Viyan Peyman Esenkal (originally Gülistan Tali Cinganlo Esenkal) was an Iranian Kurdish singer and fighter with the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) who was killed fighting the Islamic State (IS) in Syria in 2015.
Viyan Peyman | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gülistan Tali Cinganlo |
| Died | 6 April 2015 |
| Cause of death | KIA |
| Resting place | Şehit Rüstem Cudi Martyrs' Cemetery, Dirbêsiyê |
| Nationality | Kurdish |
| Occupation(s) | Singer/songwriter, Kurdish resistance fighter |
| Known for | Fighting IS, traditional Kurdish folk songs |
| Spouse | Abdullah esenkal |
Cinganlo was from the town of Maku, in Iranian Kurdistan. Before the Syrian Civil War, she was a teacher.[1][2] Cinganlo was a folk singer, and wrote her own music in traditional Kurdish folk style.[3][4] She was known as a dengbêj, a folk singer or storyteller, for her songs about the Kurdish resistance to the Islamic State in the Rojava-Islamist conflict, and her fellow fighters who had died.[5][6]
Cinganlo was injured twice, shot in her leg and stomach, but returned to continue fighting.[1] She told NBC News that she was fighting in the Siege of Kobane for the women of the Middle East: "We stand and fight, especially here in the Middle East where women are treated as inferiors. We stand here as symbols of strength for all the women of the region."[7]
Cinganlo was killed while fighting the Islamic State on 6 April 2015.[7][8] The battle for Kobane ended in January 2015, and Cinganlo was killed in the town of Sere Kaniye on the Syria-Turkey border, where she had gone in mid-February.[2] She was buried in the Şehit Rüstem Cudi Martyrs' Cemetery in Dirbêsiyê.[9] Many artists around the world highlighted Cinganlo's life in their works after her death.[citation needed]
The Kurdish musician Shahriyar Jamshidi has devoted his composition "Viyan" from his 2020 released My Sunset-Land ROJAVA album to Cinganlo, celebrating her life as a Kurdish singer from Iran where there are legal restrictions on women's public singing.[10][11]
References
edit- ^ a b "Engel in Kobani: Women Are on the Front Lines Against ISIS". NBC News. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
- ^ a b "Şehit Viyan'ın son günleri..." Rudaw. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
- ^ "poptronics ' Le Rojava, terre de lutte féministe, à la kalach et en musique". www.poptronics.fr. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
- ^ "Viyan Peyman - New Songs, Playlists & Latest News - BBC Music". Retrieved 5 March 2019.
- ^ "Viyan Peyman immortalizes in Kobanê". www.diclehaber.com. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
- ^ Teams, Clipnano com. "Viyan Peyman - Kobane 2015 - Reber Dosky". Clipnano.com. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
- ^ a b "Viyan Peyman, Female Kurdish Fighter Killed Battling ISIS". NBC News. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
- ^ Llibertat.cat. "Mor la combatent de l'YPJ i cantant kurda Viyan Peyman". Llibertat.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 5 March 2019.
- ^ "JINHA || jinhaber1.com". www.jinhaber1.com. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
- ^ "Viyan". Canuckistan. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
…With the opening piece, 'Viyan', Jamshidi remembers Kurdish-Iranian singer Viyan Peyman, a Dengbej (storyteller) and teacher who left her hometown and all her belongings to join the resistance in Rojava and lost her life in 2015.
- ^ "Shahriyar Jamshidi - Viyan [My Sunset-Land ROJAVA Album © 2020]". YouTube. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
External links
edit- Viyan Peyman singing in Kobane on YouTube