The Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) announced that Ali Haydar Kaytan and Rıza Altun, two of the founding cadres of the organisation, lost their lives. 

 

The 12th congress declared that Rıza Altun, whom the congress accepted as a symbol of "Freedom Comradeship", died on 25 September 2019. 

 

Rıza Altun became acquainted with the reality of Kurdistan at the age of 22 and in late 1976 he came to Dîlok and started to organise. Taking part in the resistance in Curnê Reş (Hilvan) and Sêwereg (Siverek) districts of Riha (Urfa), Rıza Altun was detained in Curnê Reş in 1978. After a year of tortured interrogation at the Girls' Imam Hatip High School in the centre of Riha, which was used as a torture centre, Rıza Altun was imprisoned in Diyarbakır Prison for 5 years.

 

Mustafa Yavuz, brother of Mehmet Emin Yavuz, one of Altun's fellow fighters in Curnê Reş, who died in 1988 during a hunger strike against the brutality inflicted on him in Diyarbakır Prison No. 5, talked about Altun on the anniversary of his death.

Just before the 12 September 1980 coup d'état, Mustafa Yavuz stated that he and his brother Mehmet Emin Yavuz, his father İbrahim Yavuz and his brother Ahmet Yavuz were arrested in 1979. Yavuz reminded that there was a struggle against feudal and collaborator groups in Curnê Reş in 1978-79, and stated that Cemil Bayık, Mehmet Karasungur and Mazlum Doğan, who were among the leading cadres of the PKK, were also in that resistance in the struggle that grew after the death of Halil Çavgun (Xelil). He said that Rıza Altun came to Hilvan in such an environment. 

 

Stating that Curnê Reş welcomed "Apoists" against the oppression they were subjected to, Yavuz said that all their needs were met. He said: "After coming here, comrade Rıza got to know the people at least as much as we did. He was both practically and ideologically competent. Because of this, his name was known as Company in Ankara.  Here he was known as Kıvırcık Ali. Hilvan knows Rıza well. He was a pioneer of resistance."

 

‘COMRADE RIZA WAS TORTURED FOR 4 MONTHS’

 

Stating that three months after Rıza Altun's arrest in Sêwereg in April 1979, he was also arrested as part of a general operation, Yavuz said that they were held at the Girls' Vocational High School, which was used as a detention centre, together with many other names. 

 

Yavuz added: “After 32 days there, we were sent away. My friend Rıza and Muzaffer Ayata stayed there for a long time. Those who resisted in detention or those who had the will to resist were divided into an 'Armenian group'. They were pouring water on the concrete under the bunk bed, they were putting us there handcuffed. We could neither sit nor stand up. Rıza was tortured like this for 4 months."

 

YEARS IN PRISON

 

Yavuz stated that after the torture they were taken to another place called Deve Passage with a group including Rıza Altun and added that they were kept there for 15 days to remove the traces of torture. Yavuz stated that they were arrested by the court and continued his words as follows: "They took us to Prison No. 1 in Seyrantepe, Amed (Diyarbakır). Mazlum Doğan, Hayri Durmuş, Mustafa Karasu were there. There were many friends from Hilvan. 12 September had not yet come. Prisoners were in control of the prison. There were educational activities, we could cook different food. We stayed here for 6 months, then they sent us to Prison No. 5. It had just been built, there were still the remains of the construction. They put each of us in a different ward. I ended up in the 15th ward. There were others from different factions. They put Rıza, Hayri and Mazlum in the 7th ward. It hadn't been 12 September yet, we were still in touch from time to time. Later on we could see each other when we went to court. I was going to court with the main Urfa group. Our number had reached 400. When the group was big, they divided it into different groups. When the number reached thousands, almost every district had a group. There were 62 of us in a 15-person ward. The bunks were wooden bunks. There was no space, people slept without beds." 

 

'HE WAS A BIG LOSS'

 

Stating that with the 12 September Military Coup, conditions in prison became more difficult, Yavuz described that process in the following words: "Tortures increased. They used to wake him up at 1 am to take him to court. They were taking him hungry and thirsty and the first hearing lasted 32 days. Mazlum did not walk to the court, they brought him in a blanket. Two soldiers were under his arms to make him stand upright. Rıza friend and many others did not identify themselves and told about the torture. Their defence was very striking. No matter how difficult the conditions were made, the state could not prevent it. The death fast was decided. Comrade Hayri conveyed the decision. In 1984, I was sentenced to 6 years and 4 months. I was released after my sentence was over, but they tortured me on my way out. They tore off all my clothes and left me like that." 

 

Yavuz stated that he last visited Rıza Altun in 1988 in Antep Prison and concluded: "Mustafa Karasu was in Adana Prison. I visited him first. He told me to go visit Rıza. We went to Antep Prison with Mother Durre (Durre Kaya). We talked about Hilvan. After Rıza was released from prison, he went to Europe. We had contacts at that time. When we received the news of his martyrdom, we didn't want to believe it. An air of mourning descended on everyone in Hilvan, whether they saw him or not. Martyrdoms are a reality of the struggle, but Comrade Rıza was a great loss."

 

MA / Emrullah Acar