Guerrilla Dilxwaz Teyi: Soldiers are afraid to go into our tunnels

Dilxwaz Teyi fights in the Zap region, reporting on the Tunnel War and resistance to the use of chemical weapons. He describes how the Turkish soldiers did not venture into the war tunnels.

Dilxwaz Teyi is fighting in the guerrilla resistance on the southern Kurdish Zap front against the Turkish invasion and was on the side of the 17 fighters who died as a result of chemical weapons use.

In this interview with ANF, he spoke about his experiences at the front. Guerrilla Teyi recalled the start of the operation in April 2022 and the resistance to it. He spoke about the use of unconventional bombs and chemical weapons and said: “I was in the combat zones myself and witnessed many things. The enemy tried to break the resistance in Zap with all the weapons and technology at their disposal, but failed. Turkey launched heavy attacks to avenge the past few years' defeats in Zap territory, but the friends had taken precautions.

"The enemy did not expect resistance at this level"

Şikekefta Birîndara caused great concern to the enemy, for Turkey had not suffered a similar defeat in any other area. What did the resistance fighters in Şikefta Birîndara do? Under the leadership of their courageous commanders, they carried out many actions, and the enemy was not even able to recover the bodies of its soldiers for days. I myself took part in this resistance, and none of the soldiers expected resistance of this level to take place. They thought they could break our mobility with their technology. They thought we were just hiding in the tunnels. They never expected that so many actions would take place, that our friends would rush to the corpses of the soldiers and get their guns, and that they would shoot down so many helicopters. Thanks to these actions, the enemy could not advance for months.

"The Turkish state is trying to present its defeat as a victory"

There were thousands of air raids and the enemy used poison gas. We know best what they used when they attacked the peak. This was also published on videos. Everyone, friend or foe, now knows what the Turkish army is doing. Since the Turkish state did not have the courage to take direct action against the guerrillas, it resorted to such weapons. When it was finally determined that chemical weapons would not be successful, tactical nuclear weapons were used. When have these weapons been used so far? Had the war against the guerrillas in Zap been waged against a state, that state would have surrendered in the first month. No one could have foreseen that the guerrillas would resist for so long. However, the Turkish state continues to try to portray its defeat as a victory.”

"57 dead soldiers in one day"

The guerrilla fighter spoke about the Turkish army's heavy losses: "Our friends killed 57 Turkish soldiers in one day. But the Turkish state hid these facts even from its own people. They burned his own soldiers. There is so much talk of justice, but in a just war none of this would happen and no nuclear weapons would be used.”

"Even extraction systems were corroded by the gas"

Teyi emphasizes that the resistance in Şikefta Birîndara gave a clear answer to the criminal warfare waged by the Turkish army: "With their attitude, the resistance fighters of Şikefta Birîndara not only sent a signal to the Turkish state, but also to NATO. We have seen ourselves being poisoned by chemical weapons. How can this still be denied? Chemical weapons were used particularly intensively at Tepê Cûdî near Şikefta Birîndara. The gas used by the enemy even destroyed our friends' generators and exhaust systems. Even the extraction system in the hands of the friends melted away. Hulusi Akar (Turkish Defense Minister) claimed they used pepper gas. We ask ourselves: how can a gas like pepper gas destroy a generator? We fought with the police in the cities for years and know exactly how pepper gas works. So bombs were used, which were called pepper gas, but contained poison gas. This is an attempt to mislead the public.”

"Turkish state did everything to cover up the defeat"

Guerrilla Teyi said: "Whenever a Kobra or a Sikorsky helicopter was shot down in Şikefta Birîndara, a war plane came immediately and bombed the crash site. They also destroyed the bodies of the soldiers in those helicopters. They shot at the bodies of many soldiers in Şikefta Birîndara or put them in sacks and threw them away.

"Soldiers fight among themselves not to have to go into the tunnels"

Against all these inhumane practices of the Turkish army, the friends with Kalashnikovs in their hands have brought the Turkish military to the brink of defeat. While the soldiers fought among themselves in fear not to go into the tunnels, our comrades countered them with the slogan 'surrender is treason'. In the spirit of all the oppressed and of Bêrîtan they were determined to win.”