İsyan Munzur joined the guerrilla ranks from Europe. As her name already implies, it was her dream to be a guerrilla in Dersim. When she received the training of the new fighters in Kandil in 2011, the heat of the fire of the revolution in Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) became the reason for her to defer her dreams about Dersim to another day and head to Eastern Kurdistan.

For six years now İsyan is active in Eastern Kurdistan. She is following the developments of the uprising in Banê on Aryen TV with great excitement. When the news program ended, I approached her. She shows me her personal photo album filled with pictures of Eastern Kurdistan. She spent her time largely in Mamxuran and Serdesht and learned to like those places therefore very much. In every picture a civilian is standing next to her. I asked her whether many people entered her life? She replied: "The people of Rojhilat are very patriotic. They are well informed of their history and are very supportive of the guerrillas. With every person I met, my faithfulness and conscience grew the more. I became part of their lives and they became parts of my life, it is kind of a combination."

THE REGIME'S EFFORTS TO FILL THE PEOPLE WITH FEAR

"Kurdistan was divided into four parts. This territorial division shifted towards a division of the people's minds in the course of time. Because they hindered us from seeing beyond the drawn borders, our people consequently faded away from our world. For instance, we know so little about Rojhilat and its population. When you hear Rojhilat, you picture the acts of the spy apparatus called Besic, violence against women and public executions. This is a picture the Iranian regime wants to implant into the brains of the people. It makes great efforts to fill the hearts of the people with fear. And it tries hard to prevent the slightest voice from escaping to the outside, and any voice from soaking inside. Because it will break the charm. Therefore they only want things that trigger fear to be heard. And they act the innocent, as if all just happened without their approval.

THINGS NOT WIDELY KNOWN

The people are upset and do not acquiesce in the acts of the regime. Therefore they carry out protest every day. And they join the guerrilla ranks en masse. Particularly women are very active. The discrepancy created between the dialects Sorani and Kurmanji in order to prevent the Kurds from uniting, has been overcome with the PJAK (Kurdistan Free Life Party). Young people who graduated from university are saying in order to not become a Besic: "Instead of becoming a collaborator, I would rather become a shepherd " and are really opting for becoming shepherds. It is interesting, but most of the people do not know that."

A STATE OF SPIES AND AGENTS

It is hard to believe, but many kolbers (border porters) and shepherds in Rojhilat have actually university degrees. The last issue she mentioned caught in fact my attention. As also she named it, the reality is as follows: Iran is literally an agent state. In order to maintain itself, it does not allow anything to leak to the outside. It has many sensitive features, even the loss of the smallest shred could lead to its total downfall. They know this well of course. And for this reason they are nonstop plotting and scheming. Iran, which represents one of the oldest statehoods in history, is notorious for this characteristic.

So it's so clear, there's so much tenderness that if you shred it from a tiny place it would be ice with salt. It knows that. For this reason, it is playing all sorts of games. Iran, which represents one of the oldest state traditions, is already well known for this characteristic.

THE FEAR OF THE STATE

What the Iranian state is most frightened of, is Kurdistan. Because it is constantly on a quest and is of defying nature with its rebellious character and honourable stance. After a freedom-loving movement like the PJAK came in addition, it struck the heart of the Iranian state with fear. In order to stymie the flow, the state intensified its policy of oppression and force. But the increased repressions and violence caused waves of people joining the ranks of the guerrilla movement. Self-organization developed more and more. With the Rojava Revolution the uprising in Eastern Kurdistan (Rojhilat) got spurred and encouraged.

THE SORANI-KURMANJI TRAP

There is also an effort by the state to forestall the unity of the Kurdish people by creating discord between the Kurdish dialects Sorani-Kurmanji. In school books Sorani is taught to be "civilised", while Kurmanji is depicted as "primitive". In the Kurmanji regions along the border to Northern Kurdistan, close to the guerrilla-held areas, smuggling goods over the border is the only chance left by the state.

The PJAK did away with this artificial contradiction for the most part. Even the state was surprised by this power of the PJAK. Because this situation led to a massive influx into the guerrilla ranks.

PJAK ALSO BANNED

İsyan said that after the number of new recruits rose, the state made following official appeal: "Stop the flow of new members and we will do whatever you want". I asked her: "What was your response thereupon?". İsyan replied that their response was to increase the participation into their ranks and the PJAK has been banned consequently.

AWAKENING OF THE ROJHILATI WOMEN

Guerrilla İsyan recalled that in Eastern Kurdistan child marriage is still widespread, yet in those regions close to the guerrilla zones, many a person fled in the night of the marriage and joined the guerrilla. Stories of the awakening of women that were lived in Northern Kurdistan during the 90s, are now being experienced in Eastern Kurdistan as well.

WOMEN'S SOCIAL ROLE

From here we jumped to the issue of violence against women. "In fact, women are subject to enormous pressures throughout Iran. However in Rojhilat women's place in society is very important". For example, when you organise the mother of a family, the doors of her house open to you. Women's opinions are accepted and deemed significant. Female guerrillas have some advantages in the field of work. Their acceptance rate is higher. Even though the Iranian state tries to obstruct this truth through the execution of Shirin Elemhûlî and by threatening to put an end also to Zeinab Jalalian’s life, the public does not give way to them.

BRAIN DRAIN AND DRUGS

İsyan also mentions the issue of the state's infiltration into the people's brains and the use of drugs. "Interestingly, Iran, which is so closed to the outside world, is a country that has the most flights to Europe. Again, in this country, that suffers this much from state oppression and force, the use of drugs among the youth is growing day by day. Both of these situations suit and serve the state that has already expanded this policy of theirs."

COMMON DEMANDS

İsyan said that the Iranian state has been trying to stir up the peoples against each other for some time now and said: "The resistance of the Baloch against state practices, the Kurds’ persistence in an honourable life, the women’s rising demand for freedom and the peoples’ expectation for a change of the system meet on a common ground for the first time this clear and simultaneously."

It looks like the peoples of Iran agree that this violence, killings, executions, the policy of ignoring women and poverty are problems of the system as a whole. This time the resistance is shared in different forms and places. Therefore the chances of success are high. It might even lead to a revolution. The Rojava Revolution is an important factor that leaves a great impact on this. The state is now trying to prevent this, by making concessions at times and by resorting once more to oppression and violence on several occasions. But it must be known that the Iranian state is stumbling both inside and outside. It tries to hide its shakiness, but those efforts are in vain. In the coming days, incidents might occur that prove this truth.

THE STATE IS AWARE OF THE LEADING ROLE OF THE KURDS

When I asked her about the spark that started in Banê in recent days, İsyan stated that it breaks the fear and dread of the people and said: "The Kurds have certain values and they will never accept harm to be done to those values. For the people of Rojhilat the best life is a life with honour, no matter what the price is. Therefore the people do not refrain from paying any price that is necessary. If this wave rises, it will not diminish that easily. The situation is at the moment like that. I think the state is also taking precautions. It knows that the Kurds will be the leading players of a revolution in Iran. The state is intensely trying to weaken the ‘danger’ by de-Kurdifying the state.”