Since June 15, the Turkish state has been trying to occupy the South Kurdistan region of Heftanin, which is defended by the guerrillas. First, the Maxmur refugee camp, the Yazidi settlement area Shengal and numerous civilian settlement areas in the Medya Defense Zones were bombed by dozens of fighter jets. Two nights later, the occupation operation in Heftanin was expanded with air strikes and ground troops.

Rizgar Ersi is a commander of the People's Defense Forces (HPG) and has spoken on the Dengê Welat radio station about the situation in the Heftanin region. He says that Turkey will not get out of this war easily: "The last hour of the fascist regime has struck. It is betting everything on aggression. The regime knows that if it loses this war, it will be the end. We will throw the fascist enemy on the garbage heap of history and raise the flag of freedom on all mountains of Kurdistan."

Invasion applies to all of Southern Kurdistan

The commander points out that the Turkish state has been preparing its invasion in Southern Kurdistan for two years already and continues: "It is trying to occupy a strip of land that is about 30 to 40 kilometres wide. If it succeeds in this, the attack will continue on a line from Qandil to Shengal and an occupation corridor will be built. If the Turkish state occupies 30 or 40 kilometres of the mountainous area, only the small plain between Zakho and Sulaymaniyah will remain for the population of Southern Kurdistan. The attacks on Shengal, Maxmur and the Medya Defense Zones show that this process has started."

The guerrilla is the shield

Rizgar Ersi says the Turkish state is aware that this plan is not so easy to implement. That is why it started the invasion of Heftanin. He explains: "For nine days [the interview took place on the ninth day of the invasion] a great war and fierce resistance has been taking place in the mountains of Heftanin. The guerrillas are fighting without hesitation and are putting up their lives as a shield against the invasion. They offer courageous resistance and deal the enemy blow after blow.”

The beginning of the invasion

Ersi points to the false reports and propaganda of lies in the Turkish media and says that the Turkish army uses mercenaries, counter-guerrillas, village guards and everything else it has and yet is not successful. He tells the following about the beginning of the invasion:

"First, the Turkish military bombarded the region for days with heavy weapons, tanks and howitzers. Then the Turkish jets dropped thousand-kilo bombs on the area for hours. Then Cobra helicopters and reconnaissance aircraft advanced; attempts were made to launch a ground operation. The guerrilla's tactic was not to allow Turkey to get a foot on the ground in the region. From the first moment, the attacks on the army began."

The reality of Heftanin

The guerrilla commander continued: "The soldiers were severely hit by the guerrillas and had to retreat. That is the reality of Heftanin. Afterwards, they launched a second wave of attacks with even more massive use of the most modern war equipment - but they only managed to get deployed on a hill. In the past nine days, five or six hills have been occupied. Before that, they had been completely deformed by the bombing.”

Balance of the first eight days

"The guerrillas carried out twenty actions in eight days. Cobra helicopters were attacked 15 times, many of them were damaged and had to withdraw from the war zone. There were dozens of sabotage actions. More than 70 Turkish soldiers were killed and dozens were injured. In these eight days, five of our friends have died in the sacrificial struggle. This is the situation."

The guerrillas will not let Turkey get away with it

Ersin tells that the guerrillas are very well trained, politically aware, extremely willing to sacrifice and determined: "That is why two of our fighters can sometimes fight and resist thousands of soldiers on a broad front. We know about the fear in the invading forces and the courage of our fighters. Everyone should know it, the new war plan of the fascist Turkish regime is doomed to failure.

Whatever will come, the guerrilla will stay on this ground and fight against the enemies of our people. We are the guerrilla. There is no place where we would stay for days or years. Every square meter of Kurdistan is our home. Today we are here and tomorrow we can be there. We are a force that acts professionally and logically and implements the tactics of the new phase. We will not allow the enemy to occupy our country in peace and stay there."