Turkey: In Memory of Zeliha Akçil (Message of Appreciation)

We hereby share an unofficial translation of a message of appreciation published by Avropa Haber celebrating the life of Zeliha Akçil, who recently passed away.

Her memory will always live with us!

Dear comrades, friends, recently our Mother, our Grandmother, Zeliha Akçil, physically left us, defeated by a disease which she could not overcome due to her age, despite her relentless resistance her whole life.

She always taught us honesty, hard work and standing up against injustice, and never deviated from or compromised on human values.

For example, one of our mother’s best qualities, and one that is meaningful to us, was that she would shelter revolutionaries and our comrades in our home and try to provide them with every kind of support during the revolutionary struggle that developed in Turkey in general and in our region of Elbistan in particular during the 1980s and before.

This exemplary behavior of our mother contributed greatly to the development of our thoughts during our youth, and we will never forget this valuable and honorable behavior.

She never removed the picture of the comrade with the cap from her house in the village. They asked her why she hung this picture (of İbrahim Kaypakkaya), as it was forbidden.

She said, “Go ahead and tell me what the ban is. My children and grandchildren love it too, I don’t want to remove it, let it stay.”

We thank all our friends in Turkey and Europe, as well as the PARTİZAN organization, for their solidarity, who did not leave us alone during the illness and death of our mother, and wish them success in their struggle.

Family Akçil