CENTRAL NEWS – For some time now, there has been discussion within the guerrillas about how to overcome the classic guerrilla. Many would declare the guerrilla struggle null and void, considering that the states and modernized war technology work apart from human power. But which heroic force makes the young men and women in the mountains of Kurdistan continue to fight despite this technology and deal such great blows to the enemy? Already in the offensive around Garê, the guerrillas of democratic modernity have proven their worth. But what was the motivation of the Turkish state to attack the mountainous region of Garê?
The mountainous region of Garê is a strategically important location for the guerrillas. Unlike Metîna, Avaşîn, Zap, Heftanîn and Xakurkê, for example, Garê is not located on the border with Turkish territory, but further inland to the south. In this respect, Garê has always had the advantage for the guerrillas of not being on the direct front line, but also of offering space for organizational work, reconnaissance, etc., despite air strikes and drone surveillance. On February 10 of 2021, the Turkish occupation army launched a large-scale operation to invade the Garê region. Accompanied by massive bombardments and blanket aerial surveillance, the Turkish army sent hundreds of its special forces with helicopters from the south, i.e. from the territory of the KDP (Nationalist Party of Iraqi Kurdistan), to Garê. On the very first day, they tried to capture the strategic peaks of the area, but failed miserably due to the direct respon- se of the guerrillas. Wherever the Turkish army dropped its soldiers, despite hours of bombardment, the guerrillas were there to deal heavy blows to the attackers. The aim was quite clear.
The intention was to use this surprise lightning operation to penetrate one of the guerrillas’ core areas in order to gain a permanent foothold there. For days, the entire area was bombarded from the air without interruption. In the cave, which contained prisoners of war, Turkish soldiers and MIT officers, the Turkish army finally used chemical weapons, killing both its own people and our guerrilla friends. However, after four days, the highly modern Turkish army, the second largest army in NATO, was defeated and had to withdraw. In this respect, February 14 of this year is a historic milestone for the victory of the guerrillas. To avoid embarrassment, the Turkish army resorted to its paramilitary forces, Islamist gangs from Syria, the use of village guards and KDP henchmen. Fewer Turkish soldiers, whose fighting morale was broken, were sent to the front lines, and other forces were used as cannon fodder. A central role was played by the KDP, which has been busy for months encircling guerrilla areas from the south and provoking an escalation that would lead to a deadly intra-kurdish war. And even if the KDP were to be held accountable for its crimes, such an escalation would be entirely in the spirit and interest of Turkish fascism. The situation is serious and the war is in a critical, decisive phase. The Turkish state is also aware of this and accordingly is leaving no stone unturned to move forward.
That is why the Turkish army iused chemical weapons and poison gas in Metîna, Zap and Avaşîn to capture the
partisans’ defense tunnels and caves. Despite all these measures, the guerrillas resisted. At the same time, it is interesting to note that the propaganda of the Turkish fascist state, which usually accompanies every military operation, was relatively modest and restrained this time. Apparently, they decided not to make too much fuss in order to avoid a possible embarrassment like in Garê. The myth and propaganda that even guerrillas are ultimately powerless against the overwhelming power of the state was once again broken and exposed as a lie. Garê was a victory for all of us, in Kurdistan and around the world, a victory for all of us who marched side by side with the an- ti-fascist resistance of the last years and took up the struggle against Turkish fascism and its international collaborators in different ways. As much as the Turkish state tries to hide and distort the truth through propaganda lies, as much as it tries to break the resistance through the currently ongoing, broad and massive military campaign against the guerrillas, it will not be able to nullify our victory, the victory of the guerrillas in Garê. The Turkish army was brought to its knees in Garê and now it is being brought to its knees every day in the mountains, in Metîna, in Zap and in Avaşîn.
For months, the young men and women of the HPG and YJA-Star have been resisting around the clock. Confronted with a highly modern armed NATO army, which has received the green light for its campaign of destruction from its NATO partners USA and Europe and is supported by the collaborators of the KDP in Southern Kurdistan, the guerrillas have no other choice but the will to resist and to win against fascism. This will, and thus the realization of the project of a “modern guerrilla” of the 21st century, ensures that the Turkish state has yet to make any significant territorial gains, even after months of hard fighting. The victory in Garê and the unbroken resistance of the guerrillas are the result of the revolutionary determination of the apoist guerrillas, as well as the restructuring and reorganization of recent years into a modern, professional guerrilla. The ability of the HPG and YJA-Star to hold their territories in Southern Kurdistan until today and to continue to be active in all areas of Northern Kurdistan is primarily related to this professionalization.
Restructuring the guerrilla into a Modern Guerrilla Movement means creating a new reality, developing a new fighting strategy, new tactics and a new discipline, seriousness and professionalism. “Today, the guerrilla moves like a ghost. It is nowhere to be seen, but it is everywhere. It does not let itself be seen, but it watches the enemy. It does not allow itself to be controlled, but it monitors the enemy. This is the way of today’s guerrilla,” Murat Karayilan Commander of the Central People’s Defense Headquarters, in 2020, describes the modern guerrilla. The 21st century guerrilla must subvert the enemy’s information and weapons technology. It must create creativity, determination, attachment to its greatest weapon. The practice in the struggle for Garê has confirmed to us the success of the restructuring of the guerrilla.
The concept of modern guerrilla no longer builds only on the classic guerrilla tactics, but professionalizes itself in all points of war and revolution. The modern guerrilla must be firmly rooted in its ideological-political convictions, determined for the construction of socialism in the 21st century: a guerrilla of democratic modernity, a guerrilla of democratic, ecological society and women’s freedom. The modern guerrilla must be disciplined, organized and structured. The modern guerrilla must know the enemy and itself, move according to circumstances and conditions, and be specialized in the weapons at its disposal. The fundamentals of the classical guerrilla still apply, but the modern guerrilla organizes itself according to the ever-evolving technical capabilities of states and rulers. As a result, modern guerrillas are finding their own creative responses to the ever-changing characteristics of contemporary war. Although quantity does not lose its importance, quality takes precedence in modern warfare, and this is especially true of guerrillas. One of the main reasons why the Kurdish freedom movement continues to be internationally criminalized, politically-diplomatically-economically marginalized and isolated, why the U.S. and Europe support and fund Turkey’s war against the PKK by all means, why Abdullah Ocalan continues to be kept in isolation, and why Rojava is not given official status internationally, is the luminosity that a successful guerrilla struggle against a NATO state in the 21st century can bring.
The imperialists are afraid that the 21st century model of “modern and professional guerrilla” could become an example and model for other peoples and social struggles around the world. Let’s imagine, if they already have such big problems with the guerrillas in Kurdistan and fail to destroy the PKK for more than 40 years, what would happen if two, three, many modern guerrilla movements emerge in different parts of the world? What if 2, 3, many fighting movements adopted this model?
Source: Lêgerîn Magazine 05
