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PKK: There is no space for love story
here, we are freedom fighters
9.11.2007
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November 9, 2007
Erbil-Hewler, Kurdistan region 'Iraq',--
Turkey's Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) guerrillas
Abdullah and Zeena broke the cardinal rule of the
rebel outfit -- they fell in love.
For their transgression they were unceremoniously
expelled from the group which has been fighting for
Kurdish self-rule in mainly Kurdish southeast of
Turkey since 1984.
They are now living as a married couple somewhere in
Iraq's northern Kurdish region at a location they
refuse to disclose.
Abdullah's flirtation with the PKK began 12 years
ago in his home town of Diyarbakir in southeastern
Turkey. |
PKK Kurdish fighters |
"I was in my prime," said the 32-year-old Abdullah,
sporting a bushy moustache, his skin deeply tanned
by the sun.
"I used to watch the political and cultural struggle
of Kurds in my town for their Kurdish identity," he
told AFP.
"Kurds there are deprived of their simplest rights,
so I decided to join the PKK. It was not easy, I
went through the worst, I was even wounded once... I
had a dream of seeing the Kurds winning their
historical rights." www.ekurd.net
For the stocky, curly-haired Abdullah, life was good
in the mountains.
"We spent most of our time reading, exchanging
opinions and talking about our dream of an
independent Kurdistan. We had no regrets about
choosing this path," he said.
Then he met Zeena.
"She was a PKK fighter five years younger than me. I
fell in love with her and she had the same feelings
towards me. It was very difficult hiding our
affections in a place that bans love.
"Zeena and I tried our best to keep our love a
secret but still our leaders found out about it. We
were ordered to hand over our guns and told to leave
the camp. 'There is no space for love here', they
told us."
They moved to a city in Kurdistan region 'northern
Iraq', where they married and Abdullah found work.
"We had to leave behind the charming mountains and
the life we loved so much," he said sadly.
Abdullah insisted he would return to life as a rebel
at any time.
"I am ready to take off my civilian cloths and wear
the Kurdish baggy costume of the PKK, to fight and
to die for the Kurdistan cause."
Abdullah does not believe Turkey will carry out its
threats to invade northern Iraq in a bid to destroy
the PKK's mountain redoubts.
"Turkey says its intentions are to chase PKK
fighters, but in fact Kurdish achievements,
development and construction (in Iraq's Kurdish
region) have angered Ankara," said Abdullah, while
browsing through a Kurdish newspaper.
"I am sure that the US will not let Turkey enter
Iraq's Kurdistan to destroy these achievements."
Abdullah refused to talk about his job or where he
lives because of what he called security fears.
However he insists that he has now adapted to an
ordinary life, earning his living like any other
Kurdish citizen, and that Zeena spends her day
cooking, cleaning and washing clothes.
"The armed struggle has ended for us," he said. "We
are now a married couple wishing to have children
who will fill our house and delight us.
"We are lovers in the full sense of the word," he
said.
The PKK was established in the late 1970s, it has
waged an armed struggle against successive Turkish
governments for the past 23 years with the aim of
winning autonomy for Turkish Kurds. www.ekurd.net
It is listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey,
US and EU.
Abdullah refers continually to the "historic rights"
of the Kurds.
"Our demands are simple. They are not impossible. We
want Turkey to recognise our Kurdish identity and
language -- only then will this bitter armed
conflict stop.
"It is better for Turkey to do this today. If they
do not they will be forced to do it tomorrow," he
said.
AFP
**
Kurds are not recognized as an official minority in
Turkey and are denied rights granted to other
minority groups. Under EU pressure, Turkey recently
granted Kurds limited rights for broadcasts and
education in the Kurdish language, but critics say
the measures do not go far enough.
The use of the term "Kurdistan" is vigorously
rejected due to its alleged political implications
by the Republic of Turkey, which does not recognize
the existence of a "Turkish Kurdistan" Southeast
Turkey.
Others estimate over 40 million Kurds live in
Big Kurdistan (Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia),
which covers an area as big as France, about half of
all Kurds which estimate to 20 million live in
Turkey.
Turkey is home to over 25 million ethnic Kurds, some
of whom openly sympathise with the Kurdish PKK for a
Kurdish homeland in the country's mainly Kurdish
southeast of Turkey.
Before August 2002, the Turkish government placed
severe restrictions on the use of Kurdish language,
prohibiting the language in education and broadcast
media.
The Kurdish alphabet is still not recognized
in Turkey, and use of the Kurdish letters X, W, Q
which do not exist in the Turkish
alphabet has led to judicial persecution in 2000 and
2003
The Kurdish flag flown officially in Iraqi Kurdistan
but unofficially flown by Kurds in Armenia. The flag
is banned in Iran, Syria, and Turkey where flying it
is a criminal offence"
Southeastern Turkey:
North Kurdistan (
Kurdistan-Turkey)
wikipedia
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