In memory of Shirin, Ferzad, Ferhad and Ali…

On 9 May 2010 history once again repeated itself for Kurds in East Kurdistan. In the notorious Evin prison outside Tehran 4 Kurdish ‘rebels’ were taken to the gallows early in the morning. They were asked to ‘repent’.

9 May 2010.

History once again repeated itself for the Kurds in East Kurdistan.

In the notorious Evin prison outside Tehran 4 Kurdish ‘rebels’ were taken to the gallows early in the morning. They were asked to ‘repent’.

The 4 Kurds responded by singing the Kurdish National Anthem, ‘Ey Reqip’.

They were hanged.

The bodies were not handed over to the families and it is not known where they are.

Ferzad Kemanger was a teacher who went from village to village, teaching the children. 

In his final letter he wrote the following: “Allow my heart to beat in a child’s chest so that one morning I may be able to shout as loud as I can in my mother tongue – Kurdish. I want to be a wind that takes the message of love for all humanity to every corner of this world.”

Shirin Elemhuli was a freedom fighter. In her final letter she said her jailers had demanded she renounce her Kurdishness. “That would mean renouncing myself,” she wrote.

Ali Heydariyan was a guerrilla in the mountains. He had gone to Tehran to seek treatment for a serious illness. After being arrested he was tortured for months.

And Ferhat Wekili was the father of Hengame, Hewran and Hewraz. He was an engineer. He went to the gallows with his head held high, saying; ‘May my children live in a free country’.

A few days before his execution his children wrote him a letter he would never receive.

“Dear Dad, now silence has descended on our city. But alas we cannot find a conscience that will listen to the silence in our hearts. …Dad, we wonder if you can see our freedom stars now? If we write a petition asking why a child should be separated from his father, why a father should be taken away from his children and put in prison, who will give us an answer?”

On 9 May 1914 Seyda Resul said: “The Kurds will soon be freed from this tyranny.”

More than a hundred years have passed, but neither the Kurds have surrendered, nor have their murderers relented.

But may their souls rejoice. They have children today such as Shirin, who sang ‘Ey Reqip’ as they go to the gallows. Like Ferzad Kemanger, who did not submit, Ferhat, who entrusted his children to the people and  Ali Haydarıyan, who was prepared for everything.

The last century of our history has been one of relentless struggle and sacrifice against the oppressors and collaborators.

It is the children carrying the hearts of Kurdish heroes who will determine the outcome of this struggle.