ISTANBUL - MKM's Engin Cengiz commemorated the July 14 death fast against torture in Diyarbakır Prison No. 5 with a piece he wrote and performed, and stated that the resistance that started here grew into a socialized one. 

 

Engin Cengiz from the Mezopotamya Cultural Center (MKM) has written and performed a piece in memory of those who lost their lives during the July 14 Great Death Fast against inhuman torture in Diyarbakır Prison No. 5. 

 

The piece, dedicated to Mehmet Hayri Durmuş, Kemal Pir, Akif Yılmaz and Ali Çiçek, who were among the PKK's leading cadres, is called "Diyarbakır Prison". Cengiz's song, the lyrics and music of which belongs to him, will be released by KOM Music on digital platforms on July 14. 

 

Cengiz stated that he was very impressed after reading the books describing that period and wrote the lyrics of this song under the influence of this, and that there were great tragedies in Prison No. 5, but that the prisoners displayed a resistance that would encourage the whole world against this, and that he wrote the work by experiencing this intensity. 

 

Stating that the language, culture and resistance of the Kurdish people were targeted in Diyarbakır Prison, Cengiz emphasized that the mentality of "speak Turkish, speak a lot" was imposed and that July 14th was a response to this. 

 

MAZLUM DOĞAN AND THE FOURS

 

Stating that he wrote the work for the July 14 resistance as well as for Mazlum Doğan and the "Four" (Ferhat Kurtay, Eşref Anyık, Mahmut Zengin and Necmi Öner), who were also among the PKK's leading cadres, Cengiz emphasized that the resistance was not only against the system but also against the line of betrayal, and said that history was being rewritten with a style embodied in the line "To resist is to live". 

 

KEMAL PIR'S LINE OF RESISTANCE

 

Cengiz continued his words as follows: "One of the things that disturbs the system the most is the fact that Kemal Pir is Turkish and that he carried out this action. His revolutionary personality, his deep understanding of socialism, the Middle East, Turkey, Kurdistan geography, and the basis on which he developed his awareness of history, we can see from the way he resisted. The 14th of July's greatest importance is that it became massive and heralded that the resistance would no longer develop individually, but socialized. In other words, the message is 'we will not give up our honor no matter what you do'."

 

Cengiz concluded his remarks by commemorating those who lost their lives in the resistance.

  

MA / Esra Solin Dal