Every generation born in Kurdistan learns about the dirty face of fascism at an early age. Those who divided the lands of resistance into four parts also plan to fracture the spirit of struggle in the Kurds and to bury it, but are faced with the reality of the Kurdish Freedom Movement’s people who recreate themselves. Fascism’s bloodlust in the face of this reality kills any living thing it encounters, under the guise of “the country’s prosperity”. To keep itself alive, the AKP-MHP fascism targets the people’s living areas with the dirty plan of attack against the lands of Qandil.

The people of Qandil have a motto against this attempted attack, “The Kurds’ citadel of resistance can’t be passed”, which is a clear response to fascism. An overwhelming majority of the people say this, but the children who came into this world in the center of the Freedom Movement also have something to say! We started to speak with the children who greet us with victory signs on every street corner as we made our way through the streets of Qandil. The children of Qandil have had to learn about the concept of the enemy early on due to the lands they live on, and say the Turkish state can’t ever enter their living areas.

They chant “Bijî Serok Apo” constantly, and when they were done, we asked: “Are you afraid of the bombings?” One of the children with bright eyes starts to speak: “My name is Ali Rizgar Mihemed. I am 12 years old. I was born in Balayan. There are always bombings like this in the village, but I’m not afraid. There are people who protect us. By God, the Turks can’t enter our villages, and we won’t leave our land!”

Another stop in the journey is the Mavna village. There we were met with enthusiastic screams of “Bi xêr hatin heval” - “welcome friend”. The first questions the children asked was who were were and what we did. When they found out we were journalists, they said they wanted to speak as well. The common theme in the messages the children of Mavna gave is this: “Take our pictures, we still live in our village, we still play. We are not afraid of the Turkish state!”

Then the children sent us off with the same warmth in the greeting. The spirit of resistance in Qandil grows with the children, and thus the Kurd’s fight is transferred to new generations.