On January 9, 2013, one of the founders of PKK, Sakine Cansız, Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) Paris Representative Fidan Doğan and Kurdish Youth Movement member Leyla Şaylemez were murdered in Paris, the capital of France.

 

Sakine Cansız (Sara), who did submit to the torturer Esat Oktay in Diyarbakır prison, went down in history as a monument of resistance. Hüseyin Yıldırım (76), the uncle of Cansız who witnessed some of her childhood and youth, described her as "the rebellious daughter of the family". Stating that Cansız had a passion for freedom when she was still a child, Yıldırım said that Cansız was a very meticulous person and did not allow injustice in his family.

 

 

'I LEARNED THAT I WAS A KURD'

 

Stating that he went to Holland in 1970 and returned to Turkey in 1977, Yıldırım told that Cansız worked at a factory before she joined the struggle. Pointing out that she met with Cansız in Dersim while she was working on organising in the factory, Yıldırım said: "She was already participating in political works when I got back. I met with her in Dersin. She was loved and respected by the society even though she just took part in the polical arena. She was also respected in the family."

 

Recalling that Cansız used to tell her about the problems experienced by the Kurds Yıldırım told that he got upset and told her that he was a Turk and later with the patience of Cansız he finally understood that he was a Kurd.

 

ESCAPE FROM PRISON

 

Underlining that Cansız got arrested in Elazığ after the establishment of the PKK, Yıldırım told that she escaped from prison and than was captured again. Pointing out that she was transferred from prison to prison after that, Yıldırım told that Cansız had left Turkey after she was released. 

 

THE REVOLUTION OF SAKİNE

 

Noting that the ideas of Cansız and her fellow fighters changed an era and opened a new one, Yıldırım said, “They did a revolution in the fields of faith, consciousness and women. They have succeeded in unifying change in every field. In the past, women could not walk alone on the street. Today, women, especially in Kurdistan, are standing against injustices, do not leave the streets, they are shouting their ideas everywhere. This comes from the struggle and organisation of the Sakine. People like Sakine and Mazlum fought for this people. Now the ideas they lead have embodied in Rojava and Shengal. This is the result of their work and the result of their strength."

 

'WE MUST OWN THEIR VALUES'

 

Pointing out that the murder of Cansız and her two friends indicates to the fear of the state of the women's struggle, Yıldırım said: "The state understood that they were a force of nature. Because when the women starts to organise in a society, it results with a revolution. They were afraid of this and they murdered them. The last thing I want to say is that we must own their values."

 

 

MA / Cengiz Özbasar