QENDIL, — Leyla Amed the commander-in-chief of East Kurdistan Defence Forces (HRK) and member of PJAK’s coordination is evaluating the Iranian’s goal to attack Qendil Mountains, the martyrdom of Simko Serhildan and the role of women in the Epic of Qendil.
Iran had a strategic goal in attacking PJAK (Free Life Party of Kurdistan). The goal was not PJAK and Qendil Mountains only. By such an offensive, Iran wanted to liquidate the entire Kurdish resistance movement. Its objective was the neutralisation of all the attainments the Kurds – though enduring struggle – have achieved. From this dimension, one could say that such offensive was aiming for the entire Kurdish population.
This is time for freedom of the Kurds and our freedom movement has made our people to become ever closer to freedom. Kurdish people have created life out of nothing. It has acquired national unity now. Such things are unbearable for the Islamic Republic of Iran. By such an offensive Iran wanted to weaken the positions of the Kurds. Iranian regime wanted to say I want to liquidate you like I did the other Kurdish groups; it wanted to say I can undo your achievement in a week or two. But they never thought that the guerrillas of East Kurdistan Defence Forces would respond them with a devastating resistance.
The guerrillas of PJAK proved that they are well able to defend themselves and the Kurdish nation from oppression, annihilation, and the criminal policies of the Islamic Republic. They proved they are capable of defending all the Kurdish national values including Qendil as a national symbol of resistance. Kurdish people have been struggling for decades in the Qendil Mountains. Iranian regime was hoping to crush such a struggle conveying the message to the world that she can, once again, defeat the Kurdish resistance and wipe them out. But the Kurdish guerrillas, once again, showed that no power would be able to crush the guerrillas equipped with the Apoist philosophy.
The Epic of Qendil was a golden page in the history of Kurdish struggle. The most straightforward message behind such a resistance was that today’s Kurd is not the classical Kurd, whom could easily be weakened and overcome by Iranian regime. Kurds now have a massive organisation. They have their own unique ideology and most importantly, they are “condemned” to be free, for they have already lost what they had to.
The Iranian regime didn’t take this into account that if the guerrillas take a position, they would not lose it easily and they will defend it to their last drop of blood. In the Epic of Qendil, Iran could not hit its targets, and tasted a bitter defeat at the hands of Kurdish guerrillas. Iran was hoping to conquest Qendil Mountains in the course of a weak or two, but in a two months battle, and despite employing all forces of Revolution Guards Corps armed with advanced weaponries, they did achieve nothing!
Kurdish guerrilla showed that, not only Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) but the entire Iranian military forces could not do anything. The guerrillas proved that they are not afraid of Iranian tanks and missiles. The guerrillas showed that they have their own unique techniques and possess such a power that no one is able to weaken them. With the martyrdom of Simko Serhildan our resistance in Qendil reached its apex.
Martyr Simko was a symbol of impeccable revolutionary who dedicated his entire life for the Kurdish freedom movement. After the international conspiracy of 1999, he joined the Kurdish resistance movement. He had worked in various difficult and challenging areas such as Dersim and Black Sea. From this perspective he can be regarded as the symbol of national unity, because he didn’t work only in a certain area of Kurdistan.
Martyr Simko always took the national interest, freedom for the Kurdish people and freedom for Leader Apo as the bases of his campaign. In the hardest time, he never complained about the hardness of situations. From ideological and organisational perspective, he made a significant progress in a very short time. As a commander he was positioned in the East Kurdistan, and met all the requirements from both ideological and organisational perspectives. He was well aware that he should safeguard the achievement of the Kurdish nation in every situation.
Martyr Simko was one of the comrades who had fulfilled the national unity in his character. One of the most outstanding points in his personality as a commander was that in all ranges of affairs he was a pioneer. His heart was beating for the Kurds, Kurdistan and the Kurdish youths. His aim was to spread the policy of self-defence to all parts of East Kurdistan. All of his concern was that Kurdish people in East Kurdistan develop to the level of essential-natural–defence. He could never accept the coercion of the Islamic Republic in East Kurdistan and wanted to develop a response to them. One of his aims was to respond to the execution of our comrades in the Iranian detentions. He was extraordinary courageous!
