Internationalist guerrilla fighter Ekin Wan died in the resistance against the Turkish invasion in South Kurdistan. The Media and Communications Center of the People's Defense Forces (HPG) paid tribute to Ekin Wan's struggle and expressed its condolences to her family and to the democratic-socialist forces in Turkey and Kurdistan.

"The internationalist attitude of our comrade Ekin and her fight for freedom will go down in history as one of the important examples of the common struggle and brotherhood of the peoples of Turkey," said an obituary by the HPG.

"As long as there are honest, courageous people among the peoples, freedom and socialism will surely triumph! Taking as an example the struggle of our friend Ekin, we declare that we will hold to account the colonialist, genocidal and fascist system that is torturing the peoples of Turkey and the region. We reiterate our pledge to fulfil the goals and dreams of all of our martyrs.”

   Codename: Ekin Wan

   First and last name: Ekin Arslan

   Place of birth: Ankara

   Names of mother and father: Müge - Göksel

   Date and place of death: 15 May 2022 / Zap

Ekin Wan grew up in a revolutionary socialist environment in Ankara and started looking for ways to create a just society at an early age. She studied art at Hacettepe University in Ankara and got to know the Kurdish youth movement there. Along the way she learned a lot about the Kurdish freedom struggle and discovered the answer to her search in the PKK. She was involved in the Kurdish youth movement with the aim of promoting the revolution in Kurdistan and Turkey. She followed the PKK guerrillas' fight against ISIS and decided in 2014 to join the armed resistance.

The HPG wrote of Ekin Wan: “She did not accept being a person and a woman robbed of consciousness, spirit, thought and body in the face of the reality of our age. She refused to be a person caught in the confines of nation-state thinking, seeing only as far as she was allowed to see. She found it unacceptable to exist as a human being who is unaware of her past, who has no hope for the future and whose existence or non-existence has no effect whatsoever. For these reasons, she preferred to join the PKK and not to be constrained by the boundaries attributed to women and society by the history of domination. She was able to widen her gaze more and more, free herself and get to know herself.”

"Revolution was a way of life for Hevala Ekin"

The HPG described Ekin Wan as a calm, peaceful person who was always eager to learn new things. “Revolution was a way of life for Hevala Ekin. That's why she never agreed to stand on the side-lines of the fight. She wanted to fight the waves in the middle of the sea. She lived boldly, as befits a revolutionary. She was a true revolutionary.”

Ekin Wan worked for the women's journalists' association RAJIN and in the press work of the women's guerrilla YJA Star. However, she was determined to go into battle. At the Şehîd Sarya Academy, she trained as a guerrilla fighter in sabotage tactics. At the same time, she learned Kurdish. The HPG wrote about her: “Just listening to her was very nice. She offered herself for all practical tasks."