Emine Kara, also known by the nom de guerre Evîn Goyî, (1974 – 23 December 2022) was a Turkish Kurdish militant and political activist who served as president of the . Originally from

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, she fled to the

Kurdistan Region Kurdistan Region (KRI) is a semi-autonomous Federal regions of Iraq, federal region of the Iraq, Republic of Iraq. It comprises four Kurds, Kurdish-majority governorates of Arabs, Arab-majority Iraq: Erbil Governorate, Sulaymaniyah Governorate ...

in Iraq in 1994 after her village was massacred. She joined the Kurdish cause in 1988 and participated in the war of the

Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), also known as Rojava, is a ''de facto'' Autonomous administrative division, autonomous region in northeastern Syria. It consists of self-governing Regions of North and E ...

(AANES) against the

Islamic State The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadism, Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS ...

in 2014. After sustaining an injury in

Raqqa Raqqa (, also , Kurdish language, Kurdish: ''Reqa'') is a city in Syria on the North bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine city and b ...

, she moved to Europe for medical treatment in 2020. She was killed in the

2022 Paris shooting On 23 December 2022, a mass shooting occurred at three Kurds in France, Kurdish locations in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, 10th arrondissement of Paris, France. Three people were killed, and three others were wounded in and around a Kurdish c ...

Biography

Born in 1974 in Hilal in the

Şırnak Province Şırnak Province (, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province in Turkey in the Southeastern Anatolia Region. Şırnak Province was created in 1990, with areas that were formerly part of the Siirt Province, Siirt, Hakkâri Province, Hakkâri and Mardin ...

, Turkey, she was the fourth child out of five. Her family moved to Iraq in 1994, where they settled in a refugee camp in Zakho before permanently moving to Makhmur.

Military career

Kara joined the Kurdish militant movement in 1988. She fought and campaigned for

Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, and national identity have historically been based. G ...

in Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran. In 2014, she joined the militias organized to defend an self-declared autonomous area (the later AANES) formed by the Democratic Union Party, which had close links with the Turkish

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

, during the Syrian civil war. She took part in the struggle against the Islamic State in Kobanî and the Battle of Raqqa.

Exile in France

Kara was injured in Raqqa in 2019 and left after the fall of the Islamic State, moving to France, then Germany for medical treatment, before returning to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in September 2020. She became a teacher and applied for asylum but was refused by the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons in February 2022. The decision was confirmed by the in August 2022, although an appeal was in order. In Paris, Kara continued her commitment to the Kurdish cause, becoming president of the ''Mouvement des femmes kurdes en France''. According to the French newspaper , she was a heroine within the European Kurdish diaspora. She voiced her support for the

Mahsa Amini protests Civil unrest and protests against the Government of Iran, government of the Islamic Republic of Iran associated with the Death in custody, death in police custody of Death of Mahsa Amini#Victim, Mahsa Amini () began on 16 September 2022 and ca ...

during the last months of her life. She was credited with popularizing the slogan Woman, Life, Freedom, utilized by the women's wing of the

Peace and Democracy Party The Peace and Democracy Party (, , BDP) was a Kurdish political party in Turkey existing from 2008 to 2014. Development BDP succeeded the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in 2008, following the closure of the latter party for its alleged conne ...

. She also initiated several demonstrations in Paris in support of Mahsa Amini.

Death

On 23 December 2022, Emine Kara was killed in a shooting perpetrated by a right-wing anti-Kurdish extremist. She was participating in a meeting to prepare for a commemorative march for the tenth anniversary of the Triple murder of Kurdish activists in Paris. Two Kurdish men were also killed in the attack. All three are considered martyrs by Kurds.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kara, Emine 1974 births 2022 deaths Turkish Kurdish women People's Defense Units Military personnel of the Syrian civil war People from Uludere Deaths by firearm in France People murdered in Paris