After the execution of Comrade Hemin (HusenXezri), despite the cold winter, he responded to such an act of the Iranian regime in Bane. His message to the Islamic Regime was clear: if you kill one of us; we will kill ten of your forces. From organisational perspective and of targeting the position of the enemy under any circumstance, he was a pioneer. From the smallest thing to the biggest, nothing could have escaped his attention. The right positions of Martyr Simko and the other martyred comrades, led to our victory in Qendil prior to the start of the war, because prior to the start of war you should beat your enemy with your own morale and dedication.
The resistance of Martyr Simko and our other comrades prevented Iran to achieve their goals. What caused Iranian defeat were the high morale and the extraordinary self-esteem of our comrades in the battle. This is only one side of the war. Another side was about the organisation of our comrades. In the mid-summer, a resistance was led that Kurdish history never had experienced. When we saw high morale and the everlasting spirit of our comrades, our strength doubled. In each hill there were only 20-25 comrades. Whereas the Iranian Revolution Guards were armed to teeth with heavy weapons such tanks, mortar and missile launchers etc. The Revolution Guards militated all its power and availed of advanced technology against our few comrades, but could achieve nothing!
There were only two comrades in each fortification, but each of them had at least 5 different weapons. I saw that one of the comrades was using RPG, machine-gun, sniper, Kalashnikov and grenade from his fortification. This is not only an adage that if a guerrilla has the right position can fight a column of enemy’s army. In fact we experienced that in the Epic of Qendil; a fortification of guerrillas did crush a column of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.
With such a resistance, the guerrillas of PJAK showed that they will defend their nation and their symbol of national struggle, Qendil, to their last drop of blood, making it a cemetery for the enemy forces. What I should point out is that in the Epic of Qendil, there were Kurdish guerrillas from four parts of Kurdistan resisting the offensives. It would be suitable to regard this resistance as the struggle of the Kurds for national unity.
The role of women in this resistance was heroic and extraordinary. We saw this struggle in the martyrdom of comrades Ewindar and Befrin. Despite all the difficulties from unbearable heat to water shortage, these comrades fought to their last bullets. To void being captured by the enemy, they killed themselves by their last bullet. Such a task needs an extraordinary will-power that the Kurdish women have generated under the influence Apoist philosophy.
Martyr Befrin had used all of her weapons in her fortification and neutralised one entire column of the Revolution Guards. This indicates the power and the organisation of the Kurdish women in East Kurdistan. This resistance of Kurdish women was representing the organisation of Kurdish women throughout Mesopotamian history, representing the Ishtar.
Once again the Kurdish women in East Kurdistan proved that they can be the rightful representatives of the STAR and of the history of Kurdish resistance. The female martyrs in the Epic of Qendil didn’t only show that they are well able to fight against the Revolution Guards, but they also showed that they have the power to fight against the patriarchal system that has been in place for the last 5,000 years; the system that execute women or stone them to death.
The resistance of martyrs Befrin and Ewindar should be evaluated in this way; in the initial offensives launched on 16 July the martyred commander Sarya Onor and Egid were in Serdesht Mountains. They straightforward realised that such operations were aimed at all the entire achievements of the Kurdish people. To neutralise the operations, these comrades carried out suicide attack on a garrison of Revolution Guard in Zimziran.
Commander Sarya well understood the scale of the violence inflicted on women by the Iranian Islamic system. Her foremost objective was to promote the strategy of essential-natural-defence among women in East Kurdistan. The struggle of the Zilans and the Beritans were once again revived in the character of the martyrs such as Sarya. She showed that East Kurdistan has powerful female campaigner, who never submit or surrender, and prefer martyrdom for a free life, rather than submissive life where there is no will-power.
The motto of these women was “or a free life, or a free life”. The resistance of these martyred women has a message for all women in East Kurdistan to rally around the female martyrs and Qendil Mountains to empower themselves. For the only possible way for a free life and empowerment is found in Qendil Mountains. The only possible way for the freedom of women is to obtain a special level of organisation, to gain the power of essential-natural-defence; and such traits can be obtained in the Qendil Mountains.