Hevrin Khalaf ( ku, Hevrîn Xelef, ar, هفرين خلف, also Khelef; 15 November 1984 – 12 October 2019) was a Kurdish-Syrian politician and civil engineer. Khalaf served as the Secretary General of the Future Syria Party after working for many years in

Rojava The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, ...

. She was executed by Turkish-backed

Ahrar al-Sharqiya Tajammu Ahrar al-Sharqiya (Gathering of Free Men of the East), commonly referred to as Ahrar al-Sharqiya, is an active armed Syrian rebel group founded in 2016 by individuals exiled and displaced mostly from the Deir ez-Zor Governorate and other ...

fighters near the M4 Motorway south of

Tell Abyad Tell Abyad; ku, گرێ سپی, Girê Spî; hy, Թել Աբյադ; syr, ܬܠ ܐܒܝܕ. is a town in northern Syria. It is the administrative center of the Tell Abyad District within the Raqqa Governorate. Located along the Balikh River, it cons ...

during the

2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria The 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria, code-named Operation Peace Spring ( tr, Barış Pınarı Harekâtı) by Turkey, was a cross-border military operation conducted by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the Syrian National Arm ...

, on 12 October.

Early life and education

Khalaf was born on 15 November 1984 in

Al-Malikiyah Al-Malikiyah ( ar, ٱلْمَالِكِيَّة, al-Mālikīyah; ku, دێرکا حەمکۆ, translit=Dêrika Hemko; ) also known as Derik, is a small Syrian city and the center of an administrative district belonging to Al-Hasakah Governorate. ...

. Early in her life, Khalaf was exposed to political movements and thinkers. Four of her brothers and her sister Zozan were involved in the Kurdish liberation movement; they all died. Khalaf's mother, Sûad, took part in assemblies with

Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish and Kurdish for "uncle"), is a political prisoner and founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from ...

. Khalaf was influenced by her mother's experiences. Khalaf graduated from

University of Aleppo University of Aleppo ( ar, جَامِعَة حَلَب, Jāmiʿat Ḥalab, also called Aleppo University) is a public university located in Aleppo, Syria. It is the second largest university in Syria after the University of Damascus. During 2005 ...

in 2009 as a civil engineer.

Career

Soon after graduating, Khalaf returned to Al-Malikiyah. When the

Rojava conflict The Rojava conflict, also known as the Rojava Revolution, is a political upheaval and military conflict taking place in northern Syria, known among Kurds as Western Kurdistan or Rojava. During the Syrian civil war that began in 2011, a Kurdish- ...

began, Khalaf worked on creating institutions that would improve

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere. Khalaf rose to prominence in the

Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), also known as Rojava, is a de facto autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing sub-regions in the areas of Afrin, Jazira, Euphrates, Raqqa, Tabqa, M ...

. She was one of the founders of the Foundation for Science and Free Thought in 2012.

Future Syria Party

Khalaf became co-chair of the energy authority in 2016. Her party, the Future Syria Party, was involved in the administration of northern Syria after the capture of

Raqqa Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish languages, Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. T ...

from the

Islamic State An Islamic state is a State (polity), state that has a form of government based on sharia, Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical Polity, polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a t ...

group in 2017. Khalaf participated in negotiations with the United States, France, and other delegations. She was known for her skill in diplomacy.Explained: The chilling murder of Kurdish leader Hevrin Khalaf
''

Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'', 14 October 2019 Khalaf worked towards increasing tolerance and unity among

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

, and

Kurds ug:كۇردلار Kurds ( ku, کورد ,Kurd, italic=yes, rtl=yes) or Kurdish people are an Iranian ethnic group native to the mountainous region of Kurdistan in Western Asia, which spans southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Ir ...

. Aden Al Hendi described Khalaf's work ethic in ''

Foreign Policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

'' as such: “She would wake up at 5 in the morning and would not stop working until midnight, whether that involved traveling to the Deir Ezzor region, which was recently liberated from the Islamic State, to tutor children and teenagers there in math, or meeting with Arab tribal leaders and helping resolve their many disputes in her role as the secretary-general of the Future Syria Party (FSP). She personified the way the FSP and the Syrian Democratic Council approached the many differences among the people of the region.” “Eight years have passed. The popular uprising against the crisis and the struggle of the peoples of Syria have been carried out with great sacrifice, and have turned into a war. The lasting crisis in Syria, which has caused the expulsion and murder of the population, cannot be resolved without a political solution.”

