In a statement, the Press Centre of the People’s Defence Forces (HPG) provided information about the resistance of the guerrillas against the Turkish invasion and the latest attacks by the Turkish army on the guerrilla-held Medya Defence Zones in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq).
According to the statement, guerrillas from the Free Women’s Troops (YJA Star) and HPG struck the Turkish invasion troops in the Girê Cûdî area with heavy weapons on 12 September. A soldier was killed in an attack with semi-automatic weapons in the Girê Amêdîyê area on 13 September. When the occupying forces tried to advance on a tunnel system in the area on Saturday, the guerrillas carried out a sabotage action which left one soldier dead and another injured. In the Xakurke region further east, guerrillas hit the occupying forces in the Girê Şehîd Hêmin area with heavy weapons on 11 September.
Over the past three days, the Turkish army has used banned explosives against guerrilla tunnels in the Girê FM, Girê Amêdîyê and Girê Cûdî areas a total of nine times. During the same period, the Medya Defence Zones were bombed 36 times by the Turkish air force. Eleven of these air strikes were carried out by attack helicopters at various points in the Xakurke, Metîna and Zap regions. Fighter jets bombed the areas of Sinînê, Berbizinê, Qele and Şehîd Şerîf in Xakurke, Yekmalê, Dêreşê, Kanî Sarkê, Zengil, Kafya, Meyrokê, Çemrobotkî and Girê in Gare, Şêlazê in Metîna and Girê Bahar in Zap.
The Press Center of the People’s Defense Forces (HPG) issued a statement to pay tribute to three fallen guerrillas. Navdar Firat, Dilovan Sîpan and Bager Çiya were killed in the resistance in the southern Kurdish region of Heftanîn in 2019. The HPG expressed their condolences to their families and the Kurdish people.
Code name: Navdar Firat
First and last name: Muhammed Canbey
Place of birth: Amed
Names of mother and father: Hatice – Aziz
Date and place of death: July 7, 2019 / Heftanîn
Code name: Dilovan Sîpan
First and last name: Mehmet Sedîq Babat
Place of birth: Sêrt
Names of mother and father: Meryem – Salih
Date and place of death: September 17, 2019 / Heftanîn
Code name: Bager Çiya
First and last name: Devrim Yıldırım
Place of birth: Wan
Names of mother and father: Şekir – Necip
Date and place of death: September 17, 2019 / Heftanîn
Navdar Firat
Navdar Firat was born in Amed and grew up in a politicized environment. As a child, he admired the guerrillas, and as a teenager, he felt increasingly responsible for resisting the oppression of the Kurdish people. When ISIS attacked Kobanê with the support of the Turkish state, he actively participated in the uprisings on the streets of North Kurdistan. During this time, after careful consideration, he made the decision to join the guerrillas.
He went to the mountains in Amed and received his first training. During the two months he spent in Amed, he learned a lot from experienced fellow fighters. When he came to the Medya Defense Areas for in-depth basic training, he was able to help new fighters. He studied Abdullah Öcalan’s ideas of a free life as well as the art of guerrilla warfare intensively. Most recently, he was in Heftanîn and took on various tasks in the Perax, Partîzan and Xantûr areas.
The HPG described Navdar as a sincere and promising revolutionary who remained committed to the principles of apoist militancy until his last breath.
Dilovan Sîpan
Dilovan Sîpan was born in the village of Osyan in Sêrt-Perwarî and belonged to the Goyî tribe. He grew up with a Kurdish culture, but his environment was shaped by the state-established village guard system. As an adolescent, he began to question this system and sought contact with the Kurdish liberation movement. In 2013, he joined the guerrillas in Herekol. He received basic training in Heftanîn and stayed there during his first period of practical training.
After ideological and military training, he took on important tasks that required great attention and discipline. In the process, he got to know important comrades and their work. Dilovan was killed in an enemy attack in the Geliyê Pisaxa area.
Bager Çiya
Bager Çiya was born in Wan-Ebex and grew up with the Kurdish liberation movement. His father was arrested after the 1980 military coup and tortured in prison. Bager went to Shengal in 2015 and fought against ISIS. He made this decision spontaneously out of anger at the genocide of the Yazidi community. During this time, he met apoist militants such as Şehîd Egîd Civyan, Şehîd Dilşêr Herekol and Şehîd Memo Mêrdîn and became increasingly aware and combat-experienced.
After playing a key role in liberating Shengal from the Islamists and enabling the population to return, he continued his fight against ISIS in Rojava and took part in the liberation offensive in Manbij. In 2017, he went to the mountains and shared his combat experience and technical knowledge with the guerrillas in Heftanîn. As the region came under increasing attack, he fought bravely and selflessly against the Turkish invaders. He was killed in an attack on 17 September 2019, along with Dilovan Sîpan.