The Movement for a Democratic Movement (TEV-DEM) said in a statement that Kurdish revolutionary Tekin Goyî (Ismet Ünver) was killed by a Turkish drone in the autonomous region of Northern and Eastern Syria. The statement said: "Our friend Ismet Ünver (Tekin Goyî), one of the leading revolutionaries of Kurdistan, fell a martyr in a drone attack by the Turkish occupying state in Qamishlo on 19 August 2024."

Tekin Goyî was active in the Kurdish freedom movement for 32 years and most recently worked in the health sector in Northern and Eastern Syria. According to TEV-DEM, he was born in Şirnak in North Kurdistan and joined the guerrillas in 1992 at the age of sixteen. In 1996, he entered the PKK's central party school and was trained by Abdullah Öcalan. He fought in Behdînan, Botan, Mêrdîn, Qendîl, Rojava and Shengal, among other places, and lost his left leg due to a serious injury in the war.

The statement added: "Hevalê Tekin dedicated his entire life to the struggle for freedom. He worked everywhere in Kurdistan with great determination, enthusiasm and willingness to make sacrifices. His most important quality was his connection to the struggle for freedom. With his firm conviction and his determined and disciplined way of working, he was a role model for the people in his respective environment during the 32 years of his struggle."

After years of service in the mountains of Kurdistan, Tekin Goyî went to Rojava in 2014 to defend Kobanê against ISIS attacks. As an experienced commander, he fought on the front lines against the Islamist terrorist organization. After the ISIS caliphate was destroyed, he worked in various social areas and most recently worked on providing health care to people in northern and eastern Syria.

TEV-DEM expressed its condolences to Tekin Goyî's family and the people of the entire region and said: "Tekin was an incomparable revolutionary. His memory will live on in the struggle of the peoples."