Hill Kartal and the guerrilla struggle

Since the beginning of the struggle, bitter struggles have taken place in every inch of Avaşîn’s land and hills. From Werxelê to Adilbeg, from Mamreşo to Kartal, there are traces of these clashes, stories, pains and victories. Wherever you go in Avaşîn, you always feel like you are amid a war, even in the calmest hours. Once you are there, you hear the sound of bullets and witness the laughter of the heroes who were martyred while resisting in those lands decades ago. Maybe you feel the faint smell of gunpowder. Memories are so fresh that they haunt you each time you are there. Those heroes who paved the way for walking freely in these glorious mountains of Kurdistan always remind you of their presence.

On the 7th day of a Turkish attack launched in Avaşîn on May 1, 2021, we went to Hill Kartal together with a group of guerrillas. The guerrillas who accompanied us were telling us about the reason why the hill was called Kartal (Eagle in Turkish), the fierce clashes in this area since the 90s, the sacrifices made under difficult conditions by the guerrilla forces there and the construction of the battle tunnels. Less than 10 days after that day, Adil, who would later be martyred while on his way to action in Mamreşo, was saying that ‘Another target of the Turkish army is Hill Kartal, so we have to prepare properly here’. Mervan, who was also accompanying us, continued to tell us the history of Kartal.

TUNNELS IN THE HEART OF KARTAL

Hill Kartal was a coordination centre of the Turkish army before it was taken by the guerrillas. Since the shape of the hill is similar to the wings of an eagle, this hill is called ‘Eagle’. When you look at it from Mervanos or the Mamreşo area, you think that this hill will soon take wings and fly. There are eagle-like chains spreading its wings, and there are cliffs resembling an eagle’s head between the two chains. The battle tunnels where the guerrillas are resisting the invading Turkish army are found right there where these chains are. In other words, it is right in the heart of Kartal…

In the early 90s, violent clashes took place on this hill. There are remnants of these battles everywhere from its slopes to its summit. Rusted bullets of DShK machine gun, old battle positions, bones… And parts of a helicopter shot down by ARGK guerrillas in those years. After losing hundreds of its soldiers and the shooting down of a Sikorsky helicopter, the Turkish army accepted its defeat on this hill and withdrew its surviving soldiers. The downed helicopter is about 200 meters below the area where the battle tunnels are currently located. Ever since that day, Hill Kartal has been controlled by the guerrilla forces.

EAGLE SPREADING ITS WINGS

Hill Kartal has become one of the hills where great resistance was developed after the Turkish army launched its invasion attack on April 23. Numerous actions directed against the Turkish troops in Mamreşo were carried out by guerrillas from Kartal, which is the front-line defence of Mamreşo. Moreover, the fighters there coordinated the battle with their limited resources and supported the Mamreşo fighters. Also, Hill Kartal was the biggest supporter of the fighters during the fighting on the hills of Sor and Süleyman. Since the guerrillas on Hill Kartal knew that they themselves would also be targeted soon, they were making their preparations on one hand, and trying to support the resistance in the surrounding hills on the other.

CHEMICAL AND POISONOUS GAS AGAINST GUERRILLAS IN BATTLE TUNNELS

Since Hill Kartal must have a historical and contemporary meaning for the Turkish army, they advanced towards the battle tunnels even more brutally and fiercely than they had ever done before as they launched an aggression here on October 21. They used all kinds of advanced weapons and various chemical gases just within a few hours to avenge the loss of their coordination hills, the shooting down of its helicopters and the hundreds of casualties in their ranks. Turkish soldiers started using chemical weapons in less than 10 minutes after they advanced on the battle tunnels on Hill Kartal. On the second day of the battle, the Turkish army attempted to kill the resisting guerrillas in the battle tunnels of Hill Kartal by using chemical and poisonous gases 17 times.