Rozerin Çukur who was killed by state forces during the self-rule resistance in Sur and whose body was left out on the street for days has been finally laid to rest yesterday. Her father spoke in the ceremony and said, “Our children resisted for the honor of the Kurdish people, they didn’t accept the indignity imposed upon them.”

Rozerin Çukur (17) had been murdered on January 8, the 38th day of the resistance, in the streets of Sur which she photographed during the self-rule resistance. Rozerin's body was finally identified by DNA analysis and recovered from the Gazi Yaşargil Research Hospital by her family. Her body was later taken to Herîdan village in Dicle district where she was born.

Rozerin’s body was brought to her village with a convoy of hundreds of cars behind the Pîran mountains where she had gotten to know the freedom struggle. The mourners hanged posters that read “You didn’t respect their lives, respect their bodies”, addressing to the state forces. The posters featured photographs of the murdered people whose bodies couldn’t be recovered for days.

Mourns and wails filled the air in the cemetery for those who lost their lives during the resistance and the crowd frequently chanted “Bijî Berxwedana Sûr’ê” and “Victory through resistance”.

HER CAMERA WAS PUT IN HER GRAVE

Rozerin's coffin was draped in a wedding dress and PKK flag and was carried on the shoulders of women to the village to perform the necessary religious rituals. The body was then taken to the cemetery on the shoulders of women followed by a procession of hundreds of people including HDP MPs and her photographer friends.

Rozerin’s body was put in the grave that was dug 5 months ago and her camera was left by her gravestone.

Mother Fahriye Çukur hugged her daughter’s grave and mourned. She tied her daughter’s pushi to the gravestone and planted saplings on the grave.

MEYADER co-chair Ayşe Dicle said in her speech at the ceremony that Rozerin was finally laid to rest after 5 months and she had become a symbol of peace in Kurdistan. Dicle said the state violated the rules of war and stressed that the state prevented people from receiving their wounded and their dead.

DEMİREL: ROZERİN’S NAME WENT DOWN IN HISTORY

HDP Group Deputy Chairperson and Amed MP Çağlar Demirel said Rozerin fell in love with the freedom struggle in the Pîran mountains and she went down in Kurdistan and world history with the Sur resistance. Demirel said: “Rozerin joined the Sûr resistance with her notebooks and pens. The AKP government has lost its legitimacy with the dirty war they wage against Rozerin’s resistance and the ongoing resistance for self-rule.”

Demirel said the prosecutor of Amed had committed a crime by not announcing Rozerin’s identity although it was confirmed along with the identity of Ramazan Öğüt, and that this was a deliberate policy of the state. Demirel said they will press charges against the prosecutor of Amed.

FATHER ÇUKUR: “THE STATE FORGETS THAT THE FAMILIES DON’T BOW DOWN”

Father Mustafa Çukur thanked the HDP MPs, press workers and families of those who lost their lives in the Sûr resistance for not leaving them on their own. Çukur said, “The state knows everything, but they forgot one thing: That the families don’t bow down.”

Father Çukur said a great love for freedom grew in his daughter’s heart after she witnessed the Herîdan village bombed and pillaged by the state in the ‘90s and continued: “The spark of resistance emerged in Rozerin’s heart back in those days. Today that spark has turned into a historic resistance. Rozerin didn’t enter Sûr as an armed fighter. She went there with her school uniform, books and pens. Her goal wasn’t to fight the murderers of the state. She tried to do what was in her power. The state had made preparations for these massacres before they committed them. Our youth foresaw these days and resisted when the security laws first passed.”

“SHE DIDN’T ACCEPT INDIGNITY"

“The state forced indignity upon the Kurdish people. The youth saw these days coming from long ago and they decided to resist. Repeated calls were issued to support the resistance. Our reproach to our people is rightful as the state is guilty. Our children saw death and went to Sûr to resist. Our children fought for the honor of the Kurdish people, they refused the indignity imposed upon them.”

Father Çukur mentioned that the body of Hakan Arslan, who was killed in the same attack as Ramazan Öğüt and Rozerin Çukur, was still not identified and said: “We will not leave one hair of our martyrs to them. We will protect all our martyrs.”

Çukur left a diary with Rozerin’s photograph on it on her grave as was her will.

HER BROTHER RECITED A POEM

At the end of the ceremony, Rozerin’s brother Murat Çukur read an excerpt from the poem On Living by Nazım Hikmet, which had been recited on stage by Rozerin in the prom held by the Education Support Houses in Amed where both Rozerin and Murat had attended.

A mourning spot will be prepared in the Temîran Mourning House for Rozerin Çukur.