NEWS CENTER – We must live and breathe the month of May according to its importance in the history of peoples. The struggle must continue like this and never stop. Heroic great wars have been accomplished. But we have a weakness in understanding, delving into and evaluating these heroines and heroes.
Hakî, Kemal, Mazlûm and Xeyrî were the perfect fighters of this great faith. Under the most extreme conditions, there was neither the slightest souring, nor being cold, nor the annoyance of the surroundings. No attempt would have been made by them to do such a thing. These hevals define the life of PKK in terms of sacred values. This is the real life. Because of their dreams, demands, hopes and beliefs, they have taken everything in their life. If they wanted, they could have taken up any profession, but they deliberately refrained from doing so. They were aware that martyrdom was almost certain in this way, but in the face of this they became revolutionaries and never fell into worry or anxiety. Every day was spent in the spirit of a holiday.
If the PKK is the most claimed freedom movement of our time and the dream of the ruling system, it marks the continuation of the PKK’s connection with the utopia of socialism. As long as you ignite utopia in your hearts and do not bring yourselves to the level of saying: I can live without bread and water, but I cannot live without the dreams of freedom, you cannot become socialists.
I say these things for a proper party building and especially for the need to connect with the fallen. Never treat these things as physical events (imitations). The real fighters of PKK are friends like Mazlum and Xeyri. First we will get something from Kemal who described the true personality and identity of PKK. Xeyri’s how they surrendered to death and saw themselves grateful, compared to the conditions of that time it was not very successful, the participation of mistakes and shortcomings on the one hand, only what was said on the other, his comrades did not get tired, did not get angry and with all their strength they illuminated their surroundings and showed their militant personality.
If we believe in the workers’ cause, have our respect for the utopia of socialism for which millions have fallen, and if we truly consider this day as a day of struggle, unity and support for the workers within the nation, then we must give a strong response. In everyday national contexts, we can respond in the person of the PKK with an honorable struggle, a victory march and with the rise and development of socialism. This would be a perfect answer. A little has been given, we can also describe that from here and now.
I repeat; so it is not enough just to stay in PKK for years, it is enough for the normal beginning and leadership. Did Haqi recognize it as very socialist? No! We know that he set out with a low consciousness but had a strong faith. Did Xeyrî, Mazlum and Kemal know this country very well, were they very patriotic? No! But they believed in the reality of socialism without being degenerate and were wholeheartedly and passionately attached to the work. They did it like that and they were the real PKK.
ŞEVA ÇARAN (THE NIGHT OF THE FOUR)
On the evening of May 17, 1982, four revolutionary Kurds, Ferhat Kurtay, Necmî Oner, Eşref Anyik and Mahmut Zengin fell in Amed prison. In the 1980s, the actions of self-immolation were started in many places. This action happened for the first time on March 21, 1982. On this date, a cadre of the chairman of PKK Mazlûm Dogan, hanged himself in Amed prison. On May 18, 1982, PKK prisoners Ferhat Kurtay, Eşref Anyik, Necmî Oner and Mahmût Zengîn burned themselves in the same prison. In this way, the protest became evident once again on March 21, 1990. On this date, Zekiye Alkan set her body on fire to reject the ban on Newroz.
FERHAT KURTAY
In 1949, he was born into a poor family in the village of Xursê near Qoser. He continued his primary, secondary and high school education in Qoser and Merdîn. In Trabzon, he graduated from the Faculty of Engineering. In the meantime, he married and held an engineering position for a while. He became acquainted with recognized revolutionary ideas during his school years. Influenced by the revolutionary movements of Turkey and the world. After 1978, he became involved in the party through official contacts. He was directly involved in the organization of the Merdîn region, in the formation of preparatory committees. In addition, he distributed and implemented official publications of the organization in the area. On November 23, 1979, M. Xeyrî Durmuş and his other friends were arrested in their apartment. On the night of May 17-18, they self-immolated the 33rd cell and fell şehîd.
NECMÎ ONER
He was born in Çermîk into a rich family. He completed elementary, middle and high school in Çermîk. While still in school, he was open to new thoughts, discussions and research. At first he had a sympathetic connection with the DDKO, then he was influenced by the speeches and work of PKK cadres Ahmet Kurt and Huseyin Durmuş, recognized the PKK and soon became involved in works in Çermik. With his successful youth work, he played an important role in the mass of the struggle. Shortly before his arrest, he led the youth in the Preparatory Committee. In 1979, he was arrested for an incident at school. Like an elephant, he has always maintained his place in the resistance. The night that connects May 17 with May 18, the Night of Four, he took his place in the Action of Four in Amed Military Prison in cell 33.
