On 23 August 2023, in a drone strike carried out by the Turkish state in the district of Seyidsadiq in Sulaymaniyah (Silêmanî), South Kurdistan (Başur), journalists Gulistan Tara and Hero Bahadîn lost their lives. On the first anniversary of Tara’s martyrdom, her colleague and close friend, journalist Sinem Adalı, spoke to ANF.
Sinem Adalı, who shared more than 26 years with Gulistan Tara, said: “Her loss is a great loss for the press community. As a journalist committed both to values and to her profession, she was someone whose place will not be easily filled.”
Adalı recalled the days when they first met in Northern Kurdistan (Bakur) in 1999: “Our meeting coincided with a period when Abdullah Öcalan was brought to Turkey as a result of a conspiracy, after which actions intensified and many self-sacrificial operations were carried out. At that time, a self-sacrificial action took place in the city center of Batman (Êlih). It was carried out by a female guerrilla named Nezahat Boyacı (Şehrîstan). This action had a profound impact on the youth of Batman as well as on society in general. It was already a period when actions were very intense in Northern Kurdistan, in the metropolises of Turkey, and in Europe.
Society was on a self-sacrificial line. In that atmosphere, I came together with Gulistan Tara during a training period in Northern Kurdistan and that is where we first met. Gulistan Tara’s family was also patriotic. She inherited her patriotism and revolutionary tradition from her family. Because her sister was imprisoned, she frequently visited prisons, which created a sense of solidarity among patriotic families. My family and Gulistan Tara’s family also knew each other, something we discovered after our friendship grew stronger.”
Adalı continued: “Gulistan was very young in those years. It was the first time she had been separated from her family. She was in a training process under very harsh conditions. Her body was very fragile. Although she faced certain difficulties in adapting, she never turned this into an obstacle. She always had a stance of struggling against it, trying to overcome it, and striving to achieve something.
The first thing that stayed in my mind was this: from the moment we met until the end of the two to three months training period, she was always very delicate, very fragile, physically struggling but intellectually striving to fight against it and overcome it.”
Her success in work was in harmony with her success in life
Sinem Adalı said that they met again four to five years later in the Medya Defense Areas, emphasizing Tara’s discipline in journalism: “At that time she was working as a journalist in the Medya Defense Areas. I came from a different field of work. She had a remarkable working performance: she typed very fast, was highly skilled at journalism, and worked with great discipline.”
Adalı described Gulistan Tara as a character who fully identified with her profession and continued: “She wanted me to do work with the press too, and she even expressed this request to the institution she was working with. I was convinced and decided to work with her. Her stance, participation, and style in work were very selfless. She never had an attitude of ‘I will do this, you do that.’ She was not calculating. She carried her friends’ burdens, contributed to them, shared life, and shared her sorrow, joy, and emotions in every sense. That is why her success in work was in harmony with her success in life. There are some journalists who are very successful in their work but not as successful in life or in friendships. Gulistan Tara was as successful in life as she was in her work.”
Adalı continued: “She was very sincere, very genuine. Gulistan could leave a mark even on someone who met her for the first time. What was this? It was connected to the labor she gave to life. She invested great effort into life and gave a lot to her friends. She sacrificed herself but did everything to ensure her friends would not be hurt. That was her defining feature. She also had a particular stance in terms of teamwork. For example, even though we were not many in number in the environment we were in, she left her mark. She was harmonious with her friends. That harmony was nurtured by labor. If there was a shortcoming, she would criticize it; if there was a deficiency, she would address it. But she never did this in a hurtful way; rather, she did it by explaining, making one understand, and drawing from her own experience. That is why a person who shared even a moment, a day, or more with her would never forget her.”
She fought against the sexist perspective in the press
Sinem Adalı noted that Tara also took a firm stance against male-dominated approaches in the press: “She fought against the sexist, male-dominated perspectives that prevailed in the press. While doing so, she was not crude, unconscious, or destructive. She conveyed this through her stance, and she influenced those around her. That is why she will always be remembered. When she fell martyr, from the male colleagues who worked with her to the women comrades who lived with her, whenever Gulistan’s name was mentioned, their throats would tighten and they would be deeply moved. It was the same for all of us. That is why her loss was such a profound one for us.
To fill the void left by this loss, it will only be possible if new journalist candidates take her as an example, walk in her path, and carry on that tradition. That is why when we remember Gulistan, our hearts ache. We still cannot fully accept it. Because she was truly someone who was meant to live and to make others live.”
We will carry on their tradition and make it a collective legacy
Sinem Adalı commemorated Gulistan Tara and the journalists who were martyred with her or had lost their lives in the past, concluding her words with this message: “Perhaps there will be hundreds of Gulistans who will leave their mark in the struggle and in the tradition of journalism, walking on this path. Just like the journalist friends before her, such as Seyit Evran, Aziz Köylüoğlu, and Gurbetelli Ersöz, there are thousands more. This tradition will grow by walking in their footsteps, and from now on, new journalist candidates will join this struggle. Struggle, faith, determination, will, and perseverance. When we bring all these qualities together, this is how we can describe Gulistan. Looking at her stance, sometimes I would say that our friend Gulistan was born to be a journalist. She was so deeply united with the meticulousness of a journalist, the perspective of a journalist, the curiosity of a journalist, and the lifestyle of a journalist. You know how they say someone was born for this work. She was exactly like that. She is one of those comrades who deserves to be remembered and spoken of at length. Over the 26 years of struggle, I can truly say: we are fortunate to have known her, to have lived with her, and to have been her friend. And the same can be said for thousands of others.”
Adalı concluded her speech with these words: Gulistan was not just a journalist who reported events; she put her soul into it. She was part of society itself, someone who revealed and shared the suffering of women, the suffering of society, the repression, violence, and brutality of the state, bringing it all to public attention. I remember our comrade Gulistan once again, and we will work with all our strength to walk in her path, to carry her legacy forward, and to pass on the tradition of journalism and the revolutionary legacy to new generations. In this sense, we once again bow with respect before the memories and struggles of our comrades Gulistan Tara, Aziz Köylüoğlu, and Seyit Evran. Especially, the journalist comrades we have lost in the last two years will live on in our struggle. We will not forget them, and we will do everything possible to be worthy of them. We will carry on this tradition, we will make this tradition a collective legacy, and we will raise new revolutionary journalists. Once again, we remember our comrades and promise to remain faithful to their struggle.”