Narin Afrin (b. 1974) is the

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

of Meysa Abdo, a leader of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG),

Women's Protection Units (YPJ) ar, وحدات حماية المرأة , image = File:YPJ Flag.svg , caption = Flag of the YPJ , dates = April 2013–present , commander1 = Nesrin ...

(YPJ), and Kobane resistance, notably during the 2014–2015

Siege of Kobanî The siege of Kobanî was launched by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on 13 September 2014, in order to capture the Kobanî Canton and its main city of Kobanî (also known as Kobanê or Ayn al-Arab) in northern Syria, in the ''de facto'' ...

Background

Narin Afrin was a resistance leader during the 2014–2015

, representing the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) and Peshmerga fighters. The resistance group, the People's Protection Units (YPG), is secular, politically left, and the armaments of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). She also leads the

Women's Protection Units (YPJ) ar, وحدات حماية المرأة , image = File:YPJ Flag.svg , caption = Flag of the YPJ , dates = April 2013–present , commander1 = Nesrin ...

(YPJ), an all-female force. Afrin is the

of Meysa Abdo, born c. 1974, though a Kurdish political consultant has told the ''

International Business Times The ''International Business Times'' is an American online news publication that publishes five national editions in four languages. The publication, sometimes called ''IBTimes'' or ''IBT'', offers news, opinion and editorial commentary on busi ...

'' that Abdo is a pseudonym as well. Female fighters choose their names during military training as a way to separate their future from their past. "Afrin" refers to her Kurdish village of

Afrin, Syria Afrin; ar, عفرين, Ifrīn. is a city in northern Syria. In the Afrin District, it is part of the Aleppo Governorate. The total population of the district was recorded at 172,095 people, of whom 36,562 lived in the town of Afrin itself. The ...

, and "Narin" was a name she liked. Afrin avoids media spotlight—most published photos of Afrin were not actually her—and has expressed worry about the media portrayal of the Women's Protection Units, which focuses on the "cause célèbre" of empowered, "bronzed women toting guns" in a conservative region associated with a ruthless Islamic State. In 2014, the '' Financial Times'' reported that Afrin had become a "local legend" among Kurds. She had studied 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 ...

, the founder of the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based in the mountainous Kurdish-majority regions of south ...

(PKK). She had participated in the PKK for 20 years prior to the Siege of Kobanî. Prior to Kobanî, she had fought in Cezire ( Qamishli region) before moving to Kobanî in early 2013.

References

External links

Who is the Peshmerga Princess, Narin Afrin, who leads troops making their stand in Kobane?
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BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afrin, Narin Living people People of the Syrian civil war People's Protection Units Kobanî Kurdish military personnel Kurdish female military and paramilitary personnel Year of birth missing (living people)