The Press Center of the People's Defense Forces (HPG) reports, guerrilla Hüseyin Pîran and the commander of the Free Women's Associations (YJA Star), guerrilla Rûken Zîlan, died in a Turkish attack on the southern Kurdish region of Metîna on 14 October 2023. The HPG expressed its condolences to their relatives and the Kurdish people.

 Codename: Hüseyin Pîran

 First and last name: Cahit Aktay

 Place of birth: Amed

 Names of mother and father: Saliha – Mehmet

 Date and place of death: 14 October 2023 / Metina

 Codename: Rûken Zîlan

 First and last name: Zeynep Sevim

 Place of birth: Sêrt

 Names of mother and father: Xatûn – Hacı

 Date and place of death: 14 October 2023 / Metina

 

Hüseyin Piran

Hüseyin Pîran came from Pîran (Dicle) in the province of Amed. His family was deeply patriotic and, accordingly, Pîran grew up in the Kurdish tradition and the ethical values of society. The awareness of his surroundings shaped him and he developed a strong connection with Kurdistan and the Kurdish language.

He stuck to this despite all the reprisals and attempts to assimilate him by the Turkish state. The struggle for freedom, which became increasingly stronger in the 1990s, deeply impressed him. The guerrilla fight in particular aroused his longing and so he tried to join the guerrillas as a teenager, but was initially unable to do so due to various problems. When a childhood friend whom he had actually wanted to join was ambushed in Botan, Pîran decided to do everything he could to become a guerrilla. He managed to eventually join in 2008. He completed his basic training in Qandîl and was active in practical work there for three years. He learned about life in the guerrillas and in the mountains. At the same time, he received intensive ideological and military training.

Hüseyin Pîran was determined to take on more responsibility and suggested deployment to the hot war zones. After training in the use of medium automatic weapons, he moved to the Zap region. There he played an important role in the fighting against the Turkish army in the following three years. He was determined to go to Botan in North Kurdistan. He eventually went there after further training in 2014.

After the Turkish state ended the ceasefire in 2015, he fought in the Kato Jirka region and took part in many actions against the Turkish army. Because of his combat experience, he repeatedly took on leadership roles. In 2017, he went back to the Medya Defense Areas to continue his education at the Mazlûm Doğan Party Academy. After completing his education, he went back into military work.

When the Turkish army began its attacks on Metîna, Zap and Avaşîn and his friends fell in battle, he was deeply moved. He went there and fell a martyr on 14 October 2023.

Rûken Zîlan

Rûken Zîlan belonged to the patriotic nomadic Didêrî tribe. She grew up with the culture of the Kurdish nomads and therefore far away from the influences of capitalist modernity. Her nomadic family's life was difficult, so she learned early on about work and the importance of values created through sacrifice. In this way of life, the woman was the focus and Rûken Zîlan gained a special self-confidence. She did not attend a Turkish state school and became known as a free-spirited woman.

The nomads' living space overlaps closely with the paths of the guerrillas, so Zîlan repeatedly had the opportunity to get to know the fighters. The cooperative relationships in the guerrillas moved her deeply. From the 90s onwards, more and more people from her circle joined the guerrillas and Rûken Zîlan began to question herself and her life.

When her sister Mercan Sevim – codename Zîlan – finally fell as a martyr, she began to look for ways to join herself. Faced with growing repression and persecution of the Kurdish population, Rûken Zîlan finally joined the guerrillas on 15 August 2014 in the Garzan area.

She only stayed briefly in the Garzan region and then moved to the Medya Defense Areas. She received her basic training in the Gare region. There, in addition to her military training, she studied women's history and the history of Kurdistan and made what she learned her livelihood. She began to fight the inadequacies in her personality. Her aim was to develop a free woman's personality.

She quickly learned to read and write at the same time and soon began to write her own analyses. At the same time, it developed further through discussions, but above all through reading Abdullah Öcalan's analyses and books. She stayed in Gare for a long time and took part in various works there. At the same time, she continued to educate herself ideologically and militarily with great determination.

In her conviction that the path to becoming a free woman could not only be achieved through ideological accumulation, but above all through struggle, she decided to become more involved in the struggle as a militant. She was trained at the Şehîd Bêrîtan Free Women's Academy and then turned to the hot war zones. It fought on the front lines in many areas in the Metîna region and in the development of defense infrastructure.

She fell a martyr on 14 October 2023.