Demirtaş’s bravery is a reflection of the Kurdish people

Several Kurds have told me that it’s not really a choice. It’s a necessity to fight against oppression, to defend the life of yourself, your family, your people. Self-defence is, you could say, a reflex inextricably tied to being alive. Kurds, and other oppressed nations, know from a very young age on that their lives are constantly threatened, and resistance has become part of their existence. Berxwedan jiyanê, the slogan of the Kurdish movement meaning ‘Resistance is life’, has this very deep meaning.