Death

Rojava solidarity demonstration Berlin 2019-11-02 30

On 13 October 2019, ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' reported that "Kurdish officials said rebel fighters intercepted a car carrying Hevrin Khalaf". Khalaf was one of a number of civilians who were killed during the first days of the Turkish-backed military operation, with the

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , image = Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Logo.jpg , image_size = 200px , caption = The logo of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights , type = NGO , founded_date = , founder ...

reporting that "nine civilians were executed at different moments south of the town of

Tal Abyad Tell Abyad; ku, گرێ سپی, Girê Spî; hy, Թել Աբյադ; syr, ܬܠ ܐܒܝܕ. is a town in northern Syria. It is the administrative center of the Tell Abyad District within the Raqqa Governorate. Located along the Balikh River, it const ...

". The National Army, a rebel group fighting alongside Turkey, denied responsibility for the killing. Khalaf's death was one of many during Operation Peace Spring, which began on 9 October 2019. According to an autopsy report, Khalaf was beaten over her head and left leg with a solid object. This led to multiple bone fractures in the leg. There was then use of sharp objects on the back of her legs. Furthermore, Khalaf was dragged by her hair which caused it to tear off along with bits of flesh. She was then shot in the head once and four more times in her chest. Kurdish analyst Mutlu Civiroglu, told ''The Guardian'' that Khalaf's death was a "great loss", and described her as having "a talent for diplomacy". Future Syria Party released a statement saying, "With utmost grievance and sadness, the Syria Future Party mourns the martyrdom of engineer Hevrin Khalaf, the General Secretary of Syria Future Party, while she was performing her patriotic and political duties". Khalaf was 34 at the time of her death. A video which circulated on social media purportedly showed the bullet-ridden vehicle in which Khalaf had been travelling with translators and other Kurdish personnel surrounded by Turkish-backed Syrian rebels. A

Bellingcat Bellingcat (stylised as bellngcat) is a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group that specialises in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT). It was founded by British journalist and former blogger Eliot Higgins in July 2014 ...

video traces the cause of Khalaf's death to rebels backed by Turkey and further reports that the group Ahrar al-Sharqiya is associated with the murders. While al-Sharqiya has denied involvement with her death, there have been videos alleging otherwise. One such video shows a body, face down, that is suspected by most to be Khalaf with a Turkish backed soldier standing over her. In the video, the soldier taps the body with his feet and says "this is the corpse of pigs." According to ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', the killing "almost certainly constitute a war crime, under international law". While Turkish-backed groups deny any and all allegations, many videos of their involvement and complicity have been leaked, similar to the video that was potentially a depiction of Khalaf. Furthermore, many groups were instructed on an encrypted chat site called 'Telegram' to "not to publish any video filmed during the battles because it distorts our reputation." Her funeral was held in Al-Malikiyah on 14 October 2019. In January 2020, the BBC's Arabic service published an investigation into the death of Hevrin Khalaf which found that a sub-group of the Turkey-backed

Syrian National Army The Syrian National Army (SNA) ( ar, الجيش الوطني السوري, al-Jayš al-Waṭanī as-Sūrī), previously the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and also known as the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army (TFSA), is a coalition of armed Syrian oppo ...

, Ahrar al-Sharqiya, had extrajudiciarily murdered Khalaf on the M4 Motorway, at the Tirwaziya checkpoint. Ahrar al-Sharqiya responded to the BBC's investigation, stating that "The group that set up the checkpoint on the M4 that day did so without permission... Those who violated orders from leadership have been sent for trial."

References

External links

* Rowshan Qasim
Who is the Kurdish political leader Hevrin Khalaf?
7dnews.com, 14 October 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Khalaf, Hevrin Place of birth missing 1984 births 2019 deaths 2019 murders in Syria 21st-century women engineers Assassinated Syrian Kurdish politicians Syrian civil engineers Extrajudicial killings Female murder victims 21st-century Kurdish women politicians People from Al-Hasakah Governorate People killed in the Syrian civil war 21st-century Syrian women politicians 21st-century Syrian politicians University of Aleppo alumni