BEHDÎNAN – The commander of the decision-making center of the People’s Defense Units Murat Karayilan answered the questions of the ANF news agency in an interview on the ongoing situation of the chairman Abdullah Öcalan, the occupation invasion in southern Kurdistan and the attitude of the occupying Turkish state to his defeat.
The interview was held in Kurdish and the English translation will be published in two parts.
No information has been received about Chairman Abdullah Öcalan for 16 months. During the Feast of the Sacrifice, a visit from the Chairman to his family and lawyers was not granted. What do they want to do and how should this situation be understood?
“Before anything else, July 14 is an important day for our struggle and our people. The day of national honor, a day of deciding a great action. In general, I respectfully commemorate Heval Hayrî Dûrmûş, Kemal Pîr, Akîf Yilmaz and Alî Çîçek who implemented this action. We take the promise we made to them seriously. It may be that we have weaknesses, but today the fight will increase on your line, efforts will be made. The spirit and lineage of July 14 is the spirit and lineage of success. Today, based on this spirit, the guerrillas of the freedom of Kurdistan are trying to win. Once again we commemorate the heroes of the national day of honor.
At the same time, the days of July 12-16 are massacre days in the history of Kurdistan. On this date the Zilan Gorge massacre was committed. On July 12, 1930, at the time of the Agiri Uprising, the rulers of the Turkish state made our people, women, children and the elderly, dead in the ravine of Zilan. This was a great and brutal massacre. In this way, 15,000 people have officially fallen, but it has been made clear that there are at least twice as many. So many of our people who fell in the ravine of Zilan at the hands of the Turkish rulers. I respect all the fallen of Zilan Gorge. We follow in their footsteps.
As is known, the Agiri uprising was severely crushed, the rulers of the Turkish state said: “The dream of Kurdistan was buried here” or they said “Kurdistan finally died”. But seven years later, in 1937-1938, a massacre was also committed in Dersim. Here they said: “In Kurdistan there is finally nobody who raises his head”. After this massacre there was a great silence for a long time. Rêber Apos’ attitude towards these massacres and genocides is a historical attitude. The research and thoughts that Rêber Apo had towards these massacres and brutality became the foundation of the struggle. We are the descendants of those fallen, on that basis we set out. In the person of the Hevals who were in Amed Prison, we saw once more that they want to massacre the Kurdish people. At the same time, in the face of this massacre, the reaction of success and victory of July 14 was produced, which destroyed the castle of torture and violence and did not end with the murder of our Kurdish people. It can be said that the tomb where Kurdistan was supposedly buried was destroyed with the July 14 resistance. We know that the August 15 action is based on the spirit of July 14. With this fight, the Kurds who were thought dead came back to life, became very resilient again, took care of themselves and their cause. Since then this path has continued. which destroyed the castle of torture and violence and did not end with the murder of our Kurdish people. It can be said that the tomb where Kurdistan was supposedly buried was destroyed with the July 14 resistance. We know that the August 15 action is based on the spirit of July 14. With this fight, the Kurds who were thought dead came back to life, became very resilient again, took care of themselves and their cause. Since then this path has continued. which destroyed the castle of torture and violence and did not end with the murder of our Kurdish people. It can be said that the tomb where Kurdistan was supposedly buried was destroyed with the July 14 resistance. We know that the August 15 action is based on the spirit of July 14. With this fight, the Kurds who were thought dead came back to life, became very resilient again, took care of themselves and their cause. Since then this path has continued. became very resilient again, took care of themselves and their cause. Since then this path has continued. became very resilient again, took care of themselves and their cause. Since then this path has continued.
In this context I can answer your question. The Turkish ruling state says with its attitude and actions to Rêber Apo “I have solved the Kurdish problem (they made it clear themselves that they would have solved these things with massacre and murder), but you stand up and have made the Kurds alive again” . In this way, they blame the chairman and say, “You became the reason for this issue to be resurrected and put on the agenda.” That’s why they’re attacking the chairman today.
There is no example in the world of a torture system like Imrali. There is no other example of such a system. He used to be there alone and there are three more Hevals there in recent years. You are cut off from the world. As we made clear, towards the festival, towards the demands of our people and our friends, nobody listens to their demands. Because in Imrali there is a policy of torture. There is no law, no ethics, and no conscience either. Everything was violated, only massacres and the law of the rulers was left.
