The Press Centre of the People’s Defence Forces (HPG) has announced the death of Kelly Freygang, a German revolutionary known by the nom de guerre Tijda Zagros. She was killed on 29 April in a Turkish drone strike in the Zap region of the Medya Defence Zones, a mountainous area in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). The HPG, the military wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), honoured the Hamburg-born freedom fighter as a great internationalist and expressed its deepest condolences to her family.
The attack occurred while HPG forces were in a ceasefire position, as declared by the PKK on 1 March. However, the Turkish state ignored the group’s unilateral ceasefire and continued to target guerrilla positions in Iraqi Kurdistan.
In its obituary, the HPG Press Centre remembers Freygang (1993–2025) as a selfless comrade whose “heart beat for all humanity”, and who “fought for the freedom of all peoples in the mountains of Kurdistan and set an example of devotion by defending the values she believed in until her last breath”.
In a video recorded after joining the PKK guerrillas in Iraqi Kurdistan, Freygang reflects on her upbringing as the youngest of three sisters in a family rooted in democratic and socialist values – principles that profoundly shaped her ideological outlook and determination.
While studying law, she became acquainted with the Kurdish freedom movement and closely followed the war in the Middle East, with a particular focus on Kurdish regions. She was especially inspired by the prominent role of women within the Kurdish guerrilla forces and their resistance against the Islamic State (ISIS), most notably during the 2014 defence of Kobani (Kobanê). Moved by what she saw as a powerful alternative to patriarchal and capitalist systems, Freygang decided in 2017 to join the guerrilla ranks.
HPG describes Freygang’s journey to the guerilla-held mountains as follows:
“Our comrade, who did not accept the social status assigned to women by the male-dominated system and recognised that the capitalist system condemns people to an individualistic life by distancing them from nature and society, realised that a meaningful life lies in the ranks of freedom. Our comrade Tîjda came to the mountains of Kurdistan because she believes in the democratic, ecological and women’s liberation paradigm of our leadership [Abdullah Öcalan], which is based on the freedom of all peoples, and because she has renounced the capitalist system.”
In the mountains, Freygang underwent basic training for new fighters before continuing her education in ideology and military tactics. She ultimately joined the special unit ‘Hêzên Taybet’ in 2021 as a Free Women’s Units (YJA Star) fighter. The HPG described her as a “free and socialist” woman and a “masterful guerrilla fighter” who “professionalised herself in the implementation of modern tactics and did not hesitate for a moment, even when faced with the most difficult tasks.”
The HPG emphasised that Freygang had “indelibly inscribed her name in the history of the peoples’ struggle for freedom”, noting that she followed in the footsteps of other German revolutionaries connected to the Kurdish movement who lost their lives in the struggle. These include Ronahî (Andrea Wolf), Nûdem (Uta Schneiderbanger), Şiyar (Jakob Riemer), Sara (Sarah Handelmann), Bager (Michael Panser), Azad (Thomas Johann Spies), and Elefteria (Eva Maria Steiger).
Freygang was described by the HPG as the “last great representative” of the women’s liberation struggle. The organisation also honoured the memories of Rosa Luxemburg, Clara Zetkin, and the Mirabal sisters – iconic figures in the history of socialist and feminist struggles – and pledged to continue working towards women’s freedom.
