Every day the Kurdish youth are seeing more and more through the games the Turkish state is conducting and are heading therefore to the mountains of Kurdistan. One of them is Kendal Kanîreş.

The so called 'village guard' system implemented by the Turkish state is aimed at having Kurds be killed at the hands of a fellow Kurd. The state is positioning those Kurdish 'village guards' in all military operations and confrontations at the very front and uses them as a shield. In each and every clash between the PKK movement and the Turkish state, those 'village guards' have allowed themselves to be used as a pawn in the Turkish state's game of Kurdish fratricide.

Guerrilla Kendal Kanîreş, who grew up in a family of village guards, has betaken himself to the free mountains to not become an instrument of fratricide and said: "As a guerrilla of Kurdistan, I do not want to fight my Kurdish compatriots."

“I NEVER ACKNOWLEDGED FRATRICIDE”

Guerrilla Kendal Kanîreş gave an account of the circle he grew up in as follows: "I am from the village Çirikî from Bingöl’s Karlıova district. I grew up in this village, which is in all aspects loyal to the state and whose inhabitants all serve the state as village guards. The city Bingöl and also its Karlıova district are in fact of extraordinary beauty, but because the people were predominantly servant to the Turkish state, I always felt deep sadness. What saddened me most was the fact that all our villagers were Kurds, yet became enemies of their own Kurdish brethren, used by the Turkish occupying state. When I was a kid, I did not understand yet that being a village guard was actually something disgraceful and dishonourable. But after growing up, I was stricken with shame that my family and entire village consisted of those village guards, for which reason also neighbouring villages and cities, who themselves were patriotic and knew the meaning of this ignominious job well, bore resentment. As much as they were my father, my uncles and my villagers, I never accepted them to deign to work as village guards. But whenever I expressed my criticism, they rejected me as being too young. Between me and my family a lot of arguments on this issue arose. After reaching puberty, I preferred to stay at different cities afar from them."

Guerrilla Kendal Kanîreş stated that he always nourished deep affection for his people and his homeland with his patriotism, saying: "Even though I was born to and grew up with a family and community of village guards, I never became like them, but developed tremendous patriotic feelings in my heart. With the years I also participated in the youth activities. Wherever I went, our comrades showed me always great appreciation and said to each other 'look, what a patriotic young man has emerged from such a village'. On some occasions I went to Turkey's metropolises and saw there that no matter if you were a state loyal village guard or a patriot, only the fact of being a Kurd was enough for being treated the same way. They meet the Kurds with contempt and regard the Kurds to be of no value. Seeing the way they treated the Kurds opened my eyes and made it clear to me that the Kurdish reality is a painful one and needs to get attended to."

“THE KILLED AND KILLER ARE BOTH KURDS”

Guerrilla Kendal pointed out that it is necessary for the Kurdish people to perceive the state policy of village guards and continued: "When a village guards dies in action, his family gets some money from the state. But how can money be a substitute of a human life, no matter how much. If you think of this whole situation you will get depressed. What hurts my conscience the most is that no matter how much you turn it, in the end both the killer and the killed are Kurds. My family and our villagers were always, as they were exercising the job of village guards, at the Turkish state's service and collaborated whenever demanded. They supported the Turkish state whenever it executed oppression and force on the Kurdish people. Sometimes my family told us proudly of stories like great adventure tales, how they raided the homes of the Kurdish people, tortured the civilians and stole their money. Nevertheless, the progresses taking place in Kurdistan led also in our village to some changes. In these last couple of years the women and youth gained knowledge about the true nature of the village guard system. This game the Turkish state is playing on our people needs to be understood. But they are no more able to play those games, that led our people exert cruelty on their own compatriots, to the top of their bent as they did before. And the reason for this change is of course Leader Apo and the Freedom Struggle."

Guerrilla Kendal drew the attention on the instrumentalization of the village guards and continued saying: "The Turkish state is positioning those village guards at the very front in all military operations and conflicts and says to itself: 'They are Kurds anyway, if they die we will pay the family some compensation, finished.' I by myself have witnessed how the Turkish soldiers ran away during clashes with the guerrillas, but the village guards stood firmly their ground. Our movement tries nevertheless to avoid harming those village guards as they are also Kurds after all but utilized by the state. Because our movement still wants them to find back to their people. I call on all village guards to lay down the weapons of the Turkish state. They shall not become enemies of their own brethren."

“WE OWE LEADER APO”

Guerrilla Kendal explained that he never wanted to serve in the Turkish army and talked about his joining in the ranks of the guerrillas: "In 2012 I decided to join the guerrilla. At that time the killings and torturing in every corner of Kurdistan by the Turkish state were at their heights once again, and I burned to become a guardian of my people. I would have joined already in 2012, but unexpected complications occurred, so only in 2014 I managed finally to join while in Istanbul. At the beginning of my time in the ranks, I still carried with me that narrow and constricted personality which the occupying system moulded within me. And I came to understand step by step what devastation the mentality and perception of the state shaped deep in of us."

Kanîreş also conversed on the systematic assimilation of the Kurdish youth by the Turkish state and ended with following words: "I learnt that the true core of the Kurdish youth is getting undermined and hollowed out. By the help of the ideas and philosophy of Leader Apo and my comrades, I tried and managed to overcome that stage. In this context I also reached the truth, that we owe Leader Apo all our honourable lives and values. For this reason, whatever we do for our Leader and the Kurdish people, we will never deem it sufficient. We will fight until our last drop of blood. When I first took to the mountains, I thought to be on another planet. I saw the gorgeousness of Kurdistan's mountains and knew that one of the reasons for the Turkish state's occupation of Kurdistan was the beauty of our sacred land. We as guerrillas want to become one with our people and fight this struggle for the freedom of our leader, our people and our homeland. Therefore it is vital for our folk to take the side with their children."