The Command of the Free Women’s Units (YJA Star) said in a statement that Kurdish revolutionary Nûjiyan Amed was killed in an attack on 23 July 2023.
Nûjiyan Amed was one of the commanders of the YJA Star and a leading militant of the PAJK women’s party. The Command of the YJA Star headquarters expressed its condolences to the relatives and the Kurdish people and stated that the struggle of the fallen continues.
The following information was provided about Nûjiyan Amed’s identity and biography:
Code name: Nûjiyan Amed
First and last name: Saliha Akbıyık
Place of birth: Amed
Mother’s and father’s names: Emine – Aziz
Date and place of death: 23/07/2023 Medya Defense Areas
Nûjiyan Amed was born in 1970 in Kubeyşî in Çınar (Xana Axpar), in the province of Amed. She spent her childhood in the village, and in 1984 the family moved to Tarsus in the province of Mersin due to economic difficulties.
The popular uprisings in Kurdistan in the early 1990s had a major impact on the entire family, and many people from their circle joined the freedom struggle. Nûjiyan was very angry about the Turkish state’s policy, which destroyed and depopulated thousands of villages in Kurdistan at that time. Countless people were arrested and tortured or fell victim to extrajudicial executions. Nûjiyan decided to take up armed resistance and joined the guerrillas in 1993.
1993 was a special year for the Kurdish women’s movement. After the death of the guerrilla commander Bêrîtan Hêvî (Gülnaz Karataş) in October 1992, the first steps towards establishing an autonomous women’s army were taken at the suggestion of Abdullah Öcalan.
Nûjiyan Amed played a major role in this. She continued her education and passed on her knowledge to her fellow fighters. As a self-confident and strong-willed woman, she took on command-level responsibility in the guerrilla area and worked in the field of education in various places in Kurdistan, including Rojava. Hundreds of young people were trained by her. Nûjiyan taught them how to defend themselves against IS attacks and build a democratic nation.
“Hevala Nûjiyan was a leading militant of the PAJK and commander of the YJA Star. She enjoyed the trust of her companions and worked in various strategic areas,” said the YJA Star statement, adding that “she adapted to the needs of the movement and showed great commitment in the social, political and military fields. With her experience, she worked and fought breathlessly until the moment she fell. For this reason, Hevala Nûjiyan is a symbol of selflessness and cooperativeness. She was an exemplary apoist commander.”
