In 1989 she began to study at the Department of Economics at the Istanbul University. It is reported that until 1990 she was not aware of her Kurdish identity.[2] In 1990 she got to know networks of the PKK and was arrested, but released shortly after in 1991.[2] On the 9 May 1991 she entered the PKK in the Cudi Mountains, Şırnak.[1] In 1992 she was sent as a leader of a small group to Şemdinli. On the 25 October 1992 she fought against the pro barzani Peshmerga in Iraqi Kurdistan who have allied themselves with the Turkish army during kurdish civil war.