Our trip to Haftanîn continues. There are so many people that have joined the PKK from different nations. They all have the same excitement. Due to security concerns, we cannot cover all of their stories. We are careful about such concerns. The last story I witnessed both made me happy and surprised me.

Two Arab women that escaped ISIS cruelty in Raqqa have joined the PKK. Neither of them spoke a word of Kurdish or Turkish. I wanted to chat with them but unfortunately I did not speak Arabic. One of them was called Rebellion and the other one was Pervin. Rebellion is Pervin’s aunt. Both of them were in civilian clothing. They were on their way to receive their first training at the PKK. With the help of a translator, we got acquainted during our conversation. Pervin spoke with anger and told about her mother and ISIS’ cruelty against women. ISIS captured her mother. The mother of Rebellion did not prevent the two from joining the PKK. On the contrary, she supported their decision.

"WE WERE RESCUED DURING RAQQA OPERATION"

Like the thousands of Arab women that escaped ISIS cruelty, these two young women who chose the PKK path and told us why they joined the ranks of the Kurdistan Workers' Party. Pervin spoke first and said that she was living in Raqqa when ISIS came and life became hell. Life was difficult particularly for women because they were trapped completely. Pervin said “ISIS kidnapped my mother. They beat my father and sibling. They tortured and later imprisoned them.”

Pervin has very recently joined the PKK, and said that she joined them in order to protect her family. So far, she has enjoyed the life in the PKK and feels happy. Pervin said “I came here to walk on the path of Leader Apo and fight for the liberation of women. ISIS made it very difficult for us. I joined the PKK in order to save everyone arrested by ISIS, not just my family. ISIS enslaves women and forces them to wear the black veil. I refused this. We were among the civilians evacuated during Raqqa operation, and are grateful to those that liberated us.”

"I AM IN THE PKK TO AVENGE WOMEN"

The other young woman guerrilla candidate Rebellion started with an explanation of her name. “I named myself Rebellion in order to rebel against ISIS and all forces that enslave women. ISIS tortures women if they don’t act and pray like it wants. We opposed this and are rebelling now.” Rebellion expressed her happiness at having joined the PKK and said that she will fight to liberate everyone under cruelty. Rebellion called upon everyone to join the PKK, who is the most ardent defender of women, and fight against ISIS until all enslaved women are free.

The commitment of young guerrilla candidates to the PKK could be seen in their faces. There was a different kind of joy in having escaped ISIS cruelty. As they continued onwards to their training, we moved on in order to document different stories from the life of guerrillas.