In the Swiss city of Solothurn, a memorial service was held for the martyrs of the "Resistance of 14 July". The fighters of the Kurdish guerrillas who died in the course of the Turkish invasion of the Medya Defense Zones in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) in recent weeks and months were also remembered.

The joint commemoration was organised by the Association of Relatives of the Martyrs and Disappeared (KOMAW), the Democratic Unity Party (PYD) and the youth organisations TekoJIN and TCŞ. The packed event hall was covered with the images of many personalities of the Kurdish liberation struggle. In addition to Abdullah Öcalan and Hasan Adir, revolutionary Ferhad Şiblî, who comes from Dêrik in Rojava and was recently martyred in a Turkish drone attack in Iraq, was among those on display.

Death fast as spark of resistance

After a minute of silence, Metin Mintaş, on behalf of KOMAW, recalled the beginning of the "Great Resistance" of the prisoners of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) who were jailed in the notorious torture prison in Amed (tr. Diyarbakır), the "hell of Amed", after the military coup in 1980. On 14 July 1982, PKK members Kemal Pir, Mehmet Hayri Durmuş, Akif Yılmaz and Ali Çiçek decided to go on a death fast in protest against the inhumane conditions in the military prison. They demanded an end to torture, military discipline and uniform clothing. "The death fast has a high symbolic meaning as it is considered a spark of resistance. The departure of our friends from behind the prison walls fanned the fire of the liberation struggle against colonisation and oppression in Kurdistan. This line runs through the resistance until today. At this very moment, it is being put into practice by the freedom guerrillas in South Kurdistan," said Mintaş.

Youth Movement: We must expand our organisation

On behalf of the associations of the Kurdish youth movement, Arîn Özgür addressed some words to the guests of the event. "In order to actively and consciously embrace the struggle of the martyrs, we understand it as a duty to stand up for the guerrillas. It is the guerrillas who defend Kurdistan with great sacrifice. We must expand our organisation and support the revolutionary struggle."

After Arîn Özgür's speech, PYD politician Abbas Omar reported on the life of Ferhad Şiblî and read out a poem written for the politician. Şiblî was deputy chairman of the executive council of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and travelled to Sulaymaniyah in southern Kurdistan shortly before his death for medical treatment and diplomatic talks. On 17 June, he and three other people were killed in a drone attack by the Turkish army on a car in the Kelar district.

Anti-war demonstration on 23 July

Afterwards, some KOMAW members took the stage and described their feelings as mothers, fathers and siblings of the martyrs. Words were addressed to Kurdish society and wishes for national unity were expressed. At the end of the commemoration, Zozan Serhat from the Kurdish Women's Movement in Europe (TJK-E) assessed the war events in South Kurdistan. The activist referred to the use of banned warfare agents and NATO weapons in the Turkish invasion of the areas of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and criticised the Barzani family for their cooperation with Ankara as "anti-Kurdish" and "pro-Turkish". Serhat also called for participation in the anti-war demonstration to be staged on 23 July.