CNN GOES TO THE MOUNTAINS

"Resistance to oppression is often based on a love that leads us to value ourselves, and leads us to hope for more than the established cultural system is willing to grant ... such love is far more energizing than guilt, duty, or self-sacrifice."
~ Sharon Welch.

CNN and the truth; you're doing it right (and many thanks to all the hevals who sent me reminders of this):

From the article:

The women line the mountainside, locked hand in hand in their green battle fatigues, and begin dancing. It's a victory dance, they say, that is routine after raids across the border on Turkish troops.

"We want a natural life, a society that revolves around women -- one where women and men are equal, a society without pressure, without inequality, where all differences between people are eliminated," says Rengin, the head of a female battalion of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.

[ . . . ]

Much of the outside world views the PKK with suspicion. It's been labeled a terrorist organization by the United States, Iraq, Turkey and NATO. The PKK has fought Turkey for decades to establish a Kurdish state. Tens of thousands have been killed in the conflict.

The most recent spate of fighting broke out over the weekend. The Turkish military bombed PKK positions on Saturday in response to clashes on Friday that killed at least 15 Turkish troops and 23 PKK fighters, according to the Turkish military. The PKK gives a different assessment: It says more than 60 Turkish troops were killed, and that it lost nine fighters.

[ . . . ]

Back in 1998, the fighters say, their now-jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan declared the group "a women's party." It was initially difficult to accept, says Karim, a 42-year-old male member of the PKK.

"There was an intense discussion about the role of women," says Karim.

"We didn't want to accept it at first. Women by nature are physically weaker, and in war that hits you like a boomerang. You need to watch the way you fight, the way you move. So we were against this. We didn't want the women with us because it makes combat tougher on us. But Ocalan said in his book, if we are really trying to create a new society, we have to develop women. If women are enslaved, then so are men."

[ . . . ]

Bahoz Erdal, the military leader of PKK, told CNN, "We are ready for a political solution."

"We do not expect to find a final solution immediately, but we want to take the first steps towards that solution," he said. "And that first step could be Turkey changing its attitude towards our jailed leader, stopping military sweeps and attacks against our forces, and ending its policy of oppression."

He said these can be initial steps to a solution that gives Kurds equal rights with Turkish citizens within Turkey, not a separate Kurdish state.

For its part, Turkey has said that it will not negotiate with terrorists.

[ . . . ]

The fighters may seem cut off from the outside world, but they have a regular supply of arms and food brought in on mule convoys. They say they stay well funded by Kurdish expatriates all over the world.

Western defense analysts estimate their numbers based in Iraq's mountains are in the few thousands. The PKK won't tell us how large their fighting force is. But they say that it was because they are driven by passion that they have survived this long.

Read the whole thing.


HPG has released the identities of our şehîds who fell at Bezele:

Özkan Tepe
Code Name: Akıf Ulaş
1984, Varto-Muş

Tahir Yara
Code Name: Aras Dersim
1979, Bokan-Urmiye

Kemal Bor
Code Name: Berxwedan Ozan
1986, Van

Mehmet Şah Gegin
Code Name: Delil Besta
1988, Beşiri-Batman

Recep Dorak
Code Name: Harun Munzur
1983, Ceyhan-Adana

Ekber Nebizade
Code Name: Kawa Selmas
1985, Selmas

Ümit Azizi
Code Name: Leşker Ciwanro
1981, Ciwanro-Kermanşah

Zakir Yıldız
Code Name: Rüstem Agit
1987, Başkale-Van

Ciwan Hüseyin
Code Name: Serhat Ciwan
1982, Derik

"Our people are going to get what is rightfully theirs. I am proud to have died for this. Tell everyone we will succeed."

ŞEHÎD NAMIRIN!