A Comrade Remembered: Solidarity, Detention and the Life of Dilan
In a moving personal tribute, an older comrade recalls the life, activism and companionship of Dilan — a younger woman whose solidarity and commitment shaped shared years of study, organizing and incarceration. The author recounts domestic memories, detention experiences, and Dilan’s dedication to women’s rights and collective care, underlining the personal dimensions of political struggle.
By Gönül Karaman
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The following is a first-person tribute to a woman named Dilan, written by a longtime comrade and roommate. It recounts shared years of domestic life, study and political commitment, and describes episodes of detention that revealed the depth of Dilan’s solidarity with other women. The narrative is both intimate and political: it documents how everyday life and activism intertwined for two women navigating family expectations, education and state repression.
Although there was a sixteen-year age difference between them, the author writes that Dilan’s companionship was mature and formative. They shared the same room for years, watching films together — sometimes the author complaining, “takip edemiyorum” when subtitles made following difficult — and dreaming of futures that blended personal and political ambitions. Dilan planned to go to France to improve her language skills; the author imagined, after retirement, creating a small motel with two rooms permanently available for women in need. Their conversations ranged from concrete plans to broader debates on gender, solidarity, jineology, and the unseen labor of women.
The tribute situates both women in a wider social context. The author recalls being the first woman in her family to work and to take part in political activity, and describes her efforts to open paths for younger women in the family to attend university. Dilan, who was close in age to many of the author’s nieces, became a model and a source of support for young women living under feudal social expectations: “o feodal toplumdaki genç kadınlara ışık olur, kendi ışığıyla yollarını aydınlatırdı.” The two repeatedly argued for women’s right to private space; when Dilan moved to Ankara and acquired a larger home, their recurring dispute over whether to remove a shared bed turned into a symbolic assertion that “Her kadının özel bir alanı olmalıydı.”
The account includes detailed memories of detention. The first time both women faced police custody, the author coordinated from the outside while Dilan coordinated from within. Dilan prepared small travel bags for other women detainees — packing shampoo, moisturizer, soap, toothpaste and a toothbrush — and left them with the police. The author recalls laughing afterwards at how practical Dilan had been and how she had spent all her allowance buying necessities for comrades. The author describes a subsequent brief detention before an election that coincided with the author’s birth date; a cellmate made a bracelet for Dilan to give the author during an open visit, and the small gesture became a lasting memory.
Throughout these episodes, the author emphasizes Dilan’s consistent attention to others: her readiness to travel for meetings, her habit of sharing what she read, and the way she lifted the moods and ambitions of those around her. Dilan was also a careful letter-writer. After one period of detention the author drew their shared room and sent it as a letter; Dilan replied with a playful, affectionate note about the drawing and an image of a crying woman, mixing humor with sincerity: “Gönül abla, müthiş bir hayal gücüyle odadaki eşyaların üstündeki çiçek vazosunu bile çizmişsin ama odayı kiminle paylaştığını unutmuş olabilirsin. Çünkü çizdiğin gibi derli toplu değil, özellikle benim tarafım :) Gardırobumda kıyafetlerle kendime her gün defile yapıyorum.”
The tribute makes clear that Dilan combined political conviction with an instinctive generosity: she challenged the author when the author suggested leaving a small plot of land to her, asking, “Neden abla, önceliğin kendin değil de ben oluyorum?” Her language skills — she spoke good English — her insistence on education, and her belief in collective organization and self-defense are recurring themes. The author repeatedly underscores gratitude for Dilan’s presence: her “yoldaşlığı,” her capacity to motivate, and the way she gave priority to others even when young.
Though the piece is intensely personal, it functions as a record of how state repression intersects with women’s lives and the networks of mutual care that sustain activism. The author’s memories of detention, of gestures as small as packing a travel bag or making a bracelet, reveal how solidarity operates in constrained circumstances. The tribute ends with a note of grief and gratitude, recalling plans that will now be memorialized rather than realized: “Otuz dördüncü yaş gününde toprağına çok sevdiği rüzgâr gülünü alacağımı hiç düşünmezdim…” and signing off in appreciation of the maturity of their companionship: “Yoldaşlığının olgunluğuna minnetle…”
This testimony offers both an intimate portrait of a single activist’s life and a broader illustration of the personal costs and solidarities that shape struggles for gender equality and political freedom. It highlights the everyday practices — shared rooms, films, letters, and care packages — through which women sustain each other under pressure, and the enduring impact of those practices when political struggle exacts a human toll.
