Tent protest in Makhmour: We owe it to the leader
A tent protest demanding freedom for Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan has been held in Makhmour refugee camp for six months. “We owe it to the leader,” said Nihal Bilen, who sings to give morale to people.
BERJÎN KARA
Makhmour- A tent protest was started in the Makhmour Martyr Rustem Cudi Camp (Makhmour Refugee Camp) on July 20, 2023 to demand the physical freedom of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. For six months, people participating in the tent protests have carried out different activities giving opportunity to discuss the ideology and thoughts of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. Women and young people have sung Kurdish songs in order to give morale to people.
Nihal Bilen is a Kurdish young woman singing and playing kaval (end-blown oblique flute) during the tent protest.
‘We will make our protest successful’
Achieving the physical freedom of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan is the duty of all Kurds, Nihal Bilen said, “We undertake this duty for the freedom of our teacher, Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. We will make our protest successful. Most importantly, we believe in ourselves, believing is half the battle to success. As a young woman, I owe it to the leader. All Kurdish people owe it to him. The leader has made great efforts for the freedom of women. Kurdish women led the revolution saying, ‘If Kurdish women are not free, neither Kurds nor Kurdistan can be free.’”
‘We vow to walk on the path of our leader’
“The Turkish state targets women because it is afraid of women,” Nihal Bilen said. “Today, Kurdish women have become a role model for all women in the world. The Turkish state targets and kills Kurdish women because it is afraid of them. The Paris Massacre on January 9, the killing of Evîn Goyi and other pioneering Kurdish women shows how the Turkish state is afraid of Kurdish women. We vow to walk on the path of our leader to the end.”
The songs sung by Nihal Bilen during the tent protest affect the people participating in the protest. “When I sing, I realize that people question themselves while listening to me. It is said that music is the medicine for the soul. Songs are also the medicine for the soul. Through songs, people can feel others, songs can make them happy and start a revolution inside them.”
Nihal Bilen concluded her speech saying, “At the beginning of my speech, I said that we owe it to the leader. The people of the camp fulfill their responsibilities for the leader. We believe that we will achieve success. I call on all Kurdish people to struggle for the physical freedom of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.”