In 2022, HPG (People’s Defense Forces) guerrilla Çekdar Baz took part in the resistance against the Turkish occupation attacks in Sîda in the Zap region and lost contact with his unit on the way to a mission. The HPG fighter told ANF about his experiences:

"I was on a mountain near the village of Sîda at night. I stayed there for two days and observed the terrain. When my food was used up, I wanted to go to the village. There was a small hill near the village, and I stayed there for four days without food or drink. The enemy had surrounded the area and positioned themselves on the peaks.

There was a distance of 100 or 150 metres between me and the soldiers. The soldiers were often shooting into the area and shouting. I could hear them talking among themselves. To get water and food, I wanted to reach the village. After a few days, I went down and at one point I fell faint. I was unconscious for about half an hour. In the meantime, it had rained, and the earth was still wet. To be able to get up, I put a bit of wet earth in my mouth. That gave me the energy to continue. It was night, and I went to the village. That night, I stood next to a well. Towards morning, I inspected the surroundings to observe the movements of the soldiers. The enemy forces had stationed themselves at the battle tunnels of Şehîd Agir, Şehîd Felat and Şehîd Doxan.

I looked around because I wanted to find food. I found a tin that still had some olives in it. It was autumn and there were pomegranate trees. I gathered as many pomegranates as I could and ate only olives and pomegranates for five days. The enemy was constantly on the move. They kept coming to the place where I was and checking the surroundings. I finally wanted to reach my friends and started walking. At that moment, the soldiers spotted me on the Şehîd Felat hill. They fired and demanded that I surrender. I went towards the foothills of the Şehîd Agir hill. There, too, the soldiers shouted for me to surrender. The soldiers were very close to the place where I was hiding.

They talked among themselves and said, ‘maybe they are still here’. They shot at the rock I was behind. For about two hours, a drone flew over me. They waited for my location to become clear. Because they could not draw me out, fighter jets came at night and bombed the area four times. The same place was also bombed twice by drones. That night I stayed there and did not move. After a day, I looked around and found that it was quiet. I endured for two more nights and then slowly left to reach my comrades.

I was on the road for two days, hungry and without water. While I was looking for the comrades in the area, I suddenly saw two comrades. At first, they didn't know if I was a guerrilla. From a hundred meters away, they called out to me and asked if I was a heval (comrade in Kurdish). They asked many questions and I answered. Finally, they were convinced and said let's go to the others. I was very relieved. After 16 days, I was finally back with the comrades. It was only with the hope of seeing them that I endured so long. I never gave up hope. All the time, I had only the goal of getting back to the comrades. I was infinitely happy at that moment and couldn't believe that I had made it. During those 16 days, I constantly thought about what my comrades were thinking and whether they were worried. Every day I told myself that I had to reach out to the comrades. Through this hope, my will was strengthened. If you have a strong will and focus on one goal, you can achieve anything. On the way to success, you just should not hesitate and not give up resistance. People can stay on their feet without water and food, but not without hope."