Hamide Ozturk was in the same dormitory on December 19 in which six women prisoners were burned alive. The massacre could not break her will. It only increased her anger.

On December 19 (2000) Hamide Ozturk was in the C1 dormitory in Bayrampasa in which six women were burned alive. She too could have been one of the comrades who were burnt alive.

Our comrade Hamide Ozturk was born in 1970 in Antakya. She was an Arab Alevi. Her mother tongue was Arabic. She graduated from her accountancy class in a vocational college in Antakya. She came into contact with revolutionaries through her brother Ahmet Ozturk. In 1990, when she was in the vocational college, she took part in the academic-democratic struggle of youth. With her very first action, the November 6 boycott (a protest against the system’s domination of schools and universities) she was detained, tortured and saw the true face of barbarism.

Later she took part in the struggle for rights and freedoms in Adana. She carried on the struggle in Ozgur-Der and in H.O.P. (Platform for Rights and Freedoms). She was chair of Ozgur-Der and spokeswoman of H.O.P. She took part in protest actions against the attacks on prisons or on various sections of the people. With time, she became more intensely involved in the struggle. She did not just participate in actions, she organised them. During this struggle she was detained 11 times. On November 26, 1994 her brother Ahmet Ozturk was murdered by the police in Erdemli, a suburb of Mersin.
That too did not intimidate her or frighten her off. Quite on the contrary, she took part in the struggle with even greater eagerness. Her revolutionary ideals and goals strengthened. Now she devoted her entire time and existence to the struggle. She took on tasks in the Mediterranean Region.

On April 11, 1996 she was detained in Istanbul. The State Security Court sentenced her to 12 and a half years’ imprisonment without any proof or evidence. Shortly before her arrest the 1996 Death Fast was being discussed. She too was one of the volunteers. In 1996 she was in the 3rd Death Fast Team. In the year 2000, she said again, as a volunteer for the Death Fast: ” In particular, the 1996 Death Fast, in which I was in the 3rd Death Fast Team and the promise I made to Berdan ** when I was at the side of his coffin, was of great significance. I said to him that now carried the flag and would never let it fall.” (August 3, 2000)

She never let the flag fall.

Our selfless, tough, diligent, modest, constantly enthusiastic comrade Hamide Ozturk, who had the greatest love and devotion to her Party, her people and her comrades, became immortal, passing on to her comrades the flag that she received from Berdan. She departed with the words: Either victory or death, and became immortal. We end our statement with an extract from her writings, in which she announced her willingness to volunteer:

“As a volunteer in the Death Fast, as a candidate for the Death Fast action it will be a great honour if the Party thinks me worthy of this task. I will be worthy of this honour, dignity and values. You many rely on it. I will meet death with a smile, without fear or a lack of resolve. My only worry is that the Party might not entrust me with this task. … I will be worthy of our martyrs who took forward and protected their values by sacrificing their lives for them. It is my duty to give victory to our peoples and the Arab people through such an honourable task. It is a great honour for me. I love my Party, our martyrs, our leader, our people and comrades very much. I am ready to die for them. I was born with the Party-Front and will fall a martyr for it.

Revolutionary greetings with enthusiasm for our struggle

EITHER VICTORY OR DEATH! LONG LIVE OUR DEATH FAST RESISTANCE!”

The willpower that she represented with her will never be broken, the flag will never fall to the ground!