Our comrade Selami Kurnaz was born on February 11, 1964 in Arsin/Trabzon (Black Sea region). He was Laz.
He was acquainted with revolutionary ideology at the age of 14, before the military coup of September 12, 1980.
Directly after 1980 he joined the organised struggle of Devrimci Yol. Because Devrimci Yol was abolished after the military coup, Selami remained unorganised. In this period he stayed in prison for a short while. But nothing could stop him from practising his revolutionary ideals. In the beginning of the 1990s he carried out activities in the People’s House in Trabzon and tried to stay loyal to his ideals. But there was some theoretical confusion in his mind.
In these years he went to Istanbul and became acquainted with members of Devrimci Sol. This removed his theoretical confusion. He belonged anyhow to the Party-Front (THKP-C, People’s Liberation Party-Front of Turkey). The theoretical and practical heritage of the Party-Front was taken over by Devrimci Sol. And this was exactly the reason why Selami Kurnaz opted for Devrimci Sol. He participated in activities in the local area. After he worked in the Mucadele (“Struggle” revolutionary magazine) office in Trabzon, he became a founding member of Ozgur-Der (“Free Association”) and started to work there.
He was imprisoned in July 1993. He didn’t feel any doubt after a short imprisonment. He also experienced brief periods of imprisonment in 1995 and 2000, but this didn’t change anything in his determination for the struggle. He was subjected to torture several times. But he couldn’t be intimidated. In 1994 he took up responsibilities in the local area.
In June 2001 he was imprisoned again. He was put in the F-Type prison. This was to be his last imprisonment. He always felt he was a “free prisoner”. He was one of the volunteers who took over the flag from his comrades, a flag that has been carried since October 20, 2000.
As a fighter of the Gultekin Koc Death Fast team, he carried the flag for 10 months.
He became immortal as one of the heroes in our great resistance.
