BEHDINAN – YJA Star Headquarters Commander Zozan Çewlik spoke to ANF on the occasion of the anniversary of the August 15 Initiative.
Starting her speech by sending greetings and love to Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan on behalf of YJA Star and HPG fighters, Çewlik drew attention to the increasing attacks of the Turkish state. Stating that there has been an uninterrupted resistance against the enemy for 20 days under the leadership of YJA Star fighters, Çewlik made the following assessments: “We salute all our comrades who are fighting against the enemy in the positions right now. I congratulate the August 15 Resurrection Festival.
it is known, the Treaty of Lausanne saw legitimate the denial of Kurds and Kurdistan, the genocide, dismemberment and massacres of the Kurdish people. They have been continuing this policy of genocide for 100 years. The reality of Rêber Apo, the August 15 Initiative, the establishment of the PKK is an opposition to the Treaty of Lausanne. This is not recognizing the covenant. The August 15 Initiative is the stage reached by the struggle of Rêber Apo and the resistance in the Amed dungeon. The decision of August 15 was taken to protect this resistance. The 15 August Breakthrough is a new phase in our history of struggle. Therefore, the decision of the August 15 Leap Forward is not an ordinary decision. There were some decisions; determines the fate of peoples and struggles, and the August 15 Initiative is one of these decisions. This breakthrough had a great impact on the Kurdish people and Kurdish women. The August 15 Initiative is not only a military decision, but also an ideological and political one. When we look back, we can see how appropriate this decision was and how it changed history. August 15 also laid the foundation for self-defense of both the Kurdish people and women. That’s why it was a very effective and historical breakthrough.
A KURDISH WOMAN NEVER ACCEPT DELIVERY
The August 15 Initiative played a major role in the survival of the Kurdish people. The guerrillaism that developed along the line of Heval Egîd created a novelty in the history of the Kurdish people. The Kurds have been faced with plunder, war, massacre and genocide for years. Because of this, there is a lot of betrayal in its history, there is spying, society is fragmented, disintegrated. On the one hand, there are these, on the other hand, the Kurdish people have never stopped resisting the invaders. There were also many rebellions before the PKK. But these revolts did not last long, resulted in massacres and exiles, and were liquidated. The Kurds, too, were in a desperate situation in the face of the enemy.
The problem of the Kurdish people is revealed by the Leadership and the PKK. That’s why the August 15 Initiative stands out with its fighting style. It organizes, reveals its strategy, its purpose. It transcends the classical Kurdish style of warfare. Therefore, the Turkish state has not been able to defeat the Kurdistan guerrilla until today. The 15 August Initiative also had significant effects on women’s guerrilla. Just as the August 15 Initiative created fundamental changes for the Kurdish people, the same thing happened for Kurdish women. Because this breakthrough created a great hope in the Kurdish society. He made the Kurdish people a strong-willed, organized, hopeful and morale people in the revolutionary struggle.
When we look at the reality of Kurdish women, she was enslaved by the 5,000-year-old male-dominated system in the Middle East, both because she was Kurdish and because she was a woman. Massacres of women were legitimized. Therefore, the women’s problem in Kurdistan was experienced both through national identity and woman identity. The male-dominated system did not see women as human beings, they were seen as ‘properties’, as weak-willed and honorable. This case was settled. However, women have a role in society. But he was excluded from many fields.
There was such a reality in Kurdistan as well. On the other hand, Kurdish women take up resistance wherever they find the opportunity for freedom, and they never accept surrender in the face of the enemy. In order not to surrender, to defend his honor, to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy, he blew himself up, threw himself off the cliff, and led the resistance. When we look at the uprisings in Kurdish history, many heroines have emerged. Despite facing so many massacres and genocides, Kurdish women joined the struggle for freedom whenever she found the opportunity. Just as Rêber Apo is a great chance for the Kurdish people, it is also a great chance for Kurdish women. Rêber Apo’s approach to women’s freedom struggle is clear. The women’s guerrilla, the women’s army, as well as the women’s struggle were knitted together with Rêber Apo. In other words, theory and practice were carried out together.
