DELAL SARI

News Center- The Kurdish community has faced many genocidal attacks particularly for 200 years. The Kurdish people have voiced the genocidal attacks against them by preserving their culture and art. They have expressed their sadness and happiness especially through music. Hozan Mizgin is one of the Kurdish singers who have been etched on the heart of the Kurdish community.

Today marks the 31st anniversary of her death. Hozan Mizgîn was born as Gurbet Aydın in 1962 in the village of Bileyder, Batman. She met the Kurdish Freedom Movement at a very young age and joined the movement in 1980. Before the military coup took place in Turkey on September 12, 1980, Hozan Mizgin joined the PKK. After receiving military training in Bekaa Valley, she went to Europe to expand Kurdish culture and art.

 Her songs impressed many people

She formed a musical group named Koma Berxedan with Hozan Sefkan. The musical group recorded many folk songs. Leading the Kurdish cultural and artistic activities in Europe, Hozan Mizgin became popular among the Kurdish people with her songs “Lo Hevalno" and “Hawar Gundîno". Her songs impressed many people. At that time, Hozan Mizgin also carried out activities of the Kurdish Freedom Movement. However, Hozan Mizgin always wanted to go to the mountains and joined the armed struggle because she knew very well that the Kurdish people must have a free country to perform free art.  She followed her heart and was at the forefront of the battlefield.

Her resistance and struggle had a great influence on women

Hozan Mizgin had a great influence on women with her resistance and struggle. Her revolution songs are still sung and listened to by thousands. She always said that she followed in the footsteps of Kurdish singer Ayşe Şan, who struggled against social roles imposed on women and girls.

 On May 11, 1992, Hozan Mizgin was surrounded by the enemy in a house in Bitlis. She was martyred while fighting heroically. After her death, Hozan Serhad composed a song named, “Mizgina çeleng, xwedî nav û deng” in the memory of Hozan Mizgin. All girls, who were born in that period, were named after Hozan Mizgin. 31 years have passed since the death of Hozan Mizgin but her songs are still sung by thousands.

In a speech, Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan talked about Hozan Mizgin, saying, “She was a girl created by the PKK. She was one of our comrades, who joined us at a very young age. She was a girl worthy of the PKK.”

 ‘She was the representative of the most painful period in the history of Kurdish women'

 Ali Haydar Kaytan, one of the founders of the PKK, met Hozan Mizgin in 1981. Speaking about her in a speech, he said, “She was the representative of the most painful period in the history of Kurdish women. She can be characterized as the wise person of pain. She strongly represented the suffering, oppression, persecution and devotion to her own values, gender and society that the Kurdish women went through in her personality. She was a revolutionary, singer, commander and militant."

 In an interview, Şükran Akşe, sister of Hozan Mizgin, said that her sister called her mother a week before she was martyred and that she told her mother that she missed her. “Mizgin was sent to Tatvan and she stayed in a house. The person who dropped her off at that house reported her after that person left the house. It was a two-story house, and the doors and windows were barred, with no escape. She did not surrender when hundreds of soldiers surrounded her.”

 ‘Her greatest desire was to free the Kurds from captivity’

In an interview, Şehmus Aydın, brother of Hozan Mizgin, said, “During the period of Kenan Evren, there were curfews. When it was Newroz, she told me, ‘Let’s go out and celebrate Newroz’. She collected some pages of newspapers and burned them. ‘Now we can do this. We will celebrate Newroz this year in this way,’ she added. She met the Kurdish Freedom Movement at a very young age. She read books for women so that they would learn more about the movement. Her greatest desire was to free the Kurds from captivity.”

 ‘It was impossible not to be impressed by her courage’

Mecbure Kaplan also witnessed the struggle waged by Hozan Mizgin. “Mizgîn was a very hardworking and wise woman. It was impossible not to be impressed by her courage. Everyone was amazed by her efforts and struggle. Mizgîn led a change not only in Tatvan but also across the Serhat region,” Mecbure Kaplan said in an interview.