Baran Xemlîn, a heroic warrior in Botan

The guerrilla Baran Xemlîn was not afraid of paying the price because he, like his comrades, was dedicated to the path of truth. He was revealing this with his stance and practice.

If we consider the reality of Kurdistan and the occupation, we understand why young people follow the path enlightened by Rêber Apo (Leader Abdullah Öcalan). Young people struggle for the people, for their land and sacrifice their lives. Moreover, they make decisions bigger than themselves at a very young age. There are two paths in front of them; either they will join the capitalist system and become slaves of the rulers, or they will turn towards the cause of freedom of their country and people and become honourable individuals. Kurdish youngsters generally prefer the second path, the honourable path. The false world created by the capitalist system cannot prevent them from choosing this honourable path.

Baran Xemlîn (Seyîtxan Sencer) is one of the children of the sun who fought on this path of freedom. Words are not enough to tell the story of Comrade Baran. He carries the legacy of Ali Çiçek in his first steps. With his life, stance and martyrdom, he proudly leaves the legacy of Ali Çiçek to the Kurdish youth. Every person is shaped according to the region where they are born, and the characteristics of that region or society have a great influence on the character of the person. Comrade Baran Xemlîn was born into a patriotic family in Van, one of the cities of rebellion and resistance in Kurdistan. Due to the fact that the environment he lived in, and his family were loyal to Kurdish values, comrade Baran grew up in a way that was loyal to his essence. He witnessed all kinds of pollution in the system, but no power could take comrade Baran away from his essence.

He studied for 9 years in a school of the system. When he realised the assimilation and genocide of Kurdish culture in schools, he immediately left the school. When he saw the persecution of his people, especially mothers, on the streets of the city where he lived, he swore revenge as a revolutionary and joined youth work. Admiring the self-sacrificing struggle of the guerrillas, comrade Baran's biggest dream now was to join the guerrilla ranks one day. Comrade Baran, who had a successful practice in patriotic revolutionary youth work, decided to further expand his struggle. He joined the ranks of freedom in 2018 to fight against the Turkish state, which attacks the gains of the Kurdish people in every field and continues its genocide policy.

After receiving his first training in the guerrilla ranks from his comrades in Botan, Baran got to know Rêber Apo's ideas better. Due to the war conditions, he had the opportunity to immediately put into practice all the things he learned about guerrilla work. Together with his comrades, he fought against the attacks of the Turkish state with great assertiveness and determination. Having learned the principles of Apoist militancy in discussions with his comrades, comrade Baran joined the struggle as a competent and experienced guerrilla. He gained many experiences at a young age, became the eyes and ears of his comrades in Kato. After the martyrdom of each comrade that he lived with and fought with, the guerrilla Baran's anger towards the enemy grew even more, and he did not hesitate to fight to preserve the culture of resistance created by the martyrs.

Seeking to actively participate in the movement for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo in order to respond to the process, comrade Baran helped each of his comrades who reached Botan to adapt to the field in a short time and succeeded in becoming an exemplary Apoist militant. The year 2024 was a year of sacrifice for the guerrillas of the Bakûr region. It was a stand against betrayal and occupation.

Comrade Baran played a pioneering role in the Botan area, which is dominated by harsh conditions, preventing the invaders from breathing through his actions and not allowing the enemy to shelter in Kurdistan lands. In Rêber Apo's philosophy, there was no failure, hopelessness, despair, there was room for success, revenge, reckoning and victory. Taking Rêber Apo's philosophy as a basis, he was not afraid of paying the price because he, like his comrades, devoted himself to the path of truth. He revealed this with his stance and practice and living every moment.

Comrade Baran fell a martyr together with his comrades Destina Botan (Bişeng Durmuş) and Benda Amed (Semra Ayverdi) as a result of a Turkish attack on 25 July 2024. Martyr Baran also sacrificed his life for the sake of freedom by adding another epic to the heroic epic of the people of Kurdistan.