NEWS CENTER – Every person can live freely and safely in his own country with a government of his choice, celebrate his own culture and language, worship the God he chooses as he chooses, read and speak freely; He was martyred while fighting for the right to make music, enjoy the arts, appreciate history, or play football without fear of brutal execution.
Konstandinos Erik Scurfield was born in 1989 in North Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Konstandinos, the eldest child of Vasiliki and Chris couple, has one and two more brothers. He grew up in the town of Royston near Barnsley and from a young age was driven by a strong social consciousness. Known affectionately as Kosta by his friends and family, Kosta had an independent and strong will from an early age. “When Kosta set his mind to something, he wouldn’t give up until he made it happen, he was so stubborn, especially as he got older,” his mother Vasiliki explains. Although he wasn’t very smart academically, he was a bright student and finished school easily. He had a creative streak and a passion for performance and from a young age He wanted to be an actor. After leaving school Nottingham’ He also attended a college course in Performing Arts and later spent a summer learning circus skills. She even had a small role in the popular British TV series Hollyoaks.
HE ALWAYS WANTED TO HELP
He was always looking for ways to make a positive difference in the world, to help those less fortunate than himself, and this search would determine his path. At the age of 14, he traveled with a group to Malealea, South Africa, to participate in environmental work, where he helped plant trees and clean local water tanks. He and other contributors have raised over £40,000 for this effort.
After graduating from university, he decided to take a long walk in Europe and went to Greece, where he was eligible for military service, as he was of Greek descent. With only one piece of clothing, a small amount of money, a pair of shoes and a sleeping bag, he embarks on an epic journey. Her mother believed she was using this situation as an opportunity to reconsider her priorities. He was determined to work with charities that specialized in landmine clearance, but found that many of these organizations were looking for volunteers with military experience. After giving his last money to a beggar in Italy and spending his 21st birthday in the Alps, he went to Greece, where he spent 6 months in the army.
HE DID NOT SIT THE SILENCE AGAINST ISIS
On his return to the UK he joined the Royal Marines and served as a battlefield medic with 45 Commandos. Kosta succeeded in his new job, although his family doubted that this loving, sensitive and creative young man would find himself in the harsh life of the military with his strict discipline. Although he was happy and successful in his new life, with the rise of ISIS and its terror in Syria and Iraq, he became more and more disappointed by the inaction of the British government. After asking his commander if the British army would join the fight against ISIS, he was given the answer “No”.
His mother, Vasiliki, describes that process as follows: “He was very angry that we stood by while innocent people were being killed. He couldn’t understand it when he was told no. He grew up with a feeling like ‘Let’s save the Kurds from Saddam Hussein’ or ‘Let’s save all women in Afghanistan from the Taliban’. British He had a constant feed of propaganda from his government about why we’re going to these wars, so he was disappointed when he was told, ‘Oh no, we’re not going to Syria.’ He’s always been the kid who didn’t expect others to do things for him: if you don’t get what you want, you get your ass Lift it up and do something about it.”
HE SAID TO HIS MOTHER, ‘Kurds are dying, no one is doing anything’.
“Mom, I want to go to Syria and help,” Koska told her mother. “The Kurds are dying and our government is doing nothing,” he said. Kosta once again challenged his commanders with the start of ISIS’s massacre of Yazidis in Shengal and the air support of the coalition. He took action after receiving a ‘No’ answer once again. He was arrested by the British army on his first attempt to travel to Syria, but he told them, as resolutely as ever, that he was going to Syria one way or another and it would be better if they dismissed him. They finally agreed. He resigned from military service in September 2014 and within a few weeks made contact with the YPG and set off for the Middle East.
CAME TO SENGAL, BECOME KEMAL
After arriving in Iraq, he joined his Kurdish and internationalist comrades and went directly to the front in Shengal, where he witnessed heavy clashes against ISIS. The struggle was thrown, he changed his name to Kemal. With his military experience and skills as a combat medic, he was a prominent part of the Democratic Nation troop. Heval Kemal was deeply committed to the cause of revolution and the fight against ISIS and gave his all to this struggle. Heval Kemal now had the chance to make a real difference in the world and laid down his life to protect the Êzidî people in Shengal against the massacre and genocide of ISIS.
