Ehmed Gulo is one of the Rojava people who have been serving the Kurdistan Freedom struggle since the 1980s.

He became acquainted with the struggle thanks to his brother Yusif Gulo, who fell as a martyr on 9 November this year, killed as a result of a drone attack carried out by the Turkish state.

He told ANF: “One day, my brother Yusif came and said that some Kurds from Bakur [North] Kurdistan had crossed to Rojava and that we had to help them. We were looking forward to the rise of the Kurds in Bakur Kurdistan. If Bakur did not stand up, no part of Kurdistan would be free. It is the largest part where most Kurds live.”

Commitment to the PKK revolution

Ehmed Gulo continued: “The resistance in Amed prison resonated everywhere. When commander Egîd (Mahsum Korkmaz) fired the first bullet, thousands of young people from all four parts of Kurdistan joined the struggle. When the PKK started the revolution, we were saying that we should join this revolution. Many people from our family could not join it because they were married, but they took an active part in it, carrying out other types of work. When the crop season came for agricultural lands, we collected the crops together and contributed to the struggle in that way. The people now believed and devoted everything to the revolution.”

Gulo added: “The PKK taught the people to fight for their legitimate rights in a revolutionary people's war style. The Turkish government then threatened the Syrian government [in 1998], and demanded Damascus to hand over Abdullah Öcalan, or they would attack. Leader Apo left Syria to prevent a war in the region. When he landed in Europe, an international conspiracy was set in motion. After his capture, the Syrian and Turkish governments raided the homes of patriotic families and arrested them. At that time, the Adana Agreement was signed. The claim that those who had hidden PKK members in their homes would be handed over to the Turkish state spread. They tried to scare the people, but they failed.”

Gulo said: “I salute the PKK's establishment on its 44th anniversary. 27 November is the day when history was renewed and the Kurds claimed their existence. Under the leadership of Öcalan, we will enlarge our struggle and achieve victory. I salute all our people who resist in Kurdistan. The existence of the PKK became the existence of the Kurds. We will end the Turkish occupation with the unity of the peoples.”