Sakine Arat’s life embodies the century-long resistance and the suffering of the Kurdish people. She was born in 1934, in the midst of her family’s exile, at a time when the policies of annihilation and denial against the Kurdish people left their deepest scars. Those were the years when families were torn apart, forced from their lands, and subjected to brutal exile, a time when pain and resistance took shape. Her family had been among the symbols of Kurdish resistance during the Sheikh Said Uprising of 1925, enduring a harrowing period of exile and suffering. Sakine Arat was a child of those dark days.

Exile and the beginning of suffering

The period in which Sakine Arat was born was one of immense hardship for the Kurdish people. Her family, the Bukarki Sheikhs, played a significant role in the Sheikh Said Uprising and, as a result, were exiled. This forced displacement coincided with Sakine’s birth, and the struggles her family endured became the foundation of the many hardships that would shape her life. Born in 1934 in Kütahya, Sakine Arat came into the world in the midst of exile and poverty. Her close relatives and other family members were forcibly resettled in different cities, further deepening the suffering they experienced. For years, her family was deprived of their property and forced to survive under harsh conditions, struggling to rebuild their lives.

From an early age, Sakine Arat grew up amid these hardships, and the years of exile left an indelible mark on her, shaping the course of her future struggle. After a general amnesty, her family returned to Hacı Began village in Bismil, Diyarbakır (Amed). This return became a pivotal moment in Sakine Arat’s life, allowing her to reconnect with both her past and the future that awaited her.

Her children and the new hardships in life

At a very young age, Sakine Arat was married to Sheikh Celal, a relative of her father. From this marriage, she had ten children. However, the hardships in her life did not end there. Her relationship with her husband was fraught with difficulties, and eventually, they divorced. Tragedy struck early, as two of her children passed away at a young age, marking a turning point in Arat’s life.

In the 1980s, as the resistance and hunger strikes led by the founding cadres of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Diyarbakır Prison began, her son, Cemal Arat, took part in this historic struggle. Cemal Arat became one of the symbols of the PKK's prison resistance, and in 1984, he lost his life during a hunger strike. Witnessing the death of her child was an indescribable pain, one that Sakine Arat felt in the deepest way.

But the suffering did not stop there. Her other children followed in Cemal’s footsteps, choosing the same path of struggle. Her sons, Tacettin and Murat, joined the PKK and went to the mountains. Another son died in a traffic accident, further adding to Sakine Arat’s unbearable losses. As if that were not enough, her 17-year-old daughter took her own life, plunging her into even greater sorrow. With each child she lost, the pain she endured grew deeper and deeper.

Having divorced her husband and raised her children alone, Sakine Arat became more than just a mother; she became a symbol of her people’s struggle for freedom and peace. Her personal pain and losses did not break her; instead, they strengthened her commitment to the cause. She was not only a mother who lost her children, but also a Kurdish woman who actively took part in her people’s resistance, standing at the forefront of the struggle.

The Peace Mothers and resistance

The 1980s and 1990s were incredibly difficult years in Turkey, particularly for the Kurdish people and their struggle for rights and freedom. Following the 1980 military coup, Sakine Arat not only took care of her children but also became deeply involved in social resistance. She raised her voice against torture in prisons, especially in Diyarbakır Prison, as well as in many other places. In the 1990s, she became one of the founding members of the Peace Mothers Initiative, an organization that would later become one of the symbolic movements of the Kurdish Freedom Struggle.

Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, Arat actively participated in numerous demonstrations and protests, firmly placing herself at the heart of social resistance. What began with the prison resistance in Diyarbakır evolved into a relentless fight for justice in courtrooms, streets, and public demonstrations. She never stopped advocating for peace and fought tirelessly for justice and freedom. Even under the harshest conditions, she refused to give up, always raising her voice against oppression whenever she had a chance.

Unyielding determination in the face of hardships and threats

Sakine Arat’s struggle was not just a family’s fight for survival, it became a symbol of the Kurdish people’s fight for freedom. During the 1990s, a time marked by threats, detentions, enforced disappearances, arrests, and trials across the country, Arat never backed down. Despite the dangers, she remained resolute, standing firm against oppression. Throughout this period, she frequently appeared in the media, sharing both her personal tragedies and the suffering of her people. No amount of intimidation could silence her. For her, the struggle was not just a necessity of the time, it was an existential fight for an entire people.

A lifelong struggle for peace

The life of Arat stands as a symbol of the Kurdish people’s more than century-long struggle and resistance. The Peace Mothers movement gave her a new identity, making her one of the faces of the Kurdish freedom struggle. She never missed an opportunity to call for peace and always took a firm stance against the oppression of the Kurdish people by the state. Her fight was not just for the Kurdish people; it was a struggle for freedom and peace for all of humanity.

For years, Arat not only carried the suffering of her people but also made sure that the world took notice. On March 14, at the age of 91, she passed away, leaving behind a powerful legacy. She was declared the first martyr of the new struggle process initiated under Abdullah Öcalan’s paradigm of ‘Peace and Democratic Society,’ becoming a symbol of the future she longed for and sacrificed so much to achieve.

A symbol of resistance and peace

The life of Sakine Arat is not just a mother’s struggle, but also a symbol of an entire people’s fight for freedom. Her story represents resistance against oppression, hope growing amid loss and suffering, and an unwavering defense of peace. She dedicated her entire life to the cause of freedom and equality, always standing on the side of peace. Arat was a mother, a resistor, and an ambassador of peace.

Today, her name is forever intertwined with the Kurdish people’s resistance and is etched in history as one of the symbols of the struggle for peace and freedom. Her life was a journey woven with pain, resistance, and hope. This struggle was never just for her own people, it was a fight for a world where justice and peace prevail. The legacy of Arat continues to inspire all those who resist, who refuse to lose hope, and who stand for peace.