Edûlê: A guerrilla’s story of resistance and dreams
Edûlê is a woman guerrilla who wrote a screenplay for Abdullah Öcalan. Now, her story comes to life on screen.
Edûlê is a woman guerrilla who wrote a screenplay for Abdullah Öcalan. Now, her story comes to life on screen.
She chooses the name Edûlê, because, she says, "The name Edûlê suits me." After all, the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla chooses their own names. They pick names that hold meaning for them. Their names tell a part of their story, revealing something about their personalities.
Edûlê is a young woman from Amed (Diyarbakır). Amed is the city of resistance. And yet, how much suffering the city has endured! How much suffering they wanted the city to endure! But Amed turns its walls into living shields and refuses to bow.
She takes the name Edûlê and comes to the free mountains. She says: "The state was killing children. I could not remain silent in the face of this. My first commanders were the children."
Edûlê is an emotional soul, holding many feelings at once. Even happiness can sometimes bring her to tears. Guerrilla life, despite its beauty, also comes with hardships and she has experienced both. The struggles have shaped her, made her stronger, and deepened her beauty.
People always speak of guerrilla life, calling it "different" and it truly is. Edûlê says: "Waiting for a comrade who has gone into action is unlike anything else." Guerrillas eat, sleep, read, and watch just like anyone else. But for her, what sets guerrilla life apart is living with free emotions, free thought, and the effort to build a free life rejecting the ordinary and viewing existence through a different lens. In an age where science has advanced, like Mr. Öcalan says, true progress lies in the insistence on humanity. Edûlê, too, wants to protect her human essence. She wants to understand the language of nature and live without harming nature.
Edûlê, a female guerrilla in the free mountains, writes a screenplay dedicated to Mr. Öcalan. "If I have contributed even as much as the tip of a needle to this struggle, I am happy," she says. Now, this screenplay is becoming reality. It is being filmed in Rojava. When Edûlê hears this, she sheds tears, overwhelmed by a mix of emotions.
Who is Edûlê? Who created her? To me, the greatest force that shaped Edûlê is Öcalan. Her eyes light up when she speaks of him. She describes him as hope. She sees him in her dreams. In her dream, Öcalan says to her, 'Play the piano.' And so, she follows that vision. She learns to play the piano. Mr. Öcalan inspires movement. He begins by liberating the individual in his pursuit of a free society. Is that not the way it should be? After all, is it not free individuals who will create free lives?
The process is still in its early stages. News continues to emerge about Mr. Öcalan. He is bringing to life the vision of a free existence he has spent years shaping. Edûlê is filled with excitement. She wants to live alongside Öcalan in the free mountains. She sits in a breathtaking spot, taps the ground beside her, and says, 'Let Öcalan come and sit here.' I will tell him everything." She laughs, and at that moment, her laughter makes her even more radiant.
The mountains are the guerrillas’ home. In the studio they have built in the free mountains, Edûlê continues her work. She has many plans and projects she still wants to realize. One of them is to draw the world’s attention to the tunnel warfare being waged.