Without a doubt these things are not only done against Rêber Apo and the three hevals there. This system is run against our whole society and democracy in the region. That is why denial, annihilation and the system of genocide were started against our people, fascism, violence and dictatorship are acting against our people in the region. In this way the demands for democracy, freedom and equality were prevented. Such a role is played by the system set up by the Turkish state in Imrali.
The democratic and opposition circles in Turkey did not understand this fact well and did not properly focus on it. That’s why they didn’t resist the isolation. This was the reason for the strengthening of the AKP and MHP regimes. In Turkey, everyone who wants democracy against this regime must be against the Imrali system and isolation. Because there is no law and no ethics in this system, everything has been violated in this system, there is torture and genocide in this system. If you take that as normal, this system will be implemented everywhere. This is what the efforts of the fascist regime are based on, they are spreading the Imrali system in all prisons in Kurdistan and Turkey and it is now ruling everywhere outside. This is the situation. Therefore, all people in Turkey, who support democracy, are against fascism and want equality, oppose the Imrali system. Saying “I am against isolation” does not mean that someone is against this system. When people just call this system isolation, it doesn’t express the real system well. One cannot describe the Imraliye system only with the word isolation. It’s called “absolute isolation,” but that’s not true either. Because that’s what fascism built the genocide system in Kurdistan on. Therefore, the content is very broad. In short, unless people oppose and fight against this cause, it is impossible to do anything in the name of justice, law and democracy in Turkey. Therefore, the fight should be evaluated in this context. are against fascism and want equality, oppose the Imrali system. Saying “I am against isolation” does not mean that someone is against this system. When people just call this system isolation, it doesn’t express the real system well. One cannot describe the Imraliye system only with the word isolation. It’s called “absolute isolation,” but that’s not true either. Because that’s what fascism built the genocide system in Kurdistan on. Therefore, the content is very broad. In short, unless people oppose and fight against this cause, it is impossible to do anything in the name of justice, law and democracy in Turkey. Therefore, the fight should be evaluated in this context. are against fascism and want equality, oppose the Imrali system. Saying “I am against isolation” does not mean that someone is against this system. When people just call this system isolation, it doesn’t express the real system well. One cannot describe the Imraliye system only with the word isolation. It’s called “absolute isolation,” but that’s not true either. Because that’s what fascism built the genocide system in Kurdistan on. Therefore, the content is very broad. In short, unless people oppose and fight against this cause, it is impossible to do anything in the name of justice, law and democracy in Turkey. Therefore, the fight should be evaluated in this context. oppose the Imrali system. Saying “I am against isolation” does not mean that someone is against this system. When people just call this system isolation, it doesn’t express the real system well. One cannot describe the Imraliye system only with the word isolation. It’s called “absolute isolation,” but that’s not true either. Because that’s what fascism built the genocide system in Kurdistan on. Therefore, the content is very broad. In short, unless people oppose and fight against this cause, it is impossible to do anything in the name of justice, law and democracy in Turkey. Therefore, the fight should be evaluated in this context. oppose the Imrali system. Saying “I am against isolation” does not mean that someone is against this system. When people just call this system isolation, it doesn’t express the real system well. One cannot describe the Imraliye system only with the word isolation. It’s called “absolute isolation,” but that’s not true either. Because that’s what fascism built the genocide system in Kurdistan on. Therefore, the content is very broad. In short, unless people oppose and fight against this cause, it is impossible to do anything in the name of justice, law and democracy in Turkey. Therefore, the fight should be evaluated in this context. When people just call this system isolation, it doesn’t express the real system well. One cannot describe the Imraliye system only with the word isolation. It’s called “absolute isolation,” but that’s not true either. Because that’s what fascism built the genocide system in Kurdistan on. Therefore, the content is very broad. In short, unless people oppose and fight against this cause, it is impossible to do anything in the name of justice, law and democracy in Turkey. Therefore, the fight should be evaluated in this context. When people just call this system isolation, it doesn’t express the real system well. One cannot describe the Imraliye system only with the word isolation. It’s called “absolute isolation,” but that’s not true either. Because that’s what fascism built the genocide system in Kurdistan on. Therefore, the content is very broad. In short, unless people oppose and fight against this cause, it is impossible to do anything in the name of justice, law and democracy in Turkey. Therefore, the fight should be evaluated in this context. Because that’s what fascism built the genocide system in Kurdistan on. Therefore, the content is very broad. In short, unless people oppose and fight against this cause, it is impossible to do anything in the name of justice, law and democracy in Turkey. Therefore, the fight should be evaluated in this context. Because that’s what fascism built the genocide system in Kurdistan on. Therefore, the content is very broad. In short, unless people oppose and fight against this cause, it is impossible to do anything in the name of justice, law and democracy in Turkey. Therefore, the fight should be evaluated in this context.
