Mîtan Gever, a guerrilla in the mountains of Rojhilat Kurdistan, said that it is necessary to stand and resist against the state which is starving people and them dragging them into betrayal.

Mîtan Gever was born in 2000 in Geliyê Dostkî, in Gever. His family migrated to Gever when their villages were burned down by the Turkish forces. He said that he grew up in an environment dominated by a village guards culture and added: “In some part of Kurdistan, if the people are attached to their culture and speak their language, the state is afraid. It will do anything to prevent patriotism. It is then that it promotes a culture of informers.”

Guerrilla Gever continued: “We grew up in such a place. Gever is a place with a deep patriotism. The state was afraid of this and tried in any way to bring the people to their knees. Recruiting village guard was one of them. Our family was also affected by these policies of the state. It was assimilated and forgot its Kurdishness. The state had made them dependent on themselves. As time passed, I was looking at the environment I lived in and trying to understand what was happening. As a Kurd, I gradually began to understand why I was not raised with my own culture, how my history was forgotten, how our values were attacked and slowly I began to understand this war. As my contradictions increased, my quest also increased. As a result of my quests, I decided to join the guerrilla."

Village guard system should not be an alternative to hunger

Guerrilla Mîtan Gever called out to the village guards, he wanted to ask them to think about the the village guards are to spying for: “No matter how much the state develops hunger and poverty, the village guard system should not be accepted. We shouldn’t be holding a gun against our brothers. The state is first starving people and then force them into participating in military operations. The people, too, submit to these policies. Village guards have to ask themselves: ‘Why are we being made to fight against our brother in the first place? Why does the state not send its troops forward? They need to be aware of who they are fighting against."

Reject the culture of informers

Guerrilla Mîtan Gever said that the Iranian state is using the poverty of the people of Rojhilat Kurdistan and asked the people not to be deceived. “Our people should not give in to the enemy's tricks. They should not take up arms against us. Honour should not be bought with money. Especially young people should speak up against these policies. They have to defeat the agents themselves. Time is our time. Freedom is close.”