PYD and Kongra Star mark 44th Anniversary of July 14 Resistance

The seminar, held today in Beirut, began with a minute of silence in honor of the martyrs of freedom.

PYD member Khaled Khaled delivered a speech outlining the historical background of the July 14 Resistance and the policies implemented by the Turkish military junta following the September 12, 1980 coup against political prisoners, particularly Kurdish activists in Amed Prison. He stressed that the resistance represented a watershed moment in the Kurdish people's struggle.

Leila Afrin, a representative of Kongra Star's coordination in Lebanon, said that the July 14 Resistance was not merely a hunger strike but a historic epic that embodied the prisoners' determination to confront torture and attempts to erase Kurdish identity, language, and culture.

She noted that the 1980 military coup ushered in a period of systematic repression in Turkey, turning Amed Prison into one of the country's harshest prisons. Despite this, prisoners transformed their cells into arenas of resistance in defense of freedom and dignity.

Afrin also reviewed the events leading up to the July 14 Resistance, from the open-ended hunger strikes and the martyrdom of Mazlum Doğan during Newroz in 1982 to the death fast launched by Kemal Pir, Mehmet Hayri Durmuş, Akif Yılmaz, and Ali Çiçek on July 14, 1982. She said their sacrifices laid the foundation for a new phase in the Kurdish liberation movement.

She further stated that the resistance in Amed Prison became the ideological and spiritual basis for the launch of the armed struggle in the Kurdistan mountains in 1984. She also highlighted the central role of Kurdish women in the struggle, describing women's liberation as a cornerstone of the democratic society project.

The seminar concluded with interventions from participants, who affirmed that the July 14 Resistance remains one of the most significant milestones in the Kurdish people's history and that honoring its martyrs means continuing the struggle for freedom, dignity, and the rights of the Kurdish people.

ANHA