BEHDINAN – Commander Fazıl Botan (Ahmet Şeker) was born in the Botan region of Kurdistan, where patriotism is at its deepest. Fazıl Botan grew up in the Çalışkan village of Silopi district of Şırnak, known for his patriotism. Fazıl Botan, who fought in the guerrilla ranks for a long time in the most difficult conditions, joined the caravan of martyrs in Europe.
PKK Executive Committee Member and People’s Defense Center (HSM) Headquarters Commander Murat Karayılan made evaluations about the life and struggle of martyr Fazıl Botan.
Karayılan’s comments on martyr Fazıl Botan are as follows:
“Greetings and respect to all.
I commemorate the esteemed Commander Fazıl Botan with respect, I bow respectfully in front of his memories. We repeat the promise we made to our heroic martyrs: We will keep our promise to our comrades. We will not lay down their weapons, we will avenge them and raise their flags. Many commanders and many heroes have emerged in our struggle until today.
A lot has changed in Kurdistan with the emergence of Leader Apo 50 years ago. A new era has begun. There was a lot of violence, oppression and persecution in Kurdish society, in the geography of Kurdistan. On the other hand, the Kurdish people had some courage and self-sacrifice, but there were also failures and fears. Upon the development of Leader Apo’s ideology and philosophy in Kurdistan, great will, self-sacrifice and courage were created among the Kurdish people, Kurdish youth and Kurdish women.
A GREAT WILL WAS ESTABLISHED THROUGH THE PHILOSOPHY OF LEADER APO
From the very beginning, the leadership advocated the idea of self-sacrifice for his country, for freedom, for his cause. Undoubtedly, Leader Apo brought this to life. In other words, he should be able to sacrifice himself for his thoughts, for his country. This consciousness has developed. This consciousness created a courage and a will in the Kurdish people and the Kurdish youth.
If this were not so, that strong will could not have emerged against the persecution in the Amed dungeon. In other words, heroes such as Mazlum Doğan, Ferhat Kurtay, Kemal Pir, Hayri Durmuş would not appear. Without him, the August 15 breakthrough would not have been successful. Egîd, Zîlan, Berîtan, Erdal, Bedran would not appear. In other words, the idea of sacrifice created strength and courage in the Kurdish youth. This truth is mostly valid for the Botan region. Kemalism did not have much influence in Botan. There weren’t many schools. Nobody knew Turkish and the geography of Botan was a difficult one. There is such valor and courage in the history of Botan.
When the youth of the Botan region got to know the world with Leader Apo’s ideology and philosophy on this basis, and when they looked at the world with Leader Apo’s ideology and got to know themselves, a very strong will and courage emerged.
In other words, when that characteristic of the Kurds combined with Leader Apo’s ideology and philosophy in Botan, great courage, great sacrifice and great will emerged.
On this basis, Ehmed Rapo, Enwer Omyanûs, Piling Kiçi, Çîçek Kiçi, Nûjin Xirbikê Bestê, Rojhat Bilûzerî, Dijwar Erkendî, Reşit Serdar, Özgür Harûnî, Adil Bilikî, Cûma Bilikî, Bedran Gundikremofar, Mahmûdî, Aşûrî, were mobilized among the people of Botan on this basis. Heroes such as Spêrtî, Özgür Goyî, Berxwedan Goyî, Rojhat Şiwêtî, Mazlûm Mamxurî, Rojîn Gewda, Doğan Dudêrî and Zelal Botan participated. The command and bravery developed in the person of these young men and women of the Botan people cannot be expressed in a few words. Heval Fazıl was a pioneering comrade like these friends.
Heval Fazıl, who was a coach before joining the party, is in a relationship with friends. In 1988, when it was time for military service in Turkey, he joined his friends and joined the Kurdistan army. He became the commander of the unit in 1989. He resolutely fulfills his role and mission in difficult conditions and attends Leadership training in 1993. After receiving education from Leader Apo, he returns to Botan in the same year.
HE KNOW THE BOTAN FIELD BY METERS
Heval Fazıl had stayed all over Botan and knew the entire geography inch by inch. In 1994, the enemy had massive attacks. There was a very tough war. Heval Fazil was the mobile battalion commander that year. At that time, the mobile battalion was around 200-250 people. Heval Sara (Sakine Cansız) was also present in the same battalion as the representative of female friends. They were together during those hot war times. They were at Besta.
At that time, the enemy was attacking the regions with a huge force consisting of tens of thousands of soldiers. He was taking over most of the territories within a few days. Heval Fazil’s battalion was in Besta. The war there lasted 45 days. Then the movement decided to ‘pull back’. This is how Comrade Fazil withdrew his battalion. Thus, there was no great loss, but it was a tough struggle. Heval Sara criticized the commanders, but heval did not criticize Fazil much. She had respect for him. Because he saw it too, he was a very hard worker. He was subordinate to the leadership. Whatever the movement said was essential to him.
Heval Fazil feared criticism, not the enemy. He couldn’t sleep 24 hours to avoid criticism, he would work every day. It was like that sometimes. He had a lot of respect for the party, he also had fear. But other than that, he wasn’t afraid of anyone. He was such a friend. He was a friend without account, without a book, he was a person inside and out, he was sincere and honest. That’s why he was loved by all his friends. Female friends, male friends, wanted to fight under his command. He took care of his friends. He had experience in warfare, management and coordination. Heval Fazil was such a friend.
