Guerrillas Berfîn Roj and Têkoşîn Dilgeş fell as martyrs in November 2023 in an attack by the Turkish state in the Medya Defense Areas. The command of the YJA Star (Free Women’s Units) said in a statement: “Our comrades Berfîn and Têkoşîn were revolutionary advocates of the women’s liberation ideology in Kurdistan’s freedom struggle. We remember them with respect and gratitude and reaffirm our promise to continue their struggle until victory.”
The YJA Star expressed its condolences to the families of the fallen, as well as to all women fighting for freedom and to the Kurdish people. The following information was given in the obituary regarding the identity of Berfîn Roj and Têkoşîn Dilgeş:
Code name: Berfîn Roj
First and last name: Caize Selber
Place of birth: Sêrt
Names of mother and father: Sakine – Mehmet
Date and place of death: 30/11/2023 Medya Defense Areas
Code name: Têkoşîn Dilgeş
First and last name: Şîrvan Ulaş
Place of birth: Amed
Names of mother and father: Perîxan – Süleyman
Date and place of death: 30/2023 Medya Defense Areas
Berfîn Roj
Berfîn Roj was born in Sêrt-Şêrwan and grew up in Istanbul with an awareness of her Kurdish identity. The uprisings in Kurdistan in the early 1990s and the brutal crackdown by the state on freedom movements also had an impact on the Turkish metropolises. Because her uncle was wanted, Berfîn was abducted and tortured by the Turkish state in 1993 at the age of twelve.
The experiences she had at that time formed the basis for her fight for dignity and existence, which she would lead for the next thirty years. She dropped out of school and became active in the Kurdish youth association YCK (Yekitiya Ciwanên Kurdistan).
After Abdullah Öcalan was captured in 1999, she went to the mountains of Dersim and joined the guerrillas. She was already familiar with collective life in the PKK movement from her political work in the civilian sector, so it was not difficult for her to adjust. After two years in Dersim and Erzîrom, she came to the Medya Defense Areas and had the opportunity to receive further military and ideological training in Xinêre and Qendîl.
During her academic training, she internalized the principles of the women’s liberation ideology and made them her life’s principle. From 2005, she fought in the Zap and Zagros regions and gained war experience. After that, she served for a long time as commander of the associations of free women in Qendîl and Behdînan. Her struggle was not limited to the military field; she also worked in Başûr (South Kurdistan) and other areas to organize women and to convey Abdullah Öcalan’s philosophy of freedom to the population.
Têkoşîn Dilgeş
Têkoşîn Dilgeş was born in Amed. Her family originally came from Mêrdîn and was close to the PKK. After her older brother Têkoşer (Abidin Ulaş) joined the liberation struggle in 1992 and repression in Kurdistan increased, Têkoşîn moved to Istanbul with her family. Her brother was killed in Amed in 1994. His death marked a turning point in her life. She became active in the YCK youth organization and joined the guerrillas in 1998. She received her first training in the Medya Defense Areas.
Between 2003 and 2009, she fought in Dersim. As a mature fighter and commander of the YJA Star, she finally returned to the Medya Defense Areas and intensively studied the women’s liberation ideology in further training.
In 2011, she was seriously injured in a guerrilla action against the Turkish army. Her strong will to continue the fight played a decisive role in her recovery. After that, she became involved in various areas. She trained fellow campaigners in the health sector and showed great commitment to organizing the population for a self-determined life. When ISIS invaded Kurdistan in 2014, she resisted together with the population and helped to ensure that the Islamist gangs that kidnapped women and sold them in slave markets were defeated by free women.