Şehîd Şevger Makhno — Fallen in the defence of Afrin

Our anarchist comrade and friend Şevger Makhno arrived in Rojava on 20 January 2018 to take part in the revolution. Only the day before the army of the Turkish state and its jihadist proxies had begun the invasion of the autonomous region of Afrin, an area which had remained at peace throughout seven years of war and had become both a cradle for the Rojava revolution and a safe haven for hundred thousands of refugees from all over Syria. While the AKP and its allies ever more violently pushed Turkey towards fascism and the military brutally smashed the insurrection in North Kurdistan in the spring of 2016, Rojava and especially Afrin became a beacon of hope and resistance for all those who defied Erdogan’s regime.

Comrade Sevger was from Turkey himself, he passionately wanted to join the resistance at the frontlines. He received basic military training in the canton of Cizîre and on 19 February arrived in Afrin, where he immediately took part in the ongoing defence. As part of the Anti-Fascist Forces in Afrin (AFFA), a unit of internationalist revolutionaries within the YPG, he faced the invaders in the vicinity of Raco in the northwest of Afrin.

On the 4^th March comrade Şevger had taken position on a hill outside the the village of Berbêne ready to defend it against the advancing fascists. It was there that around 8AM he and two other YPG comrades were hit by an airstrike. All three of them lost their lives.

In accordance with the wishes of his family his picture and legal identity will not be published, in order to protect the people close to him from repression.

We mourn the loss of our comrade and extend our condolences to all his friends, family and everyone who had the fortune to share their lives with this great and inspiring person. The people of Rojava and northern Syria and all those who are fighting for freedom and an end to oppression in the Middle East and beyond will never forget him. We know that he will live on that as long as his love and passion continue to thrive in our hearts.

Şehîd namirin!