MAHMUT ZENGÎN
Originally from Sewereg, but spent much of his life in Hilwan because his grandfather moved to Hilwan. Here he completed primary and secondary school. His family was poor. Against the feudal pressure exerted on the region at that time, he felt a discontent at a young age. In Hilwan developed in 1978 against the feudal gangs known as “Sulaymanis”, his love for the armed struggle that was then under the leadership of the APOCİ and took his place in the movement. He took his place in the first works of the youth. He also participated in activities such as social work, propaganda and so on. Under the command of PKK cadre Cuma TAK, he took his place in the armed struggle against Suleymaniyan and Bucakan gangs in the remote areas of Hilwan and Sewereg. On 07 July 1979, in a battle that ended with an attempt to rescue a comrade from the front, he was captured by Turkish forces and taken to the military prison in Amed. In the action of the Four of Self-immolation, he showed his resolute attitude.
EŞREF ANYİK
He was born in 1960 in Viranşehir village to a poor family. Due to poverty, he could only attend elementary school. At a young age, he took great responsibility for the family’s livelihood. For his family in Eden, he worked in many jobs in the metropolis. Eşref Aynik took his place in the ranks of the PKK under the influence of the general developments in the country and especially under the influence of Hilwan’s struggle. He participated in armed actions against the feudal gangs and was now persecuted by state forces. When the battle of Hilwan was in the middle of an armed confrontation against the forces of the state, he was arrested. Against all the acts of treason that the Turkish general Esat imposed on them, Eşref was active with his hevals. He participated in the night of May 18 to the prison of Amed.
HAKİ KARER
Haki Karer (1950-1977) was a fighter of the PKK. He was not originally a Kurd. He fell Şehîd on May 18, 1977. That he fell Şehîd led to the foundation of the PKK.
Haki Karer was born in 1950 in Ulubeya Ordu. He attended elementary, middle and high school. He began his studies at the Faculty of Positive Sciences at Ankara University.
Haki Karer was influenced by the revolutionary movement after the 1970s and began to adopt revolutionary ideas in a short time. At the same time, he met Kemal Pir and Rêber Apo. In 1973, he took responsibility in the organizational level at ADYÖD. In 1976, in the Dikmen district of Ankare, the decision was made to return home, first to Batman, then to Amed (Diyabakir), and then also to Dîlok (Antep). In Dîlok, a successful practice demonstrated.
An organization called “Red Star (Stêrka Sor)” Responsible for his assassination, which they implemented on the orders of MIT (Turkish Intelligence). In Dîlok, one of the members of this organization, Alaattin Kapan, invited Haki Karer to a discussion. The meeting took place on May 15 in a café in Antep. Haki Karer was killed on May 18, 1977 as a result of this conspiracy of these mercenaries. His assassination is a historical period in the history of the Kurdish people’s struggle for freedom and led to the establishment of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
MEHMET KARASUNGUR
Mehmet Karasungur (1947-1983), a member of the PKK Central Committee, was killed along with Ibrahim Bilgin by PUK forces in 1983.
Mehmet Karasungur was born in 1947 in Darabiyê village in Çewlik Kiği district. He finished elementary school in his village, middle school and high school in Çewlik. He graduated from the mathematics department of Erzurum Educational Institute. In 1972, while teaching in Maraş, he was exiled to Colemêrg for his revolutionary activities. Years later, while continuing his teaching in Şebinkarahisar, he was appointed to Çewlik College in 1975. Karasungur took the lead in opening the Çewlik branch of the TÖB-DER Association and assumed a position in the management. Karasungur met Mehmet Xeyri Durmuş during his tenure in Çewlik. At the base where he was arrested in 1976, he was handed over to the security director and tortured, there he joined the right group.
Karasungur, deciphered because of his political activities, gave up his post as a teacher in Çewlik in 1978 and started the professional revolution. Karasungur contributed greatly to the Kurdish liberation struggle as an organizer of the Hilwan and Sewereg resistance and moved to Lebanon in the 1980s. He moved to southern Kurdistan in 1982 and worked hard to establish national unity and end divisions and hostilities between Kurdish organizations and establish a line of unity and common struggle and alliances. He also goes to the decision makers of KDP with this task. But the decision makers did not think anything of unity and attacked on May 02, 1983, as a result of which he died with his comrade Îbrahîm Bîlgîn.
XELÎL ÇAVGUN
Xelîl Çavgun, a member of the PKK Central Committee, fell to the Şehid in Hilvan on May 19, 1978.
