Introduction and Early Involvement in the gulan Revolution

My full name is Khaled Hero Salih. I was born in 1960 in Mosul. At first, when we were part of the Aylul Revolution, my brother Mustafa Mzure was a member. Later, in 1975, when the revolution paused for a while, I was just a kid—15 years old at the time. My brother returned to Mosul, but the Iraqi government started following him. He realized he couldn't continue like that, so we had to escape to Bakur Kurdistan (Northern Kurdistan). My brother, a friend named Muhammed Salim (God rest his soul), and I left Mosul, traveling through Dohuk and Amedi until we reached Bakur Kurdistan. There, a few other friends joined us, and we became a group of 10-16 young people. In 1975, we received news that we shouldn't return and that we should organize ourselves to continue the revolution. We stayed in the Hakari area, in the village of Marunes. Our group grew to about 15 people, and we started preparing for action.

Leadership and Organization

The first member sent from the leadership, God rest his soul, was called Abu Antar. His real name was Hashim Mahmud, and he had been a member of the Aylul Revolution. We received a letter saying that the revolution would continue, and we were asked to conduct a survey of the Turkish area to find out how many people had fled because of the Iraqi government. At that time, Mustafa was our organizational leader until a leadership gathering happened, and a temporary leadership was formed. They opened an organization in civilian houses, as we didn't have a dedicated space. They sent some of their brightest members to Iraq to spread the message that the Gulan Revolution would be the continuation of the Aylul Revolution.

Commencement of Secret Missions

We then started our secret missions. After the message reached Iraq and Mosul, the revolution began again. I had fled in 1975, and the revolution officially restarted in 1976, making me one of the first Gulan Revolution Peshmerga. We were the main organizers in the Dohuk area. I was just 15 years old, and the news of the revolution resuming brought us great joy. We were determined not to accept oppression anymore. We were part of the PDK party, and we fought with all our might. People were very motivated and full of hope again. Even though we were young, we had big dreams and strong feelings. At that time, the Kurdish nation was practically dead, crushed by the oppression of the Iraqi government, which was imprisoning and executing people. We came and gave people hope that the fight for our rights would continue.

Expansion of the Movement

Later, more people joined us. We opened headquarters, acquired weapons, and conducted operations. As word spread, hope grew. Looking back, we can see the fruits of our hard work from those days. In the beginning, the leadership visited areas secretly. Since I was a teenager, I didn’t participate in those missions, but my brother and others did. They didn’t have many weapons, if there were four or five Peshmerga fighters, only one would have a weapon, but they still joined. In Beruman village, our organization operated from the house of a Peshmerga called Mam Yusif, also known as Salim Sorani. There, we created letters, telegrams, posters, and writings, distributing them throughout the area to inform people about the revolution. Our main support came from our own people.

Youth and Kurdish Identity

The Gulan Revolution was primarily made up of young people, most of whom didn’t have families. For those who did have families, we advised them to support the revolution but not to join as Peshmerga fighters. Instead, they were encouraged to take care of their families. We were driven by a deep sense of Kurdish identity, which motivated us to fight. We left our families behind, often without any news of them after we left. We changed our names and avoided asking each other personal questions, so the Iraqi government couldn’t use our families against us.

Call for Unity and National Identity

The new generation must keep Kurdish identity in their minds and hearts and recognize the need for our nation to have its own country. The enemy wants us to drift away from our principles by making life difficult for the new generation, but no matter how much opposition we face, we must never abandon our principles. Without them, we are nothing. We still hope to have our own country in the future, and for that to happen, we must unite our military forces into an army that serves the nation, not individual parties. Only then will we have a unified Kurdish army, fighting for the Kurdish cause. If we don’t have that, our situation will only worsen, and other countries won’t recognize us.

Becoming a Nurse and Contributing to the Cause

As a member of the PDK party, I was the youngest Peshmerga in the revolution. When I joined, Mr. Salim Sorani asked me to become a nurse because we didn’t have any doctors at the time—only one pharmacist with a university degree. They opened many courses to train us as nurses for the revolution, and I became known as a doctor. It was just me and Dr. Rzgar treating many patients until the 1980s. Later, more people joined us, and we opened more nursing courses. When the Iran-Iraq war started, more doctors joined. We eventually had 100 nurses working with doctors, and we were assigned to different locations in the revolutionary areas. Dr. Rzgar and I were stationed at the branch headquarters.

Acceptance of Nursing Role

At first, I didn’t want to be a nurse because I wanted to hold a weapon and fight as a Peshmerga. Even though I was still a Peshmerga, they wanted me to be a doctor because they needed one. I was very smart at the time, having studied Arabic in Mosul. I went to Iran, took an exam, and got a good grade, so I became the head nurse at the headquarters. We had a hospital that received medicine from Iran, Syria, and Turkey. Surgeries were performed there, and we treated people from surrounding villages. We treated about 100 patients a day, of all ages and with various issues.

A Critical Surgery on Matin Mountain

The biggest surgery we performed was in the Barwari area in 1982, on Matin Mountain. One of our Peshmerga fighters was badly injured—his belly was open. We received a telegram that a surgery was required to save him. Dr. Rzgar, a friend named Jafar, and I went there. His condition was severe, and we contacted the committee head, saying we needed to operate, or he would die. We couldn’t send him to neighboring countries for treatment, as the journey was too far and he wouldn’t survive it. We didn’t have the proper equipment for such a big surgery, and we were in a mud house, but we had to proceed. His family gave us written permission to do the surgery, releasing us from responsibility if he passed away. We didn’t have anesthesia or many necessary tools. We made masks from white cloth, cut open his stomach, put his organs back, and sewed him up. By God’s grace, the surgery was successful. During the operation, he was awake and talking to us while someone gave him orange juice. The surgery took several hours.

Post-Operative Complications and Reflection

Later, at 1 AM, he woke me up and said, “Dr. Khaled, something is coming out of my stomach.” When I checked, there was a hole we had forgotten to sew, and discharge was coming out of the wound. I told Dr. Rzgar and our committee head, Salih (God rest his soul). They said it was okay, and to put tape and ice on it. Days passed, and he eventually healed, though the wound and discharge remained. We later sent him to Syria, where a doctor examined him. When he learned that a pharmacist and a nurse had performed the surgery, he said they deserved a prize. It was an impressive feat, considering our limited equipment and lack of anesthesia. That was the only major surgery we performed throughout the revolution.

Written by; Soma fuad