BEHDINAN – Stating that Erdal was known as a “gentle-faced commander” among the guerrillas, Armanc said, “During his revolutionary life, he was a leader who gave great effort to his country, people and humanity. He was a commander who won the love of all comrades with his sincerity and modesty.”
Armanc said that as his comrade and fighter, they will be worthy of his memory by embracing the great legacy left by Erdal.
Haki Armanc, one of the HPG Central Headquarters Commanders, spoke to ANF on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the martyrdom of the commander Erdal (Engin Sincer).
Where, when and how did you first meet Martyr Erdal? In which areas did you stay together?
Erdal friend was born and raised in a patriotic family in the Pazarcık district of Maraş. Although he has always lived in Germany from his childhood until he joined the PKK, he knew how to maintain his love of country and patriotism. At a young age, he participated actively and pioneering in different activities of the freedom movement. He came to Mahsum Korkmaz Academy in 1992 and met Leader Apo. After studying at Mahsum Korkmaz Academy, he was organized in Botan and came to the Heftanîn area. In 1993, Egîd and Mustafa Yondem, whose code name he took, experienced the joy and pride of reaching Botan, where our commanders practiced for years. He toured almost all regions of Botan and showed a successful performance in every work he participated in.
Before we met Erdal, we heard that he was a young commander who took part in combat and some other works with the Botan State Command, and then took part in the active war by taking part in the mobile units. His friends who worked with Erdal always told us that he was lively, smiling, self-sacrificing and courageous.
I met Erdal in November 1996 in the Basret valley of Gabar. While chatting with the Botan State Commander Cemal, we noticed that two or three friends were coming towards us from the opposite direction. Before anyone even told us who was walking ahead, we knew right away that it was Erdal friend. Because before, friends had described and explained Erdal so much that it was not difficult for us to recognize him as soon as he appeared in front of us.
When they came to us after the action, we learned that the unit under the command of Erdal friend had carried out a successful action in the Findikê area. After asking about the situation for the first few minutes, he began to explain at length how they planned and organized the action. After staying here for three or four days, we separated from each other within the framework of a planning. In these few days we were together, I realized that everything I had heard and knew about him was true, even incomplete.
DONS SUCCESSFUL ACTIONS CARRIED OUT IN GABAR
Our second meeting was in December 1997, again near the Sipîviyan village of Gabar. From here, we were going to Besta for the tactical training organized within the Botan State Command. Erdal and a few friends with us had set off for Besta on a cloudy and rainy night. When we reached the Rusor area of the Şerîban area towards the morning, we learned that a comprehensive operation was launched in Gabar and there were violent clashes in many places from the device given over the device. Meanwhile, friend Erdal was trying to find out where the enemy came from, on which lines, where the conflicts were going on, by connecting with friends in conflict over a small device, trying to give perspective to the friends. Because friend Erdal had been in the command of Gabar for two years and knew all his land well.
The dialogue and perspectives that Erdal established with the friends who were in the operation in this short time helped us to better understand how a competent war commander he was. When we reached Besta’s area called Çalan, we learned that especially Cemal friend, Botan State Commander, and commander-level friends from all regions of Botan were ready here and that the preparations to start training were completed. Here we worked together in the same educational administration all winter. The training, attended primarily by Eşref Başkale, Kasım Engin, Kurtay Feraşîn and many valuable commanders, resulted in success. Friend Erdal was primarily responsible for the friends who attended this training. He actively attended all classes and made great efforts to support his friends on ideological, organizational and military issues.
After holding the Botan conference at the end of the training, we went to Gabar again in the spring of 1998 with a large group of friends under the leadership of Erdal. Friend Erdal was both in the command of Gabar and was in constant action in all areas of Gabar as a mobile unit commander. Between 1997-98, under the command of Erdal Friend, dozens of successful actions were developed with rich tactics in Gabar, and many weapons were removed from the enemy by inflicting heavy blows on the enemy. Later, he moved to the Judi region and assumed the first degree command.
At the sixth congress of the PKK, Erdal friend was elected as a member of the Central Committee and was assigned as the first degree responsible for the then newly organized Gabar-Mardin province. In March 1999, the meeting of the state government, attended by Hüseyin Mahir, who had just come from Başûr, was held in Gabar. After the state meeting held under the leadership of Erdal friend, the friends mobilized within the framework of a new planning and regulation on the basis of an effective fight against the international conspiracy.
Erdal and I were always together in Gabar throughout 1999. We came together as delegates for the 7th Congress of the PKK. We were always side by side until we went to Europe in 2000.
How can you evaluate the ideological, organizational and military command style you observed during the years you stayed with Erdal ?
Erdal friend was from a Kurdish, patriotic, Alevi family. He was a comrade who witnessed in his childhood the tendencies of the Turkish state to great violence and massacres against our Kurdish-patriotic-Alevi people. He had experienced the pain of the massacre carried out by the Turkish state against Kurdish patriotic Alevis in Maraş in 1978. It gained an even more organized level when it became acquainted with the philosophy and ideology of the PKK. In other words, friend Erdal had participated at a young age by realizing that the Apoist movement was the most sincere organization for the freedom of Kurds and Kurdistan. By training under Leader Apo, he became a guerrilla and commander.
He had great military experience by staying with the Botan Provincial Command for years and participating in many actions and wars. He trained and developed the guerrilla for years by creating ideological, organizational and military training systems in every environment he was in. He was always respected by all his friends with his moral and enthusiastic personality. He was a competent commander when necessary, a warrior when necessary, and a devoted servant to his comrade when necessary. With his life and participation, he had an Apoist stance that was always an example to his command and warriors around him.
