Kobanê

 

Kobanê is a city in the predominantly Kurdish populated areas of northern Syria. It had more than 50000 inhabitants before the civil war in Syria. A siege by the terrorists of the so-called "Islamic state" made the city known in 2014 outside the country's borders.

 

Following the proclamation of his caliphate in June 2014, the so-called "Islamic State" launched an offensive in northern Syria in the following months. The goal was the capture of the city of Kobanê by the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG). The YPG had established regional self-government in the north of the country, as a result of the Syrian civil war. At first, it seemed as if it was only a matter of time before the city on the Turkish border was captured by the terrorists. With international support the tide turned. After months of war and conflicts, the fighters of the "Islamic State" were finally beaten significant at the end of January 2015 and retired from Kobanê. Thereupon, Kobanê was synonymous with the Kurds' war against repression by Islamist terrorist organizations.

 

Many parts of the city were completely destroyed by the attacks of the "IS", which made a normal life almost impossible. Nevertheless, many of the refugees who had fled as a result of the fighting returned. They were not influenced by the circumstances and tried to rebuild their city. At the same time, the residents of the city want to commemorate the victims of the IS offensive by preserving the ruins of destroyed houses as an official memorial site in a neighborhood and establishing it as the site of artistic processes.

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