Hêlîn Asmîn

 

ŞEHBA - Afrin Canton Kongreya Star Coordination member Şirin Hesen stated that Beritan set an example for women with her struggle and action and said, ‘’Beritan showed that the line of betrayal and submissive will never prevail in Kurdistan, the line of resistance will win’’.

 

Gülnaz Karataş (Beritan), one of the leading named of the Kurdish women’s resistance, resisted to the last bullet with her free woman’s spirit and stance against the attack of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) on October 25, 1992 in Xakûrkê. She threw herself from the cliffs to avoid falling into the hands of the peshmerga. She became one of the leading names of Kurdish women with her action against the line of submissive.

 

Şirin Hesen, member of the Afrin Canton Kongreya Star Coordination, evaluated Gülnaz Karataş’s (Beritan) struggle and her stance against the line of betrayal and submissive to our agency.

 

‘She has invalidated the masculine mind and the boundaries it has drawn’

 

At the beginning of her speech, Şirin drew attention to Beritan’s struggle and said, ‘’First of all, in the person of Beritan, I commemorate all our heroic martyrs with respect. For years, Beritan has been the symbol of resistance of the women’s struggle against the male-dominated mentality. Boundaries were drawn for women, and women were left powerless and demoralized by not wanting to go beyond the border. However, Beritan preferred the struggle against the male masculine mentality and the liberation of women, and turned towards the mountains. By preferring the mountains, she has invalidated the masculine mind and the boundaries it has drawn’’.

 

‘She invalidated the line of betrayal’

 

Stating that Beritan’s struggle and action showed that the line of betrayal and submissive would not prevail, Şirin continued, ‘’Beritan has taken an example stance with her life, line and comradeship as she turned her direction to the areas of freedom. Mountains became the meaning of life and the name of love for Beritan. And with this stance, she stood against the line of betrayal. Beritan neutralized and made meaningless the line of betrayal in her stance and personality. She especially invalidated the line of betrayal imposed by the peshmerga and the Turkish state. Beritan showed that the line of betrayal and submissive will never prevail in Kurdistan, and that the line of resistance will win’’.

 

‘KDP insists on betrayal line’

 

Stating that the KDP has insisted on the line of betrayal from the past to the present, Şirin said, ‘’I find it useful to say that the KDP has insisted on its line of betrayal from past to present. The latest example of this is the Peace Mothers are waiting at the border to take the bodies of their children. This is a concrete indication that the KDP still insists on the line of betrayal. If this is not Kurdish hostility, what is? With this stance once more, they want to invalidate the gains of the Kurdish people by sacrificing them for gains a handful of families. Women believed and insist on the ‘Democratic Nation’ line developed by Leader Apo with his ideas and philosophy. We are fighting not only for Kurdish women, but for all women of the world. Beritan became the name of the line that insisted on believing’’.

 

‘This century’s resistance has set an example for women all over the world’

 

Stating that she has witnessed that Kurdish women will create will, change and create themselves in every difficulty in every aspect of life, Şirin continued, ‘’We saw in the person of Beritan and Zilan that women who struggle will not surrender. In the philosophy of life that our martyrs taught us, we saw that the woman who struggles will create will, change and recreate herself in every difficulty. From the day the Kurdistan Revolution began, women everywhere have shown us countless examples of how they can build a new life by taking all kinds of tasks. In particular, we witnessed how YPJ women fought against ISIS at the forefront and fearlessly. The resistance of this century has set an example for women all over the world. We took our strength from our martyrs and the philosophy of Leader Apo’’.