Martyrs' Families: July 14 resistance paves way to peace, democratic society

July 14 marks Prison Resistance Day, which began with the leadership of the Kurdish Liberation Movement in Amed Prison against Turkish fascism in 1982. On this anniversary, ANHA's agency monitored the opinions of the families of martyrs in Aleppo.

"Establishing an Unparalleled Resistance"

Citizen Khadija Maho, sister of martyr Shafin, affirmed that "the legacy of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) began with the resistance of its first fighters who participated in the prison resistance, specifically on July 14, 1984, which became a symbol of the transformation of Kurdish revolutionary consciousness."

She added, "Had it not been for the resistance of the martyrs of July 14, we would not be here today speaking our mother tongue." The fighters of the Kurdish liberation movement, led by Mazlum Doğan, who inscribed the phrase "I still owe my homeland" on the tombstone of his shrine, and his fellow martyrs Kemal Pir, Akif Yılmaz, and Mehmet Hayr Durmuş, established an unparalleled culture of resistance.

She also emphasized that the steadfastness of Leader Abdullah Ocalan, from the moment of his abduction and over the course of 27 years, has deeply influenced the people of the Middle East. She said, "We began the path of armed struggle of our own free will, and we decided to transform it into a political struggle of our own free will."

Khadija described Leader Abdullah Ocalan's call for "peace and a democratic society" as a natural extension of the epic of resistance and represents an advanced stage in the revolutionary struggle, aiming to give priority to dialogue and recognition of the other over the logic of bloodshed and infighting.

A resistance that proved the existence of the Kurds and triumphed over genocide

Sozdar Resho, sister of martyrs Sozdar and Dilşir, who were martyred in 2007, said, 1997 in the Matina Mountains. "The march that began 48 years ago with the blood of the first martyrs, especially the martyrs of the prison resistance, laid the foundations for international recognition of the Kurdish cause after the people faced attempts at comprehensive genocide on various fronts."

She added, "The lessons of the July 14 resistance, which adopted the slogan 'Resistance is Life,' constituted a true starting point for establishing the line of armed struggle, which proved to the people of the region and the world that the Kurdish people own their land and rights, and that resistance was and remains a decisive response to all attempts at denial and genocide."

Concluding her remarks, she expressed her commitment to continuing the struggle instilled in the blood of the martyrs, emphasizing that the gains achieved are only the beginning. She said, "We will continue on this path until we achieve the physical freedom of Leader Abdullah Ocalan and achieve a free, democratic, pluralistic, and decentralized homeland."

"Thanks to the resistance of the July 14 martyrs, we achieved freedom, language, and identity."

Zeinab Abdulkadir, the wife of martyr Janshir Afrin, said, "The achievements the Kurdish people are experiencing today would not have been possible without the heroic resistance waged by the July 14 martyrs inside prisons, which paved the way for the July 19th Revolution, revolution that enabled the Kurds to assert themselves, speak their language, and strive for true freedom."

She emphasized that "the struggle waged by the Kurdish people in the four parts of Kurdistan, inspired by the spark of the prisons, succeeded in breaking the will of genocide and compelled hostile parties to recognize the path of peace and democratic society declared by Leader Abdullah Ocalan."

She concluded, "We hope to see Leader Abdullah Ocalan free soon, and we will continue to build a democratic homeland that reflects the aspirations of the peoples of the region."

ANHA