Guerrillas celebrate Newroz in Heftanin

Newroz fires are lit in many places in the guerrilla areas in the mountains of Kurdistan. A celebration in the Heftanin region could be filmed. In the footage, a group of guerrilla fighters can be seen lighting a fire and singing songs. One of the fighters says that the resistance has grown stronger since Mazlum Doğan’s action. On Newroz 1982, Doğan lit three matches in his cell in Amed prison, placed them on the table and took his own life. He left behind the message “Surrender is betrayal, resistance leads to victory,” setting off a beacon at a time of cruel repression following the military coup in Turkey. The guerrilla fighter in Heftanin therefore refers to Doğan as the “contemporary Kawa,” alluding to the blacksmith who defeats the despot Dehaq in the Newroz legend.

Heftanin is located in the west of the Medya Defense Zones on the Turkish-Iraqi state border in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq). In June 2020, the Turkish army launched a major invasion to occupy the region. Tons of explosives were dropped throughout the region, and tens of thousands of soldiers, village guards, and militiamen were involved in the operation. The guerrillas then declared the “Cenga Heftanînê” offensive and continue to resist NATO’s second largest army to this day.