Guerrillas from HPG (People’s Defense Forces) and YJA Star (Free Women’s Troops) put up outstanding resistance in the region of Zap, in the guerrilla-held Medya Defense Zones in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) where the Turkish army has been conducting an invasion operation since April 2022.

Rendered desperate by the resistance of the guerrilla forces, the Turkish state has resorted to systematic use of chemical weapons, tactical nuclear weapons, thermobaric bombs and other unconventional bombs.

11 guerrillas lost their lives as a result of a chemical attack in the Şehîd Xursî area of Zap on 5 November 2022. Ferman Kerim (Mesut Eren) is one of those heroes. Kerim, born in the Şırnak province in North Kurdistan’s Botan region, known for its tradition of patriotism and resistance, experienced the Turkish state’s vicious policies against the youth of Kurdistan at a young age and joined the guerrilla ranks in 2013 in response.

Ferman Kerim set an example to his companions as a fighter, putting his goal to become a victorious guerrilla into practice during his time in the ranks of the struggle. He put his faith in success into the following words: “We have been turning life into a glorious resistance. Our history, culture and reality is a heritage to all peoples. Let them hear, for the sake of any mother, father and child massacred in Kurdistan, that the enemy has no right to breathe. Our fight, resistance and fire is rising, becoming a volcano. Hear us, you murderers! Everything is for socialism. Everything is for Kurdistan.”

In the face of the continued massacres against the Kurdish people, Ferman Kerim went to Rojava and joined the revolution, taking an active part in the fight against ISIS. He then returned to the free mountains with the goal of fighting for a free life and playing his historic role to end colonialism in Kurdistan. In 2017, he got involved in Hêzen Taybet (Special Forces) in 2017 and intensified his work on Democratic Modernity. As a leading commander, he played a self-sacrificing role in the Kurdistan revolution. With his modestness and morale, he gave color to the lives of his companions and gained a place in everyone’s heart.

Basing on the guerrilla warfare of the new era, he fought in the operations against Turkish invasion attacks. He became a part of mobile units first in Xakurke, and then in the Bazên Zagrosê (Falcons of Zagron) Campaign. Having his name written in the freedom history of Kurdistan with his actions, he fell a martyr along with 10 of his companions in the Şehid Xursî battle tunnels in the Saca region of Zap as a result of a chemical attack on 5 November 2022.