Kurdish Guerrillas Continue to Resist Turkish Invasion of Medya Defense Zones

Guerrillas destroyed Turkish military equipment in Metîna, including a radar system. Two explosive drones were shot down over Zap.

Kurdish guerrillas have destroyed Turkish military equipment in the region of Metîna. The Press Center of the People’s Defense Forces (HPG) said in a statement that a unit of the Free Women’s Units (YJA Star) destroyed a surveillance camera and a radar system permanently installed in the Serê Metîna resistance area on Sunday. The guerrillas also targeted a military position. In addition, a construction vehicle was seriously damaged.

Two drones shot down

The guerrillas shot down two drones loaded with explosives over Girê FM on the western front of the Zap region on Sunday. An enemy position was fired at nearby Girê Amêdî, and guerrilla artillery was fired at soldiers. On Saturday, an attempt to advance by the Turkish forces on the Girê Amêdî was stopped by a successful intervention of the HPG not far from the massif. In Girê Cûdî, the YJA Star prevented enemy soldiers from infiltrating on Friday.

In their statement, the HPG also commented on the latest attacks by the Turkish army, and said that the tunnel systems in Girê FM were attacked twice with chemical weapons and five times with banned bombs on Friday and Sunday. The guerrilla tunnels in Girê Cûdî were also bombed twice with explosives. The Turkish army carried out at least twenty further attacks with fighter planes over the weekend. Targets were hit in Xakurke, Metîna, Zap and Gare.

In other news the People’s Defense Forces (HPG) have published the names of two fallen guerrillas. Berxwedan Qehreman and Ezîz Gabar were fell as martyrs in separate attacks by the Turkish state in the Medya Defense Areas, said the HPG in a statement, adding: “We express our condolences to the relatives of these two apoist militants and to the Kurdish people. Their memory will have a permanent place in our work.”

Code name: Berxwedan Qehreman

First and last name: Mihemed Silêman

Place of birth: Efrîn

Names of mother and father: Ferîde – Musa

Date and place of death: 16/01/2024 Medya Defense Areas

 

Code name: Ezîz Gabar

First and last name: Serdar Sönmez

Place of birth: Şirnex

Names of mother and father: Leyla – Aziz

Date and place of death: 18/04/2024 Medya Defense Areas

Berxwedan Qehreman

Berxwedan Qehreman was born in Afrin in Western Kurdistan (Rojava) and grew up in a home close to the liberation movement. He developed a great personal interest in the Kurdish resistance when the Rojava Revolution began. He was a teenager when he began to engage with the ideas of Abdullah Öcalan. He wanted to deepen the knowledge he acquired from reading the writings of the Kurdish leader in the Revolutionary Youth Movement.

When the attacks by the Islamic State and other jihadist militias in Rojava escalated, Berxwedan Qehreman joined the defense units there. As part of this, he took part in several offensives by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the IS occupation of Rojava. He was also part of the defense line against Turkey’s war of aggression in 2018. With the fall of his hometown of Afrin, which had turned into a terror zone under Turkish occupation, he joined the guerrillas.

The HPG said: “Hevalê Berxwedan came to a crossroads when Afrin became the scene of massacres. His ideal was always to protect his people and their achievements. He considered this his duty, which he wanted to fulfill in a way that was worthy of our people. He made the decision to fulfill his responsibilities as a professional revolutionary and took the path to the mountains.” The HPG described Berxwedan Qehreman as a brave guerrilla who, with his energy, was a pioneer in the fight and a source of strength and morale for those around him. He was deployed for a long time in Avaşîn before moving to the front in the Zap region. There he died in mid-January during a bombardment by Turkish occupation troops.

Ezîz Gabar

Ezîz Gabar was born in Cizre (Cizîr). The city is part of the province of Şırnak (Şirnex), where the struggle against the Turkish oppressive state is one of the strongest. Because he grew up in a home that had a tradition of resistance, the Kurdish liberation movement was a lasting part of his reality from his childhood. As he grew older, his contradictions with the system grew ever greater, as he became more aware of the omnipresent war in Kurdistan. A major problem for him was the state suppression of his mother tongue.

As a middle school student, Ezîz Gabar left school and took on various jobs to support his family. Around the same time, he became active in the Kurdish youth movement. After the major ISIS attack on Kobanê in 2014, he joined the guerrillas in the Cûdî Mountains. After a short stay in the Medya Defense Areas, where he received basic training in Gare, he went to Rojava. He fought against the Islamic State and Turkey and took part in all major liberation offensives until 2018.

After returning to the Medya Defense Areas that same year, Ezîz Gabar received special training. He put the skills and abilities he acquired there into practice in the Qendîl Mountains in the area of ​​strategic tasks. On 18 April, he was killed in an enemy attack at his place of deployment.

The HPG declared: “We promise to carry the flag of resistance handed over to us by Ezîz Gabar and Berxwedan Qehreman into victory.”