German Guerrillas In Kurdistan

     The daily newspaper Ozgur Gundem (Free Agenda) recently
carried an interview with four German internationalists - two men
and two women - who are now in Kurdistan fighting as members of the
ARGK (People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan) guerrilla forces.
     The four Germans, who have all taken Kurdish war names, made
it clear that they were not on some adventure holiday but were
totally dedicated to the cause and determined to carry on with the
struggle for as long as it takes.
     The four had come to know of the Kurds and their struggle in
the course of their anti-imperialist and anti-racist activities in
Germany. Instead of believing everything they were told in the
media, they made the effort to find out for themselves the truth
about Kurdistan and the PKK.
     All of them had taken the practical step of learning to speak
Kurdish or Turkish. It was only after a long period of cultural and
solidarity work and political discussion with Kurdish people in
Germany that they took the decision to devote themselves to the
tough and dangerous guerrilla struggle.
     They were impressed by the PKK's adherence to the ideals of
socialism while so many voices are declaring it to be dying or
dead. Haki explained: "When a massive hate campaign started against
the PKK in Germany in 1987, I began to analyze the PKK. The more I
investigated, the better I liked them. The better I got to know
them, the more my sympathy for them grew and I made up my mind to
join them in their struggle. The best place to do that is here. I
wanted to join the guerrillas."
     What they have seen since arriving in Kurdistan has further
strengthened the determination of these young internationalists.
Cedkar, who had previously served in the coffee harvest brigades in
Nicaragua, described his experience: "The sight of the burned and
demolished villages in Kurdistan made a deep impression on me. In
one village I saw burned children's shoes. There were bullet holes
in the houses and it made me really angry. Seeing all this
convinced me that the only way to end this barbarity is by armed
struggle. I don't think the Kurdish people can win their
independence without the PKK. I joined the ARGK guerrilla army
because it is defending human dignity."
     The spartan life of a guerrilla fighter is, of course, a hard
test for the young Germans, but they say that living in the midst
of Kurdistan's natural beauty is a considerable compensation.
     Haki contrasted it with the urban wastelands of his home
country: "German cities are becoming more and more like deserts -
people there are becoming brain-dead. Don't get me wrong, there are
good and bad people everywhere, but the system warps people. In our
so-called democracy people are turned against one another and that
is how they keep the system in place."
     Haki continued: "The struggle of the PKK in this turbulent
period is an advance for all humankind. The struggle in this region
has a special significance for me. It is not only a struggle for
the Kurds - it is a struggle which is producing new humanitarian
values."
     He concluded: "The fact that no one can live in the midst of
this great natural beauty, on this fertile soil, because it is
being constantly bombed makes me very sad and has bound me even
closer to the guerrillas... I call on those people who slander this
movement to come here and see the situation for themselves. It is
only then that they can decide on the legitimacy of the struggle."
     A lesson perhaps for some of the armchair socialists in this
country whose only act of 'solidarity' has been to denounce armed
struggle and to slander the PKK.

(From: Kurdistan Report #16 - October/November 1993)