Haci Ramazan Mahmut from South Kurdistan said they hear bombings every day, adding: “Turkey has been saying that they ended PKK for the last 30 years. They attack us because they can't end the PKK. They used to bomb the mountains, now they bomb villages."
Haci Ramazan Mahmut had to move to a different village because his village in South Kurdistan was burned down by the Baath regime back in the day, and he said they are subjected to Turkish state attacks as Turkey uses the PKK as an excuse.
Haci Ramazan Mahmut said he joined the peshmerga to fight the enemy and defend themselves: “We don’t want to fight our brothers. My brother is a peshmerga, somebody else’s brother would be a guerrilla. How could these two brothers fight and kill each other? That is what the Turks want now. They are provoking our villages. We suffered a lot at their hand. We are wiser now, we are experienced. There has been a lot of pain.”
Haci Ramazan Mahmut said the citizens have been living with sounds of bombings every day for over 30 years as the Turkish state bombed the mountains: “They have been saying that they ended the PKK for the last 30 years. How have they ended the PKK? The PKK has grown bigger and stronger. Because they can’t end the PKK, now they attack us. They used to bomb the mountains, now they bomb the villages. The PKK has opened the eyes of the people. In Shengal, in Kobane, everybody has seen the truth. How would Shengal be cleared if it wasn’t for the PKK? If it wasn’t for the PKK, Kobane wouldn’t have been free. The people of in South Kurdistan are aware of this. These things have united the Kurdish people.”
“UNITY AMONG KURDS WILL LEAD TO VICTORY”
A peshmerga of 25 years who wished to stay anonymous said: “We fought the PKK in 1997. What did we get? Nothing. We fought the PUK, we fought the PKK. Nothing happened, we gained nothing. Kurds killed each other. The issues were not resolved. We have not forgotten Shengal. We had abandoned Shengal, then the guerrilla came and we fought together. Kurds were united. Kurds won when they united. The peshmerga haven’t forgotten these, but they cannot do anything. They can’t even speak to a television, or radio, or a newspaper. The peshmergas who tell the truth are dismissed, deprived of their pay and imprisoned. We have become like Turkey. Kurds can only be saved if they unite. We won’t kill each other. Kurds must never betray each other again.”
