Makhmour- Hundreds of Kurdish villages were burned down and many people were killed by the Turkish state in the 90s. The villagers were forcibly displaced from their villages by the Turkish forces. Some of the displaced people went to western cities in Turkey, some to Northern Kurdistan and some to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. One of the villages, which were burned down, was the village of Hilal located in Şırnak’s Qilaban (Uludere) district. The village, surrounded by rivers, fascinated everyone who saw it with its beautiful nature. The villagers, who used to live in peace in the village, were forcibly displaced due to the attacks, repression of the Turkish state. In the 90s, the village was burned three times by the Turkish soldiers. The displaced villagers of Hilal fled from Turkey to Makhmour refugee camp in the Kurdistan Region. They rebuilt their lives in the camp with their language and culture. Fatma Kara, one of the villagers, named her granddaughter, who was born in the camp in 2008, after her village ‘Hilal’.

The village was called ‘Golden Hilal’

In an interview with NuJINHA, Fatma Kara, who was born in the village of Hilal, talked about her village. “It used to be a very beautiful village. It was called ‘Golden Hilal’. People came from Istanbul and Amed (Diyarbakır) to spend their holidays in our village. Our village was located in a valley surrounded by mountains and rivers. Our children used to spend their days in orchards, picking fruits. In summers, people swam in the rivers,” Fatma Kara told us.

‘We had to leave the village because we refused to become village guards’

The villagers were forced to become village guards by the Turkish state. “They told us, ‘Become village guards or leave the village’. We had to leave our village because we refused to become village guards.” After leaving their village, the villagers went to the Kurdistan Region. Pointing to the betrayal of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the Kurdistan Region, Fatma Kara said, “Then, we went to Masoud Barzani’s Kurdistan (the Kurdistan Region). He killed our children and young people and handed over us to Saddam. Saddam forced us to live on Mount Qereçox where there were scorpions and snakes. Many children died due to scorpions. We turned Makhmour into a living place.”

She named her granddaughter after her village

Fatma Kara named her granddaughter after her village ‘Hilal’ because of her longing for her village. “I had a neighbor in the village and we promised each other that whoever had a child first would be named after our village. I had a son but one of our relatives was killed by an armed group so we named our son after him. His name was Ali. My granddaughter was born in 2008 so we named her after our village. When Hilal was six-month old, her mother got sick. Since then, I have taken care of her.”

Fatma Kara dreams of returning to her village with her granddaughter Hilal. Fatma Kara’s granddaughter Hilal wants to see her village. She has listened to stories about her village since her childhood.

Hial Kara said, “I have listened to stories about our village since my childhood so I want to see our village. I was named after our village. The people of our village were forcibly displaced by the Turkish state. We want to live in Kurdistan freely with Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.”