Xelîl Çavgun attended elementary school in Hilwan, secondary school and a high school in Riha, where people live day and night. He then continued his education at an educational institute and had to leave school for political reasons. Xelîl Çavgun started his political life from the 71’s and participated in the struggle after the national liberation struggle developed in Hilwan. Çavgun was one of the representatives of the national liberation struggle in the region. The day Çavgun was assassinated, May 19, 1978, was recognized as a day of resistance both in Hilwan and throughout Kurdistan. Xelîl Çavgun got into an armed confrontation with the police while hanging a banner commemorating the first anniversary of Haki Karer’s assassination and lost his life.
DENİZ GEZMÎŞ
Deniz Gezmiş was one of the most important pioneers of the youth movement that developed in Turkey after 1965 and beyond. He is also one of the leaders and founders of the Turkish People’s Liberation Army THKO.
He was born on February 24, 1947 in the Ayaş district of Ankara. The child of a family of teachers, he completed his primary and secondary education in many cities, including Istanbul High School. Deniz entered the Faculty of Law at Istanbul University in 1966 and became acquainted with the Left while still in his university years and found himself involved in the activities of the time.
In 1965, he became a member of the TİP (Türkiye İşçi Partisi /Turkish Workers’ Party) in Üsküdar. He first supported workers on August 31, 1966, when workers marched from the municipality of Corum near Ankara to Istanbul and laid a black wreath in front of the Taksim Monument. He was arrested by Turkish authorities during a [condemnation] demonstration. Later, he was arrested during the events of January 19, 1967, and was brought before the court along with two of his comrades and released. Later, he participated in many political activities and the formation of institutions.
In September 1968, he founded the Revolutionary Students Union together with his comrades Cihan Alptekin, Mustafa İlker Gürkan, Mustafa Lütfi Kiyici, Cevat Ercişli, M. Mehdi Beşpinar, Selahattin Okur, Saim Kurul and Ömer Erim Süerkan. Deniz Gezmiş was arrested on October 28, 1968, during a protest rally against visit of USA chief at Yeşilk Balay Airport and released shortly after.
At Istanbul University, a large crowd of students demonstrated against the right-wing forces. This action was taken as a pretext and he was arrested again on March 19 and remained in prison until April 03. Subsequently, on May 31, 1969, he took the chair in a protest action of the faculty students. During one of these actions he was injured. A verdict was passed against him. But he still managed to escape from prison and went to Palestine at the end of June.
He stayed in Palestinian guerrilla camps until September. Deniz Gezmiş, participated in many THKO activities. He was captured on 04 March 1971 in a kidnapping operation by the Americans, he was captured after the release of the soldiers in Sivas district named Şarkişlay near Gemerek. In the THKO trial that began on July 16, 1971, he was sentenced to death on September 9, 1971 for violating Article 146 of the Turkish Penal Code and hanged on May 6, 1972.
IBRAHİM KAYPAKKAYA
Ibrahim Kaypakkaya was a revolutionary and founder of TKP/ML.
Kaypakkaya was born in 1949 in Alaca near Çorum. He is the founder of the TKP/ML. He studied mathematics and physics at Hasanoglan Teaching School, Istanbul College and University. In 1968, he became a member of TÎP in Eminönü. He was a member of the editorial board of “Ant” and “Turkish Left” magazines. He participated in the protest actions against the US 6th Fleet. The MDD-SD discussions first approved the SD theses, then the MDD theses. He was removed from the TIP. Later, he joined the PDA-TİİKP founded by Doğu Perinçek. He differed from this movement and together with his comrades he founded the TKP/ML movement. He was arrested in Dersim on January 24, 1973. He remained in captivity for three and a half months. He was tortured to death in Amed. on May 18, 1973.
YUSUF ASLAN
Yusuf was born in 1947 in the village of Yozgat. He completed his secondary education in an old-fashioned and anti-communist environment. Joined the ODTU in 1966. Less than a year later, he joined ODTU’s socialist think tank and began working for Dev-Genç.
After this period, he was first in the Preparatory School and then in the Faculty of Engineering and one of the smart pioneers in organizing preparatory activities and boycott and occupy actions of ODTU. The action for which he was originally convicted. was an arson attack of the car of the US ambassador and CIA agent Commers. In 1969, he went to Palestine with his comrades. Here he learned to pilot helicopters and airplanes. From tractors to helicopters, all kinds of large vehicles are used. He, Deniz Gezmiş and Hüseyin Înan were wounded in Şarkişlaya in Sivas in 1970 when they joined a guerrilla group in the Nurhak Mountains. They were tried in extraordinary administrative courts. On May 06, 1972, he was hanged along with Hüseyin Înan and Deniz Gezmîş.