GREAT WORK WAS DONE BEFORE THE WOMEN’S ARMY
That’s why, from the very beginning of our movement, women have always been drawn to the field of revolution, the will of women and the color of women have been highlighted. The approach of Rêber Apo and our movement has always been in this direction. Since the day Rêber Apo started the struggle, Kurdish women also said, “Whatever the cost, we are also in this struggle, in this resistance.” That’s why there is an example of Sara in the dungeons of Amed. There were all kinds of attacks on women; both by the enemy and by society. Heval Sara realizes the reality of the Leadership and the party very early and joins the struggle. In our history, the 15th of August Breakthrough plays a dominant role. It creates strategic changes both in our movement and in our society. It shows the ways and methods of the line of struggle. Kurdish women did not hesitate to take their place in this breakthrough. The 15 August Initiative also had a positive impact on women’s guerrilla. The women’s army was established in 1993, but there was a labor before, women’s participation in the armed struggle. They fight against the enemy in every area of Kurdistan, reveal great heroism, and thus reach martyrdom. We can say that the August 15 Initiative has laid a very strong foundation for the women’s freedom struggle.
On this occasion, we once again commemorate our pioneers who first joined the guerrilla struggle with respect. For example, the resistance line created by Hanım Yaverkaya, Besê Anuş, Azime, Çiçek Selcan, Rahime, Ozan Mizgîn, Adife Sakık, heval Sara, Bêrîvan, Zîlan, Bêrîtan has embodied in the person of YJA Star today. Women now have willpower. Of course, as women, we owe the August 15 Initiative, we owe it to our female pioneers. Because these friends of ours have fought and struggled not only with the enemy but also with the society that sees men as power. For this reason, it has never lagged behind in the armed struggle. Kurdish women who took part in the armed struggle on 15 August are now organized in every field and have willpower and experience. The August 15 Initiative was successful in Kurdistan. Without a successful breakthrough, it would not have had an impact on women or in Kurdistan. On the contrary, how true and successful this line is was proved in 1984 in Eruh in the person of heval Egîd. Its success is already here. If the enemy cannot defeat the Kurdistan guerrilla today, there is the success of the 15 August Initiative.
Those who do not know us are very surprised after getting to know us. Those who do not know Rêber Apo’s philosophy have difficulty in understanding this situation. That’s why, as YJA Star and HPG, we get our resources from one place, which is the August 15 Initiative. When we look at the world, many armed forces struggling to defend their freedom are based on guerrilla methods. Women also took part in this revolutionary struggle and paid a great price. But the PKK has shown its difference in this regard. Guerrillaism in Kurdistan has also been determined as a way of life. In other words, his lifestyle also reveals the same war style. That’s why women have power and willpower. Kurdistan guerrillaism has shown its difference in this sense as well. In this sense, the August 15 Initiative revealed many leading women, heroic women. He fights against reaction as well as against the enemy. Kurdish women have proven themselves in the women’s army, in life and in war. This date has happened in our struggle. That’s why Kurdish women have revealed their freedom through their struggle.
KURDISH WOMEN HAVE COME TO THE MOST ORGANIZED STAGE
The most vulnerable were women. Rêber Apo, the PKK and the women’s army have created a transformation in this regard as well. We do not only consider guerrillaism militarily, but also women’s army and women’s guerrillaism played a historical role in change and transformation. It has also created many changes in the male-dominated understanding. This is one of the differences in Kurdistan guerrillaism. The August 15 Initiative revealed how Kurdish women would fight and live. The August 15 Initiative has been a great basis for all these developments. Therefore, if the Turkish army, which has been one of the strongest armies of NATO for 39 years, receives support from many sovereign powers and the collaborative line in Kurdistan, it cannot succeed against the Kurdistan guerrilla.
