Biography:
Rojda Felat is a Syrian Kurdish senior commander of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who has fought in the Rojava conflict since it began in 2012, and has led several major campaigns against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). A revolutionary feminist, Felat’s stated goal is to achieve social transformation in the Middle East through the YPJ, liberating the Kurdish woman and the Syrian woman in general from the ties and control of traditional society, as well as liberating the entirety of Syria from terrorism and tyranny.
Early life:
As Rojda Felat has disclosed relatively little about her life, her biography before taking up arms is largely unknown; even her age and birthplace are disputed. Because of that, T-Online went so far as to describe her as mysterious. According to an interview she gave The New Yorker in late 2017, Felat was born around 1977 as the child of a poor farming family near Qamishli. Various other claims regarding her origins have circulated on the Internet, however, with the Turkish news agency Jihan News and other SDF officials putting her birthdate at 1980 and/or her birthplace at al-Hasakah. Many reports by other media agencies have repeated the information of Jihan News, while others claim that Felat was born in 1962, 1966 or 1968, with one media agency even saying that she is from Batman in Turkey. This last claim was denied by a close associate of hers, who told T-Online that she was definitely a Syrian Kurd.
Due to her family’s poverty, Felat was only able to attend a university relatively late in her life. By 2011, she was studying Arabic literature at Hasakah University. Before the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, Felat claims that she had intended to eventually attend the national military academy and become a Syrian Army officer. Upon the spread of the civil uprising against Bashar al-Assad in 2011, however, she decided to leave Hasakah University and return to her hometown Qamishli, where she quickly joined the Democratic Union Party’s People’s Protection Units (YPG).
Military service:
With the uprising escalating into a civil war, Felat received just a few days of training before she was issued a weapon. As part of the Rojava-Islamist conflict, she went on to fight against Islamist Syrian rebel forces in the al-Hasakah Governorate campaign (201213). Around late 2014, however, she was in the Kobanî Canton and among the YPG/YPJ forces that ended up being besieged in the town of Kobanî by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). By this time, a non-commissioned officer (NCO) in the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ).
During the Siege of Kobanî, Felat played a crucial role in organizing the resistance and coordinating the defense of the town. Despite being heavily outnumbered and outgunned, she fought alongside her comrades to successfully repel the ISIL militants and liberate Kobanî. This victory was a turning point in the fight against ISIL and brought international attention to the Kurdish forces and their struggle.
Following the Siege of Kobanî, Felat continued to rise in prominence as a commander within the YPJ. She led several successful military campaigns against ISIL, including the liberation of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the self-proclaimed caliphate. Her tactical brilliance and leadership skills were praised by her comrades and attracted attention from international observers.
Felat’s dedication to the cause of women’s liberation and her role in the fight against ISIL have made her a symbol of resistance and empowerment for Kurdish and Syrian women. Her bravery and strategic acumen have been recognized by her peers and have inspired others to join the struggle for equality and justice in the region.
Awards:
– List of Awards and Recognitions –
(Note: As no official awards or recognitions received by Rojda Felat have been mentioned in the provided information, this section is omitted.)
(Note: The provided information does not specify any official awards or recognitions received by Rojda Felat. Therefore, no awards list is included in this response.)