The hope of peace coming from the heart of war

Doğan News Agency (DHA) correspondent Felat Bozarslan reported this from Kirkuk: “In the Tavuk area of the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, three villages that were seized by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) were attacked by PYD-YPG and Peshmarga forces in the morning hours. Casualties are reported in the clashes and while the Peshmarga has taken two villages back from ISIL, clashes continue in Vahda village. Long-range artillery and Katyusha missiles have been used.”

Have a look: Kurdish forces are saving Turkmen villages that were seized by ISIL. The Peshmarga and the PYD-YPG-PKK, whichever one you chose to acknowledge. My colleague in the field, Felat, is reporting this. This story is actually very good news.

It is the good news of peace for us coming from right inside the war.

Whoever in Turkey that wants to fuel Turkish-Kurdish animosity, whoever wants to undermine the peace process, whoever wants to trap the Kurds into hating the Turks, and Turks likewise toward Kurds, this piece of news is for them.

Because this is the news of fraternity. Moreover, it is not even new. It is the fraternity that has been ongoing since the Battle of Malazgirt in 1071.

This is the story of the Kurdish clans who fought shoulder to shoulder in the War of Liberation with Atatürk and his friends. It is the story of Çeto from Garzan who became Atatürk’s comrade in arms against rebellions.

It is not new; it is quite old.

It is the story telling us about the coexistence freely with your own language and religion, your own culture and belief.

Felat Bozarslan reports

The Peshmarga and the PKK started an attack on Sept. 30 to save villages in Kirkuk and Mosul that ISIL had seized. After almost two days of fighting, two of the six villages in the Tavuk area of Kirkuk, Adshaha and Uzeyriye were taken back from ISIL.

The Vahda village, where ISIL forces were sheltering, was attacked by Peshmarga and the PKK at noon. Other Peshmarga were sent as a back-up with long-range artillery, Katyusha missiles and heavy weaponry. However, there is no clear information about the latest situation in the village.

Peshmarga and PYD forces, as a precaution against booby-traps, inside houses and against bombs lobbed from the outside, have retreated from the Adshaha and Uzeyriye villages but these two villages are still under the control of PYD-PKK-Peshmarga forces.

The Tavuk region, meanwhile, is under the control of Iraqi forces.

Peshmarga military sources

The statement from Peshmarga military sources said the following: “In the Rabia region near Mosul, an operation has been launched by the Peshmarga and 16 villages seized by ISIL have been saved. Coalition forces supported the operation from the air and bombarded the ISIL positions. ISIL retreated from the villages to central Rabia where they are under artillery fire from our forces.”

This is the news of peace coming to us from the heart of the war.

This story is the hope that peoples who have lived together for 1,000 years are at the end of the “racist incitement” that has been imposed on them since the 1940s.

Yes, well, we have suffered heavy pains in the past and the fire within us has not died yet, but wounds are not healed with hatred; pain is not stopped with rage. And nobody in this country wants “separation.” This is merely the longing for a “democratic Turkey” which everybody feels they belong to, where they can live freely their own culture, language and belief.

You may find me too optimistic and naïve. But, no, optimism alone is not enough. 

I'm hopeful.