in Paris, the event in Zurich had a militant motto: "With Jin-Jiyan-Azadî to the women's revolution! At the beginning, the participants commemorated the martyrs with a minute of silence. In the welcoming speech, which was held in Kurdish and German, reference was made to the militant life of Sakine Cansız: "This festival takes place in the name of the resistance of women and the freedom of a people. That is why it is called Sakine Cansız Festival. Her struggle stands for the struggle of women, for the freedom of women and peoples. This is why Sakine Cansız was murdered. She was a part of our resistance and knew no borders."

Another speech was given by Besime Konca on behalf of the Kurdish Women's Movement in Europe (TJK-E). The Community of Women of Kurdistan (KJK) and the Bethnarin Syriac Women's Council in Europe participated in the festival with greetings. Bermal Çem, Jin MA, Yelda Abbasi, Medi, Basel Women's Choir, Winterthur Children's Choir, Elenora as well as Govend and Flamenco groups performed in the cultural programme.