Guerrillas, fighters and people of Shengal celebrated 33rd anniversary of the August 15 Initiative, Day of Resurrection, in which PKK launched its first armed actions against the Turkish army in Siirt’s Eruh and Hakkari’s Şemdinli districts in the year of 1984.

HPG Shengal Field Commander Egit Kelar held a speech in the ceremony here and put emphasis on the importance and holy place of August 15 in the history of the Kurdish people as it proved that the invading state could be resisted and victory could be attained.

Describing the August 15 Initiative as a new development for the guerrilla, Kurdish people and the Turkish state, HPG Commander said; “In the face of this new development that paved the way for our people’s freedom march, the enemy couldn’t know what to do, and considered overcoming it in a short time like in the previous cases of Kurdish rebellions. The Turkish prime minister of the time vowed that ‘they are a group of bandits and we will crush them within 24 hours’. Still, our guerrilla resistance has extended even further and come up to this point, as it inflicted great blows on all the enemies of the Kurdish people. It became a beacon of hope in the entire Middle East, and proved that guerrilla is the guarantee of victory in Kurdistan.”

Speaking after, Sait Hasan Siba on behalf of Shengal Resistance Units (YBŞ) Command started his speech by remembering all those massacred in Siba and Til Azar on August 14 and in Kocho village on August 15, and offered their condolences to the families of martyrs.

“If the Êzidîs can gather here today, and if the perpetrators of this massacre can be retaliated, this is a result of the August 15 Initiative. We managed to come to these days owing to comrade Egîd that played a leading role in the August 15 Initiative and other comrades who partook in it.”

YBŞ Commander recalled the 3 August 2014’s massacre by ISIS against Êzidîs, stressing that the planned genocide could be prevented thanks to the operation launched to rescue the people of Shengal on the decision of KCK and HPG when the massacre began. He added that this will never be forgotten.

Êzidxan [Êzidî Land] Women’s Freedom Movement member Kine Ana remembered all the martyrs of the 3 August massacre and all the martyrs of revolution, also saluting “all the comrades resisting in prisons”.

Shengal Assembly Co-president Hüseyin Heci called attention to the dirty plans that are still underway against Shengal after 2014’s onslaught with the goal of subjecting the Êzidîs to yet another genocide. Heci added that they will respond and resist these attacks in the strongest manner.

The celebration continued with music performances of bands from Rojava and Shengal Cultural Center and cultural activities of guerrillas, and ended with the Kurdish traditional dance halay amid slogans praising the Kurdish people’s struggle.