As it is known, there were many mistakes, deficiencies and actions in war practices. Investigations were carried out regarding these actions. There may have been some criticisms regarding the practices of Comrade Fazil, but he did not have any practice that was investigated. It would be the only example for a person to wage a war for 28 years, to command and not be investigated. Heval Fazıl was putting a lot of effort and striving with all his might to carry out a work as he wanted.
HE WAS A BRILLIANT AND WORKING COMMANDER
In 2006, the organization decided to develop underground positions. Comrade Fazil, who was the Zap commander at that time, really attached great importance to this. Underground emplacements were not like the current tunnels. So maybe if it was another commander, he wouldn’t have taken it so seriously. But Comrade Fazil stood on it and it had consequences. In 2008, the enemy wanted to attack Zap, in the winter, on February 21, he suddenly wanted to attack and occupy Zap. Headquarters was there.
Thanks to the preparation of Heval Fazıl, who was the commander of the resistance, the Turkish state suffered a heavy defeat there. The defeat of the Zap caused a radical change in the Turkish occupation system, that is, the power of the soldiers and generals was broken. Its commander was heval Fazil. The preparations he made in the past, the underground positions developed and his careful management of the war were the basis of this success.
Again, when the Turkish state, the Syrian state and Iran formed an anti-Kurdish alliance and posed a threat to Qandil, heval Fazil was appointed as the commander of Qandil. Already in 2011, the Iranian state attacked Qandil. The war lasted 2 months. The system Heval Fazil established in Qandil and the preparations he made created a serious obstacle against the attacks of the Iranian state.
Heval Simko, the YRK commander, was with him, so together they increased the resistance. He brought Iranian special forces from Tehran, used all kinds of techniques, but whatever he did, he could not occupy Qandil. Thereupon, Iran put the PUK and KDP together to stop the war. After the war stopped, an Iranian general said, ‘I am very curious about the positions there and I want to see them’. He had already come and seen it and was amazed. So heval Fazil was such a meticulous, sensitive and punctual commander and a fighter. He struggled and fought for success, to be in the line of Leader Apo throughout his life. He was respectful to the movement, to his comrades, would be great with the big, small with the small, he was not arrogant. He was a humble worker, courageous and a strong commander.
IT HAS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN REFRESHING THE DAESH ATTACKS
There were Hisênî villages in Til Beraqê and Til Hemisê in Rojava. On the same night, 101 YPG commanders and fighters were martyred in these two places. It was a blow for the YPG. At that time, gangs using the name Al-Nusra attacked. All of these gangs later took the name ISIS and launched an attack on the Cizîre region. At that time, Comrade Fazil went to Rojava. Heval Fazil, who has a great war experience, was lucky to go to Rojava.
It was the beginning of 2014. We saw that the Turkish state was behind the attacks of the gangs. MIT created the restructuring of those forces. ISIS attacked Rojava, Shengal, Kobanê as well as the Cizîre regions. It was a tough battle. Heval Fazıl played an important role in repelling ISIS attacks in Rojava at that time, with the actions he led. Then, in March 2015, he was badly injured, unfortunately. At that time, YPG Command and PYD Administration made a significant effort to be treated. It was very sad for us too. He then moved on to Hewler. He stayed there for a while in the hospital. There, the esteemed Kusret Rasul hears that such a commander is being treated in Hewlêr and bears all his expenses.
Later, as a result of diplomatic efforts, the French authorities helped him go to Paris for treatment. We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the treatment of the valuable commander Heval Fazil during this process. He stayed in France, received treatment. However, he did not fully recover. The health workers of France worked hard, but his health did not fully recover, his body became weak as a result of his injuries and he became a martyr.
FIGHT FOR 34 YEARS FOR THE KURDISTAN REVOLUTION
Comrade Fazil struggled for this revolution for 34 years. He waged an uninterrupted war in the mountains of Kurdistan for 28 years. After staying with the Leader for six or seven months, he served in the mountains of Kurdistan, the Botan region, the Behdinan region, the Soran region and many parts of Kurdistan. He carried out important works with his knowledge, experience, courage, honesty and purity. He was a national commander. Four parts fought for Kurdistan. He fought against the invading states, against all armies in Kurdistan, and led the war.
He also fought against ISIS. He did a great service to all humanity with this war. 2014 was undoubtedly the year of the rise of ISIS. It was not easy to stand against ISIS. For example, no one opposed the ISIS attacks at that time. From where? He used to say to ISIS supporters, ‘If you die, you will go to heaven’. In other words, he promised a better life in the afterlife. For this reason, ISIS supporters were not afraid of death at that time. Therefore, no force could stand against them. Apoist forces stopped.
From where?
Because the Apoist forces had a self-sacrificing spirit for the freedom of their country, for their thoughts and ideas. There was great courage because even at the very beginning of the ISIS attacks in Kobanê, Cizîrê, Shengal, Maxmur, Kirkuk, this movement stood upright against DAESH in a self-sacrificing manner. Heval Fazıl was one of the commanders who glorified this resistance in those important periods. In other words, he had a service to all humanity. Comrade Fazil, the noble commander of the freedom movement, will never be forgotten. The character of Comrade Fazil is an example for all of us.
He died in Europe. It is an example for all European squads. Namely, honesty, purity, sincerity, devotion; These criteria are very important.Sacrifice, courage, devotion, these are always examples for us. These features of Apoism were realized in the person of heval Fazıl.We will follow them. We will stick to your cases. We will make the martyrs of the Kurdistan revolution and comrades such as Fazil Botan immortal. We will keep the memories alive by raising the struggle.
That’s basically what we call ‘Sehid Namirin’.
