27 years have passed since the death of Sema Yüce, who set herself on fire in Çanakkale Prison on 21 March 1998 and lost her life on 17 June in the hospital where she was taken with severe injuries. Saying "I want to make my body a bridge of fire stretching from 8 March to 21 March" against the policies of annihilation and denial, Sema Yüce continues to show the way for the Kurdish people and women through the legacy of resistance she left behind.

 

Born in 1971 in the village of Qerxelixa Jêrê in the Dutax (Tutak) district of Agirî (Ağrı), into a devout and patriotic family with a tradition of religious leadership, Sema Yüce joined the Kurdish Freedom Movement while she was a third-year student in the Sociology Department of Middle East Technical University (METU). Detained and arrested in 1992 as a result of an informant's tip during her work in the Serhat region (East Kurdistan of Turkey), Sema Yüce was held first in Nevşehir and then in Çanakkale prisons.

 

 

İlhan Tan, a childhood friend who grew up on the same streets as Sema Yüce, stated that they are both relatives and childhood friends. Tan said that even from a young age Sema Yüce left a deep impression on those around her and possessed leadership qualities. Tan said: "Sema was a very different and pure friend from her childhood. She would gather us around her and organize games; even at that age we could see the great gem within her. After her university years, when she returned to Agirî, I went to visit her. She asked me how I viewed the struggle of Kurdistan. At that time I did not know these concepts — that our geography was divided into four, the realities of Bakur, Başur, Rojava. She explained each of them to us one by one. When I asked 'What can we do?' she said, 'Stand by your homeland, your identity and your language.' She made me promise to take part in the cause of Kurdistan. If I have been carrying out legal political work for years, I owe this to my friend Sema, who introduced me to this movement."

 

'SHE HAD A PROFOUND IMPACT ON PEOPLE'

 

Drawing attention to Sema Yüce's ideological strength and her time in prison, Tan said: "In 2015, while I was in Kırıkkale prison, I read a book by Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan; in it he spoke of comrade Sema, of how strong a theoretical consciousness she had and of the potential for leadership she carried that 'could come after her own.' She had a very profound impact on people. When she fell as a martyr, I said to myself: we will carry even half of the enormous burden on comrade Sema's shoulders and walk this honorable path. Comrade Sema set herself on fire in Çanakkale prison, saying 'I am taking action to wake my comrades from their sleep.' When the body of Sema, who fell as a martyr in Istanbul where she had been taken for treatment, was brought to Agirî, the state had surrounded everywhere with soldiers. Every corner of our villages, which were just 3-4 kilometres apart, was full of soldiers, and they wanted to prevent attendance at the funeral. Together with a few friends, I followed the Murat River and secretly reached her funeral. Just as in everything about her, there was a beauty in her martyrdom as well. Her mother Zennure Yüce, challenging the then-prime minister Tansu Çiller, had said 'You took one Sema from me, but I brought another Sema into the world — I will not cry, so that the enemy does not rejoice.' That stance still weighs upon us."

 

A MESSAGE OF UNITY

 

Criticizing the fragmented stance among Kurdish structures and calling for national unity, Tan said: "Today we are faced with the reality of 50 years of war. Kurdish parties and structures must now set aside petty calculations and focus on this honorable path. We still see Kurdish parties struggling with one another. We should be ashamed of repeating the same mistakes as 50 years ago, and we should fear God. We need to set aside these divisions and lock ourselves onto national unity and common struggle for the future of our people."

 

MA / Serkan Satilmis