Kurdistan Workers' Party
The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...
(PKK). She became a Kurdish cultural figure after dying, and a symbol of women within the guerrilla movement.
Early life and education
Gülnaz Karataş was born in 1971 in
Solhan
Solhan (, , ) is a town (belde) and seat of the Solhan District of Bingöl Province in Turkey. The mayor is Abdulhakim Yıldız (Justice and Development Party (Turkey), AK Party).
Poklan (Boglan) had 77 Armenians, 8 houses, one church (St. Sargis ...
,
Bingöl
Bingöl (; ; ), known as Çapakçur before 1944, is a city in Turkey. It is the seat of Bingöl Province and Bingöl District, Her family was Alevi Kurdish from
Dersim
Tunceli (, , ) is a municipality (belde) in Tunceli District and capital of Tunceli Province, Turkey. The city has a Zaza majority. It had a population of 35,161 in 2021.
Name
During Ottoman times, the settlement was called ''Kalan'' or ''Mam ...
. She attended primary and secondary school in
Elazığ
Elazığ () is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and the administrative centre of Elazığ Province and Elazığ District. Founded in and around the former city of Harput, it is located in the uppermost Euphrates valley. The plai ...
.
In 1989, she began to study at the Department of Economics at the
Istanbul University
Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...
. It is reported that until 1990 she was unaware of her Kurdish heritage.
Adult life
In 1990 she got to know networks of the PKK and was arrested, but released shortly after in 1991. On the 9 May 1991 she entered the PKK in the Cudi Mountains,
Şırnak
Şırnak () is a city in Şırnak District and the capital of Şırnak Province in Turkey. The Ibrahim Khalil border crossing with Iraq is one of the main links of Turkey to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The city is mainly populated by Kurds o ...
. In 1992, she was sent as a leader of a small group to
Åžemdinli
Şemdinli (, or ) is a town located in the Şemdinli District of Hakkari Province in Turkey and had a population of 18,220 in 2023. The current mayor is Tahir Saklı from the Justice and Development Party (AKP), elected in 2019.
The town is ...
. In the 1990s she was often featured in PKK publications, including '' Serxwebûn'' and ''Berxwedan'' magazines.
On October 25, 1992, she fought against the pro-Barzani
Peshmerga
The Peshmerga () are the internal security forces of Kurdistan Region. According to the Constitution of Iraq, regional governments are responsible for "the establishment and organization of the internal security forces for the region such as p ...
in
Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurds, Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdist ...
who have allied themselves with the Turkish army during
Iraqi Kurdish Civil War
The Iraqi Kurdish Civil War (, 'fratricidal war') was a civil war that took place between rival Kurdish factions in Iraqi Kurdistan during the mid-1990s, mostly between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party. O ...
. The legend says, she fought until the last bullet. The commander of the adversary peshmerga called on her to surrender, but she threw herself off a cliff in order to avoid arrest.
Legacy
She became an iconic figure within the history of the PKK and many songs and newborns are named after her.
Abdullah Öcalan
Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1948 or 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish; Kurdish for "uncle"), is a founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Öcalan was based in Syria from 1979 to 1998. He ...
, the founder of the PKK, had often included her in his analysis. Halil Uysal produced a film, ''Bêrîtan'' (2006) about her life. In 1993, her death served as an inspiration to Zeynap Kinaci for her suicide attack against the Turkish military.
Her remains were found in 2005 and transported to an area controlled by the PKK, where she was buried.