DİYARBAKIR- Speaking about newspaper distributer Kalo who is one of those who is referred to as 'Little Generals' of Apé Musa, his workmates said: “Nothing could stop Yılmaz. He resisted despite being detained and tortured repeatedly. His resilience keeps walking the streets of Amed.”

 

 

Yılmaz Yakut (Kalo), who was a firm believer of how important it is to convey the truth to the public in the 1990s, when journalists were murdered in the middle of the street and many people lost their lives in unsolved murders every day, passed away on January 16 due to cancer. Kalo was one of the newspaper distributors described by Kurdish journalist Musa Anter, who was murdered in the middle of the street as "My Little Generals". Kalo suffered the most severe repression of the state, was taken into custody hundreds of times.He escaped death many times due to the attacks he was subjected to in the middle of the street. Kalo, who distributed newspapers Welat and Özgür Gündem when he was a child, did not back down from his struggle until the last moments of his life.

 

INSISTANCE ON THE TRUTH

 

Abdülselam Bayram, who worked with Kalo in the 2000s, stated that Kalo was a real distributor others looked up to, and that his determination to the movements and his resistance was inspiring. Bayram said: “He never hesitated. He was repeatedly taken into custody, but the showed up at work the next day. Even being tortured couldn't stop him. There was oppression and violence in our time as well. But not as much as in the 90s. They used to confiscate our newspapers, they harassed as in the streets. The distributers before us created a strong role model for us."

 

KALO'S STYLE AND ENERGY

 

Bayram stated that he worked with Kalo on his first day and added:"He was very energetic and hardworking. Kalo will never be forgetten, there are thousand of people who know Kalo in every street of Diyarbakir. He may have left us physically. But his sacrifices and determination to fight are still alive and will never be forgotten. I hope the new generation distributors will take Kalo's spirit of resistance as an example and live up to it." 

 

HE NEVER LEFT THINGS UNFINISHED

 

Another friend of Kalo, Zafer Tüzün who worked with Kalo, whom he met in 1993, for about 2 years. Tüzün said: "He was stabbed in Sur's Melikahmet Street once. We took him to the hospital to be treated. We saw that he came to work the next day. He never left things unfinished. He often said he'd work until the day he died. Free press will continue his struggle."

 

 

DREAM OF KURDISTAN

 

Stating that his brother distributed several different newspaper from the tradition of free press like, Özgür Gündem, Özgür Ülke and Yeni Ülke, Mehmet Nuri Yakut, brother of Yılmaz Yakut said: "He always said that he will continue to work until the free Kurdistan is established. He had a lot of health issues lately, he could hardly work but he continued to visit the office to see free press workers. He always said he'd never leave them alone and that they should feel he is with them all the time."

 

 

MA / Eylem Akdağ - Mahmut Altıntaş