Another aspect of Erdal’s command style is; It was his intense thinking about what kind of planning and tactics can be achieved by trying to understand his enemy by following them well, revealing which side is strong and which side is weak. He knew that successful action and war were in the details. And he would always deal with the details and clarify them and share them with the comrades around him. He was a commander who was so interested in the details of the war.
What was his approach to the Women’s Freedom Struggle and to his female comrades with whom he worked?
We had some shortcomings in the face of the role and mission that Leader Apo gave to women. Friend Erdal was constantly struggling against these shortcomings. He was trying to give it a certain form by discussing it especially among his male friends. She was compatible with the female comrades she worked with and managed to create a team spirit. He always tried to support his female friends by approaching them sincerely and modestly. He criticizes his shortcomings. However, he was a comrade who always gave confidence and gave importance to working with friends.
Erdal was aware of the importance of the Women’s Freedom Movement with the education and culture he gained from his friend Leader Apo and the PKK. Wherever he stayed, he would discuss it with both male and female friends, and his friends practiced an encouraging style. Even in those years, her female friends were taking the initiative in actions and courier works, and paving the way. Although Erdal friend has a constant critical attitude, we have not witnessed any female friend shrinking or alienating from Erdal friend. He was also loved by female friends and his style of command was accepted.
If we consider and evaluate the current situation; What action tactics did martyr Erdal use in the war, and how? What can you say as examples of actions that will shed light on these days?
If we consider the professional, specialized Democratic Modernity guerrilla, which is on our agenda most today; When Erdal’s 1997-1999 Gabar practice is examined, we see that he had a similar practice in those days. That period is the period in which Erdal friend concentrated most on developing effective actions with little effort and put them into practice in a productive way. At first, there was a command style that dealt heavy blows with surprise actions in places where the enemy could not notice when and by what method, in the creek, with ambush, infiltration and sabotage tactics. As a result of his planning, he was performing successful actions by retreating without being hit, with a small amount of power and results in a few minutes. These actions, developed under the command of Erdal friend, put the enemy in fear and panic.
Erdal friend, who used sabotage tactics that were not common among us in those processes, had made himself competent in the branch of sabotage with his own efforts. The enemy had cauldrons, howitzers and mortars that were constantly thrown into the field and did not explode. Friend Erdal was trying to collect them and turn them into ammunition and use them against the enemy. I would like to share a memory we had on this subject.
One day, Erdal and I went to the Xursê village land of Gabar for hunting. After visiting the field for a while, friend Erdal called us when he was a little far from us and stated that he had caught a prey. Friend Erdal had not fired a bullet. We went to him thinking how he caught prey. When we got to him, we saw that there was a 45 kg howitzer cannon next to him. He looked at us and laughed, “Here’s our prey! Today, we must take this howitzer to the point. We need to take an action against the enemy by cutting it at the point, removing its TNT and turning it into a bomb,” he said.
Bags etc. to carry this howitzer with us. there was nothing. When we suggested that we go to the camp point to get bags, he insisted, “No, it will be late. Whatever happens, we need to get this howitzer to the point slowly.” Until we carried this heavy howitzer to the point alternately, we were out of action. I mean, in the style of your friend Erdal, I had to leave today’s work for tomorrow. It was based on completing his work on time.
I would like to cite as an example a successful action that Erdal made with the sabotage tactic. At that time, there was a place in the Bane Ezîza area of Gabar, which the enemy kept during the day and left at night. Normally, it was very risky to carry out a daytime action on the Bane Ezîza land. Friend Erdal placed bombs on all the positions that the enemy held during the day and left at night. He pulled the cable down and positioned several assault groups near the hill. After the enemy had settled in the positions, the friends detonated the bombs in the morning and attacked the enemy. Here they had raised many guns and retreated well without any casualties.
During this period, there was also a serious supply problem in Gabar. Before the action, friend Erdal gave a small piece of bread to each friend who participated in the action and said: “You will not eat the bread; you take action and eat during withdrawal. If the enemy did not come on the first day, eat half of the bread, and you will eat the other half during the retreat to gain energy after the action the next day.” He was such a war commander who thought and planned to the smallest detail. It was Erdal himself who prepared, planned and closely coordinated this action. Friend Erdal had many successful actions like this.
Do you have anything to say about Martyr Erdal?
Erdal’s loyalty and love for his country was very strong. He always liked and insisted on guerrilla activities in the mountains. He especially loved Gabar very much. During his time in Europe between 2000-2003, he was in constant contact with us in Gabar by phone. He was giving us general developments. He was wondering and asking about Gabar’s trees, fruits, wild animals and everything like that, trying to learn about the latest situations. He always shared his longing for Gabar with us. In other words, although he was in Europe, he lived in Botan, and in particular Gabar. And his friends there were wondering.
Erdal always told about Gabar to many new friends that he personally organized and helped to join the party. When these friends came to the mountain, they always made suggestions and efforts to reach Gabar. One of them was Martyr Avareş Dersim friend. Martyr Avareş stayed with Erdal in Europe and was very impressed by him. Gabar’s dream, which Erdal friend brought to Avareş friend, came true when he reached Gabar. Avaresh friend stayed in Gabar for a long time. Like Erdal friend, he was integrated with Gabar’s nature with his sincere and honest participation, and as a succinct warrior of Erdal friend, he always had a sincere participation.
Friend Erdal is known among us as a smiling commander. During his revolutionary life, he was a leading commander who gave great effort to his country, people and humanity. He was a popular commander who won the love of all his comrades with his sincerity and modesty. He was a great revolutionary who made great efforts on all of us and left unforgettable traces in our revolutionary history. I would like to state that as his comrade and fighter, we will embrace the legacy he left us, and we will always try to be worthy of his memories.