In her last Facebook post before she left for Iraq, she quoted German anti-fascist Sophie Scholl, who was executed by the Nazis for her anti-war resistance: “How can we expect righteousness to prevail when there is hardly anyone willing to individually sacrifice themselves for a just cause? ? I have to go on a beautiful, sunny day like this, but what does my death matter if thousands of people are going to wake up and take action through us?”
FRIENDS OF FIGHTING IN SHENGAL
His comrades on the Shengal front remember him as follows: “We were under constant fire for a month. We were sleeping in bombed buildings, 50 meters from the ISIS line, amid the sound of gunfire, advancing in tunnels, and fleeing to hide whenever a mortar fell. ISIS attacks were usually at night. Dressed in black, they swarmed over the walls, lighting up the darkness with the sound of gunfire. We were outnumbered, but each time, aiming at the glow of their muzzle, we managed to repulse them. We knew we would beat them if they tried hard enough, so we decided not to let anyone be taken prisoner; We would die fighting together no matter what. We kept our line day by day. Kosta built a makeshift gym to keep us fit and cooked most of our meals. I was rescued by Heval Kemal in the conflict. A bullet hit me and bullets were flying everywhere. While I struggled to stay conscious, Kosta and an American front-line friend named Cudi stopped the bleeding, loaded me onto a makeshift stretcher, and carried me 300 meters under constant fire to an evacuation vehicle. I wouldn’t be here today without them.”
TRANSITION TO ROJAVA, MARTYR AT AN AMBUSH
After the victory against ISIS on the Shengal front, Heval Kemal went to Rojava and fought at the front of the operations against ISIS. As a skilled warrior, battlefield doctor, and natural leader, he was indispensable to his military unit, saving many more lives and bringing great heart and devotion to war. During the campaign to liberate Til Hemis, east of Qamishlo and Heseke, Heval Kemal was in a convoy of vehicles carrying wounded fighters and refugees from the village of Xizela. The convoy was exposed to intense fire from an ambush set up by ISIS. At the end of these long conflicts, on March 2, 2015, Konstandinos, also known as the British Kemal, was martyred. Keeping his promise, he gave his life for his comrades, the people of Rojava and the cause of struggle he believed in.
THE VIDEO HE TAKEN 2 DAYS BEFORE THE MARTYR
In a video taken two days before he was martyred, he said that he and his comrades were passing through bombed-out buildings, feeling happier in Kurdistan than he had been in many years. He was content with his life as a soldier and felt it was his calling to fight. He was angry with the British government and other NATO governments for “meddling” causing the war and forcing the public to face the consequences. He expresses his anger by saying, “There are 500 British soldiers fighting for ISIS and our government is happy that we are not doing anything.”
HERO OF HUMANITY
Martyr Kemal’s body was handed over to his family after a ceremony held on the Syria-Iraq border, attended by hundreds of people, and was later buried in England, where he was born. Martyr Kemal becomes not only a Kurdish hero, but also a hero of humanity and goes down in history in this way.
Martyr Kemal’s family continues to defend the cause of their son, the cause of the Kurdish people and their democratic revolution, and support the families of other British martyrs of the Rojava revolution. Martyr Kemal’s parents, Vasiliki and Chris, said, “His fire may have burned for a short time, but he shone with love, courage, faith and honor and we are proud of him.” They constantly talk about the great pride they feel for their son and for the sacrifices he has made.
A military academy of the People’s Defense Unit YPG is named after Martyr Kemal’s great contribution and sacrifices in the struggle.
TOMORROW: International Martyrs of the Rojava Revolution – VIII: Ivana Hoffmann
International martyrs of the Rojava Revolution -I: Paramaz Kızılbaş
International Martyrs of the Rojava Revolution – II: Sarya Özgür
International martyrs of the Rojava Revolution – III: Emir Qubadi
International Martyrs of the Rojava Revolution – IV: Keith Broomfield
International martyrs of the Rojava Revolution – V: Karker Amca
