Kemal Burkay Memories Documents Volume 2

The surroundings of Lake Van are beautiful and admirable in all four seasons. During these trips, we visited the famous castle of Van with my friends and bathed in the soda water of Lake Van. We went up to Nemrut, visited the huge crater that resembles the mouth of a cauldron, and went down to the shores of cold and hot water lakes that shelter nomads in the summer. There are steep mountains lined up around Lake Van. The plateaus are also lush green in autumn, and flocks of purple sheep line the roads.

While watching the roads in the foothills of that region, I watched the other side of Araş, the Yerevan side, with strange feelings. The border was separating two worlds and it was very far from us. On the other side, there was socialism, freedom and happiness for which we fought and endured many troubles... At least we thought so. Years have passed since that day and snow has fallen on the mountains we trust.

It was January and it was one of Sweden's rainy winters. There was 30-40 centimeters of snow on the ground, the pines were covered with snow and the lakes were frozen. But neither cold nor snow was a problem. Houses, workplaces and vehicles had a standard temperature, and people outside wore thick clothes resembling cosmonaut suits suitable for harsh winter conditions to protect themselves from the cold.

This border region between Iran and Iraq was under the control of Kurdish peshmerga on both sides. Despite the ongoing war between the two countries, neither the Iraqi nor the Iranian army could enter here. The war was on the southern borders. Kurdish parties had established bases resembling beehives everywhere, and thousands of Kurdish peshmerga were fighting heroically to liberate their country. They were in control of their own nature, had support from their own people, and were good warriors.

Undoubtedly, there were people whom the years could not bring to their knees. And the field of struggle was never left empty. The organizational work of our party has continued to this day, thanks to the efforts of these old cadres who worked day and night with a great sense of responsibility and dedication, and the new ones who took over the flag of struggle.