There are, without doubt, days remembered as moments of heroism in the history of all resisting peoples. However, for the Kurdish people, experiencing this as a full week of heroism and grounding their struggle in this meaning carries profound historical and social significance. This reality also stems from the lived experience of Kurdish society itself. In terms of both historical and social realities, the people of Kurdistan have a markedly distinct past. The history of the Kurdish people, particularly over the last 200 years, has been marked almost entirely by massacres. It is a history filled with pain, suffering, and sorrow. Within such a historical reality, a profound transformation has taken place through the emergence of the Apoist movement and the freedom struggle it has carried forward, reshaping not only the last two centuries but, more broadly, the realities of thousands of years. These historical conditions are the very reason why Heroism Week emerged within the history of the freedom struggle and why it has come to hold such significance.
The process that gave meaning to Heroism Week was shaped by the martyrdom of Mazlum Doğan, one of the pioneers of the Freedom Movement, following his heroic act on 21 March 1982, and likewise by the heroic death of commander Egîd (Mahsum Korkmaz) on 28 March 1986. The days between these two martyrdoms are commemorated each year as Heroism Week. The significance of this week lies in the transformations and changes that took place in the history of Kurdistan following the personalities of these comrades. It is rooted in the realities embodied by leading figures such as Mazlum Doğan and commander Mahsum Korkmaz. These realities brought about profound transformations in Kurdish identity on social, historical, political, ideological, intellectual, mental, and existential levels. The level of heroism that emerged in the history of the freedom struggle found concrete expression in the character of these pioneering figures, and this is one of the fundamental factors that defines the importance of this week. It is the personality of these historic figures, who gave identity and shaped all ideological values of the Apoist movement, that has played a decisive role in shaping history.
The importance of Mazlum Doğan becomes clearly evident in this context. The movement acquired its defining characteristics as a party, its way of life, and its militant identity through the person of Mazlum Doğan. Through his own way of living, he gave identity to the Apoist movement. At this point, Mazlum Doğan carried this reality to its peak through the act he carried out. Undoubtedly, this was a beginning, and all the developments that later left their mark on the history of the freedom struggle drew their strength from this very beginning. Serving as a source of identity formation, it represents a significant starting point and a major advancement for the ideological, political, and social developments that emerged within Kurdish society and Kurdistan. This is precisely what reveals the importance of Mazlum Doğan’s personality. A Kurdish society that was heading toward disappearance regained its will through the freedom movement.
They led a life in the name of the Kurdish people
A society whose will had been taken away, weakened to the point of being unable to speak for itself, alienated from its language and culture, afraid o exptress its own existence, speaking under fear and distanced from its own identity, began to regain its will with the emergence of the Apoist movement. In environments such as Diyarbakır (Amed) Prison, where the harshest conditions were experienced, particularly in the period following the 12 September coup when the Turkish state imposed fascism on society at its highest level, the leading figure Mazlum Doğan broke this system through the will he demonstrated. On the basis of the will he put forward, the resistance he developed, and the personal characteristics he embodied, a new type of human being and a new understanding of Kurdish identity emerged. Through this act, Mazlum Doğan assumed the leadership of a life to be carried forward in the name of Kurdish identity and humanity.
At this point, the emergence of the guerrillas in the mountains of Kurdistan, the resistance in the mountains, the beginning of the guerrilla movement, and the guerrilla war that started on 15 August 1984 all draw their source from this resistance. The person who led the guerrilla war in the mountains of Kurdistan, directed it, initiated the war, and rewrote history in this period was commander Mahsum Korkmaz. Commander Mahsum Korkmaz was a figure brought into the party by Mazlum Doğan. What is important here is to correctly understand this reality. When a personality creates its own era, reaches the truth, and becomes fully integrated with life, effort, struggle, resistance, and freedom, that person can change history and transform society. Such a figure continues to live on through the continuity of their struggle. For this reason, what emerged in the personality of commander Mahsum Korkmaz is the re-emergence and development of the reality of the Apoist movement.
This reality gained its identity through the prison resistance that began under the leadership of Mazlum Doğan. The will and resistance that have emerged can no longer be destroyed. This will ensures victory and success. In the person of these heroes, a new Kurdish individual, a free Kurdish identity, has emerged. The struggle that has been carried forward through armed resistance until today has entered a new phase with the initiative of Abdullah Öcalan. If this process of peace and democratic society succeeds, the gains achieved so far will carry the Kurdish people’s struggle to a more advanced level. It will pave the way for democratic politics and the understanding of a democratic nation. Those who laid the foundations of this struggle and have remained its cornerstone until today will never be forgotten; they will always remain the pioneers of the Kurdish people’s freedom of struggle. Today, as the Kurdish people, much is owed to these heroes and to the efforts of Abdullah Öcalan. If the Kurdish people have reached this stage, it is thanks to them, and their memory must always be kept alive.