We came to know that Munzur of the Rojava, Baran of the Dersim mountains, our comrade İrfan Gerçek fell martyr due to the bombardments of the jets and helicopters belonging to the colonialist fascist Turkish army. It is informed by the the local sources that on the 28th of August, the area between the Venk bridge and Fırtına Veli fountain located in the Munzur Valley was bombed by the warplanes and the cobra-type helicopters of the Turkish army and among from our guerrilla unit in the area, our comrade İrfan Gerçek, with his party name Baran Dersim, fell martyr. A detailed statement regarding the battle and the situation in the area will be announced later.

A revolutionary Life

Comrade İrfan Gerçek has lived a revolutionary life; he grew up in a revolutionary family, joined the struggle for honor and freedom at his young age, has worked with a great loyalty and determination in many fields ranging from democratic actions to the militia activities, from prisons to the guerrilla mountains. Passing his 20 years out of his 33 years of life as organized and a party member, he has followed the traces of the communist revolutionaries that grew him up, of the comrades of İrfan Çelik from who he took his name. In a family atmosphere with revolutionary mothers, fathers, uncles and aunts, he came to the fore with his independent identity and will, and became one of the youngest cadres of our party with his critical mind and willpower of action.

Our comrade İrfan, who has shined with his laborer and joyful character in every field he has been, related himself with the Communist Young Organization (KGÖ) at his 14, played vanguard roles in all kinds of youth actions, carried out mass organization and militia activities in the laborer quarter that he lived as well as in the other parts of Istanbul, and thereafter, he was captivated in prison.

He passed his prison years by educating himself ideologically and politically, as well as being in the forefront of the prison resistances. As he became free from prison, he passed to the political military front which he was ardently willing to join. After getting training in the Hüseyin Demircioğlu Academy based in the Medya Defense Zones, he stayed for a while in Rojava with the name Munzur Onur, fought against the ISIS gangs. Finally, he headed towards back to the free mountains, to the Dersim field which has always been his biggest aspiration.

Carrying out his duty as a fighter and commander of the MLKP/FESK Rural Guerrilla Units for 2 years in the Dersim field, our comrade İrfan raised the flag of our party and our martyrs higher against the unequal and massacrist war of the colonialist Turkish bourgeois army and brought honor to all of us.

Dersim is Honor

The fascist Turkish army is carrying out a bloody and unequal dirty war in the lands of Dersim which is full of the footsteps of immortal martyrs in every inch of its soil. By using the most intensified and cruel military tech, it tries to get a favourable result in the fight against the guerrillas, who cannot be defeated in a one-on-one combat; however it fails to succeed. Despite all martyrdoms, the guerrilla keeps on hitting the colonialist state in Dersim, keeps on rising the honor and hope. The bloody fascist dictatorship reveals its desperateness by burning our mountains and forests. It has been burning and destroying these "souled lands", as the martyr Atakan Mahir calls. Those murderers like the Interior Minister of Turkey, Süleyman Soylu, the most disgusting representative of the inglorious lineage, may not be aware of it, but anyhow we say it: no military tech that is capable to defeat the souls of the immortal martyrs like Seyid Rıza, Elişêr, Besê, Cafer Cangöz, Baran Dersim, İrfan Tezer, Alişer Deniz, is invented yet! Even though they continue to burn down and carry out massacres, new İrfans giving the fight of hope and honor will be re-sprouted from those ashes, just like the Simurg. No one would doubt about this fact!

His way is our way!

Representing the joyful and hopeful revolutionariness with his own being, our comrade İrfan Gerçek armed up and fought in Dersim as he desired; showed the way and brought honor for those marching him behind. He created strong comradeship relations with his brothers and sisters in arms that he fought side by side. He raised the flag of the United Revolution and became one of the vanguards of the willpower that accords with the slogan of the Peoples' United Revolutionary Movement (HBDH), "Fascism will be defeated, resisting peoples will win!"

On behalf of our comrade İrfan, we commemorate all martyrs of Dersim with respect and loyalty. We condole with the dear family Gerçek together with all their acquaintances and give promise to maintain a war that is worthy of them. We bid farewell our comrade İrfan with his beloved songs, clenched fists and promises for bringing to book. We call our peoples, particularly the people of Dersim, to claim the martyrs of Dersim and to challenge the fear atmosphere that the colonialist fascist state tries to create. Martyrs shall be our guiding light in this honorable stance!

İrfan Gerçek is immortal!

Şehidên Dersîmê Bê Mirinin!

Fascism will be defeated, resisting peoples will win!

MLKP / Kurdistan

The registry information of our martyr:

Name and Surname: İrfan Gerçek
Party name: Baran Dersim/Munzur Onur
Mother's name: Fintoz
Father's name: İbrahim
Place of birth: Dersim
Date of Birth: 13 August 1985
Date of Martyrdom: 28 August 2018 / Dersim