Hasakah- Gülnaz Karataş (Nom de guerre: Beritan), who became a symbol of the Kurdish women fighters, has been commemorated by North and East Syrian women. The women of Hasakah’s Zirgan district commemorated her despite the ongoing Turkish attacks on the district. At the commemoration ceremony, they emphasized that they would keep resisting.

“Many women pioneers grew up in Dersim”

Raperîn Nûrheq, member of the Kongra Star in Tell Tamer, made a speech at the commemoration ceremony. Talking about Gülnaz Karataş’s life story that started in the Dersim region, she mentioned the importance of the region. “Many women pioneers grew up in Dersim. Gülnaz Karataş and Sakine Cansız were two of them,” she said.

In her speech, she noted that the women of Zirgan do not leave their homeland and they protect their homeland despite the ongoing Turkish attacks on the district. “The resistance of the women in the district is a historical resistance. Our resistance has been already documented. We will protect Zirgan.”

Who was Gülnaz Karataş?

Gülnaz Karataş, who was originally from Dersim, was born in the Sohan district of Bingöl in 1971. She graduated from primary school in Elazığ because her family moved there. In 1984, she passed the high school entrance exam and studied at Elazığ Anatolia High School. In 1989, she graduated from the high school and then studied at the Istanbul University Faculty of Economics. After going to Istanbul, she became a member of the Kurdish Freedom Movement. She was arrested along with her friend Yıldız Durmuş. She was kept in the Bayrampaşa Prison for a while. After being released, she joined the PKK in 1991. On October 25, 1992, she lost her life when a clash broke out between the PKK and KDP Peshmerga forces. She fought to her last bullet and became a symbol of the Kurdish women fighters.