Milestones in leader Ali Haydar Kaytan’s struggle

In a statement, the PKK announced the martyrdom of prominent leader Ali Haydar Kaytan. Below are excerpts from his journey of struggle:

He was a politician, guerrilla fighter, intellectual, and poet... but he was always a fighter for the truth.

Life is full of traces and footsteps

Sometimes, time can be lived in silence

With the pursuit of living meaningfully in every sense of the word

Those who fill their time with meaning

Leave stories for those who follow in their footsteps

Those who spend their lives in pursuit of truth

Are the ascetics who call upon time

And what remains of them

Is engraved in time along with their names

The Kurdish history of the past half-century is a history of stories engraved in time, land, conscience, and minds.

Filled with sanctity, heroism, and sacrifice.

The stories of thousands are hidden in this land.

Ali Haydar Kaytan was at the forefront of these stories that gave life its meaning

A founder, a leader, a laborer for a life of selflessness,

An ascetic whose life spanned a thousand years in pursuit of truth,

A noble knight of ancient times who took up arms for the sacred,

A guerrilla fighter who turned to the mountains for a free life,

A passionate revolutionary who found the lost key of the mountains and handed it to his people...

Genocide, forced resettlement, and poverty

Ali Haydar Kaytan was born on New Year’s Eve in 1951 in the village of Khouzu, Dersim. His family hailed from the village of Hankarvan, which, after the Dersim genocide, was subjected to forced resettlement but later returned to Hankarvan.

He belonged to the Haidari tribe, which refused to surrender during the Dersim massacre. They took up arms, resisted, and endured exile.

He spent a childhood filled with poverty and hardship. In 1971, he met revolutionaries at the Faculty of Political Science in Ankara. He described this period as the pre-revolutionary phase.

“The revolutionary youth movement in Turkey was active during the 1970s, and we were influenced by it. Names like Deniz Gezmiş and Mahir Çayan were its symbols. At that time, I hadn't yet met the Leader, but I heard people speaking about him. He was one of the top students at school. He was arrested after a protest and spent seven months in Mamak Military Prison. After his release, we met. He told me he wanted to speak with me. The conversation lasted two to three hours and opened my eyes to the truth of the Kurds and Kurdistan.”

The meeting at Çubuk Dam

This event marked the beginning of Ali Haydar Kaytan’s journey toward truth. He later met Kemal Pir and Haki Karer.

“It was perhaps at the end of March or the beginning of April 1973. We met with some comrades near the Çubuk Dam. The Leader shared his ideas with us, and we all agreed with him. He clearly told us that we would work as an ideological group and assigned each of us specific responsibilities. From then on, each of us was tasked with recruiting new members to the group.”

After this meeting, the number of members in the Apoist group grew day by day. In April 1977, activities expanded to Kurdistan. Ali Haydar Kaytan’s work was focused in Dersim, Golek, Dap, and Harput. At times, he traveled to Dîlok to join Haki Karer’s activities. After Karer’s assassination on May 18, 1977, the Apoist group entered a decisive phase.

“The martyrdom of comrade Haki Karer deeply affected all of us. The Leader sent me a note asking me to write an article in his memory. The article I wrote was distributed throughout Kurdistan. Leader Apo was determined that Haki’s martyrdom would not go unanswered, though his approach to response was different from ours. He was more focused and determined in finding a meaningful way to respond. As a result, the idea of forming a party was born.”

Participation in the founding congress of the PKK

Ali Haydar Kaytan’s also played a role in preparing for the party's founding.

Under the leadership of Leader Apo, a group comprising Kemal Pir, Mazloum Dogan, Mohammed Khairy Durmush, and Ali Haydar Kaytan prepared the party’s program. The first preparatory meeting was held in Harput, where Kaytan was elected as a member of the military committee.

On October 27, 1978, the founding congress of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was held, and Ali Haydar Kaytan joined the party’s founding group, which left a lasting mark on the latter half of the 20th century.

Everything that occurred up to that point, and everything that followed in the 45 years afterward, was a continuous journey of struggle for the freedom of society. Ali Haydar Kaytan was at the forefront of this journey, always advancing with boundless excitement, dedication, and passion. He spent a lifetime seeking to add meaning to every moment.

He was a politician, a guerrilla fighter, an intellectual, and a poet.

But above all, he was always a fighter for the truth…

A-H 

ANHA