HRE fighter Welat Qerejdax fell as a martyr in the resistance against the Turkish occupation in Afrin. He had joined the liberation struggle from Amed and initially fought against ISIS in South Kurdistan before going to Rojava.
HRE fighter Welat Qerejdax fell as a martyr in the resistance against the Turkish occupation, said the command of the "Afrin Liberation Forces" (HRE) in a statement.
According to the statement, the fighter fell as a martyr on 23 October in the Afrin (Efrîn) region. The HRE expressed their condolences to his relatives and the Kurdish population.
Welat Qerejdax, whose birth name was Seyithan Temel, came from Amed in North Kurdistan. When the Rojava Revolution started in 2012, he joined the Kurdish liberation struggle. According to the HRE, he initially fought in South Kurdistan against the Islamic State. He was seriously wounded. After his recovery, he moved on to the western part of Kurdistan. There he took part in the liberation offensives led by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Serêkaniyê, Hesekê, Şedadê, Sirrîn, Raqqa and Tabqa.
After the occupation of Afrin by Turkey and its jihadist militias, Welat Qerejdax joined the HRE. The resistance group paid tribute to the fighter, saying: "Hevalê Welat was a militant who was completely dedicated to freedom. He led a revolutionary life and was characterized by courage and determination. Despite countless injuries - he even lost an eye - he did not deviate one millimeter from his ideal of ensuring the liberation of his people. With his solidarity with his companions and his sincere nature, he always convinced those around him and gave him strength. He left his name in golden letters in the history of the HRE."
The HRE
The Hêzên Rizgariya Efrînê (HRE) was founded in 2018 after Turkey occupied Afrin. The resistance group is fighting with the aim of liberating the areas in Syria occupied by Ankara and enabling the return of the population displaced from Afrin.
The former canton of Afrin has been occupied by Turkey since March 2018. Since then, human rights violations and war crimes have been the order of the day in what was once the safest region in all of Syria. In addition to a classic colonial policy, Turkey also practices a policy of ethnic cleansing, which has driven hundreds of thousands of people from their traditional settlement areas. The demographic change in favour of Turkey and its Islamist invasion force, crimes such as kidnappings, torture, extortion and murders, as well as ongoing artillery attacks are taking place on a daily basis and with the de facto approval of the international community.
