The People's Defense Forces (HPG) announced the deaths of Mervan Zêrevan and Tufan Koçer. According to a statement, the two fighters died in attacks by the Turkish army in the southern Kurdish region of Xakurke last April. The HPG praised them as “exemplary representatives of the PKK’s militancy.” The organization expressed its condolences to their relatives and the Kurdish people.

The HPG provided the following information about the martyrs:

 Codename: Mervan Zerevan

 First and last name: Ahmet Ibrahim El-Ahmet

 Place of birth: Aleppo

 Names of mother and father: Fatma – Ibrahim

 Date and place of death: 18/04/2024, Xakurke

 Codename: Tufan Koçer

 First and last name: Ahmet Bayar

 Place of birth: Sêrt

 Names of mother and father: Taybet – Abdullah

 Date and place of death: 18/04/2024, Xakurke

Mervan Zerevan

Mervan Zêrevan was born in the northern Syrian region of Aleppo. He grew up in a family characterized by Kurdish national consciousness and ties to Kurdish culture. He discovered the liberation movement early on, as an uncle on his mother's side joined the guerrillas in the 1990s. In 2014, Mervan Zêrevan reached the Qandîl Mountains.

After basic training, it was not difficult for him to adapt to life in the mountains. He switched to the practical area relatively quickly and went to Xakurke in 2017, when the Turkish government under Tayyip Erdoğan escalated the war against the Kurdish population that had resumed two years earlier after the unilaterally ended dialogue process with Abdullah Öcalan. "Our companion Mervan was a tactician and a guarantee of success - especially in the area of modern fighting methods that were introduced by the guerrillas in the course of a restructuring process. He was a determined and courageous fighter," said the HPG.

Tufan Kocer

Tufan Koçer was born in Siirt-Eruh (Sêrt-Dih) in North Kurdistan. His birthplace is the place where the PKK's first bullet was fired at the Turkish army in August 1984. So, he grew up following the resistance tradition that is characteristic of the Botan region. At the same time, he developed a dislike for the Turkish state because it had placed Botan at the center of its policy of scorched earth and village destruction.

Tufan Koçer did not attend school. Instead, he worked as a shepherd when he was a child. He was a curious and tireless observer and admirer of nature and easily mastered the mountainous terrain. He was repeatedly confronted with the reality of war in Kurdistan and felt it first hand. This made the system's contradictions particularly apparent. He deepened his search for a way out of this system and eventually joined the guerrillas.

Tufan Koçer joined the HPG in Van in 2012 and received his basic training in the Zagros Mountains. He was deeply impressed by the communal life and the friendly relationships in the guerrillas. The integrated coexistence influenced him and motivated his development towards perfection in the military and ideological areas. In the course of this, he also learned to read and write. At his own request, he was then deployed in the Avaşîn region. In 2014, however, he moved to Rojava and took part in the resistance against the Islamic State. He took part in several important offensives against the jihadists. After returning to the mountains, he went to Xakurke.