One of the reasons for this is the strength the PKK receives from the army of women. The color, will, and courage of women created fundamental changes in both men and women. There is no formula that the Kurdistan guerrilla maintains anywhere in the world because it both takes part in life and fights. There is no such example anywhere in the world. This is something created by Rêber Apo’s paradigm. That’s why Kurdistan guerrillaism creates a free personality in men and women as much as it fights the enemy. This is where he draws the strength of his army.
The Kurdistan guerrilla has also set an example in terms of male-female relations today. There is no such example in the world. He already takes his invincibility from this line. As long as the line of Egîds and Zîlans exists in Kurdistan, as long as this spirit, this will, this search for freedom, this belief exist, the forces against us will never be successful. Therefore, the line of commander Egîd became the way of life and warfare for the Kurdistan guerrilla. Our guerrilla struggle revealed this; A power that wants freedom must know that freedom cannot be defenseless. Kurdish women today set an example for all women with their struggle and resistance. Women and society fighting for freedom in all parts of Kurdistan are based on the formula of the Kurdistan guerrilla.
Look at Rojava, look at Shengal, look at Rojhilat. This is also a model not only for Kurds, but for all women, for all peoples who want freedom. Kurdish women have reached the most organized stage today. We are grateful to the line of commanders Egîd, Zîlan, Bêrîtan and Leyla Amed in this regard. As YJA Star, we take the basis of our struggle from this line. The YJA Star guerrilla has a pioneering stance today in protecting the Rêber Apo line, protecting and keeping the 15 August Initiative line alive. Kurdish women have not only proven themselves in guerrillaism in their 39-year history of struggle, they have passed those processes. Kurdish women are now the guarantee of Rêber Apo’s line, they are the guarantee of the Kurdish people, of defending the women’s line, of the peoples and of a free life. How we will experience female guerrilla in Kurdistan today,
RESISTANCE IS THE ONLY WAY TO GET US SUCCESS
Now is the time to make the August 15 line successful. As YJA Star forces, we face this responsibility. In the last two years of war practice, the role, will, heroism and courage of women have emerged very strongly. We are aware that the struggle for freedom cannot be fought without defense. Kurdish women have clearly demonstrated this fact. More than ever, women must rely on the line of defense. Today there is an aggravated isolation on Rêber Apo. They want to make us accept this isolation as a continuation of the international conspiracy. This is their policy. There is a very dangerous situation here. The Rêber Apo line is in danger. Because the Rêber Apo line no longer only affects Kurds and Kurdish women, it affects all parts of Kurdistan, it affects young people and oppressed peoples. That’s why the ruling powers want to destroy this line. They want to destroy the gains made with great efforts for years and to leave the Kurdish people, women and oppressed peoples hopeless. This is the policy they are trying to pursue today.
The August 15 Initiative is also an opposition to the Treaty of Lausanne, not accepting it, and a struggle against it. But today, in the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne, they once again want to legitimize the genocide against the Kurdish people at the hands of the fascist Turkish state, Erdoğan and Bahçeli. They are trying to impose this policy of genocide on us. That’s why they turn against us so much, they attack Rêber Apo, the Kurdistan guerrilla, the Kurdish people so much. Because they know that the Kurds are no longer the old Kurds. They want to make the Kurdish people hopeless again with their brutal attacks and genocidal policy. The August 15 Initiative gave hope to the Kurdish people, the Kurdish women, who were hopeless. The Kurds took care of their existence, their identity and language.
That’s why everyone, especially women and youth, should see the danger to Rêber Apo. We must further strengthen our struggle against this policy. Of course, there is the situation of protecting Rêber Apo under the leadership of women and youth, but from time to time there is a situation to watch. This is certainly unacceptable. Because today, half of the Kurdish families have paid the price, they have to protect this price. In the spirit of the August 15 Initiative, we can only defeat our enemy and ensure the physical freedom of Rêber Apo. The only thing that will lead us to success is resistance. As YJA Star, we will fulfill our role and mission against the politics of genocide along the lines of Zîlan, Bêrîtan and Egîd.”
