“After my father and those who were killed there, I made a decision. I will carry on the struggle my father gave his life for. And I will never give up.”

Nalin Tunç, the daughter of Cizre People’s Assembly Co-Chairperson Mehmet Tunç who was murdered in the “basement of atrocity” during the 79-day long martial law attacks, wrote a letter. Nalin says she is “proud of (my) father” in reference to her father’s words, “Be proud of us” and states the following in her letter addressed to the Kurdish people:

“My name is Nalin. I am the daughter of Mehmet Tunç, who was murdered in the basement of atrocity. My father was a hero of his people. My father was working to keep the next generation from experiencing the cruelty and torture that the Kurdish people have been subjected to for centuries. And I believe he has achieved this. I am proud of my father, even if death awaits at the end of this struggle. If I were to describe what my father went through in the basement of atrocity, I would say he resisted for 50 days in that basement, without food or water. He didn’t give up and he resisted. My father told me his will the last time we spoke: “If the Turkish state murders us, do not let the ones who were silent in the face of this cruelty come to our funerals.”

After my father and those who were killed there, I made a decision. I will carry on the struggle my father gave his life for. And I will never give up. I am calling to the Kurdish people to rise up, so that the massacres that happened in Cizre won’t happen in Sur, Nusaybin or İdil. We went through this pain, do not let it happen to others. We call upon Allah for those who made us go through this. I didn’t see my father for 3 months. In the end I saw his burned body. My father’s last words keep ringing in my ear: “We didn’t bow down, we resisted. Be proud of us.”

My condolences for all of the proud and dignified Kurdish people. I am proud of my father.”