Nobody has known anything about Rêber Apo for 16 months. Sometimes Erdogan himself lies for the purpose of psychological warfare. Our hevals have already made some comments on this, so I don’t want to dwell on that topic. But it’s clear why the system is bringing these things up on the agenda. They didn’t allow the Chairman’s family and the Hevals there to visit them during the holidays. Attention, we are in the age of telecommunications, the world has become very small, at one end of the world you can talk to the other end at this moment. There are so many talks but no one knows what has happened in Imrali for 16 months. Where is there such an example? That does not exist.
They practice the politics of absolute isolation, fascism and genocide, but they still cannot stop the chairman. Because the thoughts and ideas of our chairman broke through the walls of isolation and spread not only in Kurdistan but in all regions and the world. People approach Rêber Apo more like humans because they enjoy the thoughts and ideas of Rêber Apo, care for him and want his freedom. Today, unions, democratic circles and celebrities around the world fight and campaign for freedom of the chairman. The machinations of the Turkish state could not and will not stop the leader. Our Chairman has been physically arrested and is in isolation, we need to physically rescue our chairman. We must brighten our struggle in this area. It is true that we say that all supporters of democracy in Turkey should fight, it is the duty of us, our people and our movement. In this respect we must criticize ourselves. Of course we have our shortcomings, but we need to make the fight bigger and stronger and eliminate the system in Imrali. In this way Kurdistan can become free and Turkey can become democratic. There is no other way.” Of course we have our shortcomings, but we need to make the fight bigger and stronger and eliminate the system in Imrali. In this way Kurdistan can become free and Turkey can become democratic. There is no other way.” Of course we have our shortcomings, but we need to make the fight bigger and stronger and eliminate the system in Imrali. In this way Kurdistan can become free and Turkey can become democratic. There is no other way.”
The war, which began with the invasion attack on the Medya Defense Zones, has completed its three months. What can you say about the war?
“Basically, for the last four years, the oppressive and murderous Turkish state wants to implement a new concept and occupy southern Kurdistan. First they attacked Xakurkê, then Heftanin and after that Garê, and as is known, they attacked Metina, Zap and Avaşîn. They attacked these places extensively. But her plan failed. This year they attacked comprehensively and with technical methods. On June 14th they started the attacks. As you mentioned, these attacks have been going on for three months. When the Turkish government launched these attacks, they focused a lot on it in their press and media, but after 3.4 days they realized their calculation was wrong when they saw that they had to take hits, they slowly removed the topic from the agenda and now only make short statements of a few sentences. You want to hide the truth. In fact, we cannot portray the war in Zap, Avaşîn and Metina well to the public. We can say that 20 percent of them are published. Much remains hidden and cannot be uncovered. We also have deficits in this area.
Today there is a very big war. From Avaşîn to Metina, a great battle is raging in an area 60 kilometers wide. At least 50 places are 100 meters between our hevals and enemy soldiers. It’s a very difficult fight. We’re using a new tactic there now, we’re not retreating. Behind the enemy are our hevals. At the moment there is war in Kurojahro, but there is also war in the valley of Nêrwey beyond. There is war in Werxelê, there is war in Şûkê Burê, where actions also take place. It’s such an intertwined situation. In some parts of this geography, in some places about 15 and in some places about 20 kilometers, there is always fighting. At the same time there is a bombardment that continues without interruption.
It seems the enemy is preparing to win this year. They have made political and diplomatic preparations. So that the forces in southern Kurdistan do not raise their voices and help, so that Iraq does not raise their voices and the armed forces in outer places help, they have done diplomatic work and, to a certain extent, made technical and military preparations. That’s how they want to occupy.
According to their plans, they would have achieved results in a short time. Bahçeli said in his speech: “We will eliminate the PKK between two public holidays.” That is, according to their calculations, they will achieve a result in a short time. They’re talking about the general situation here, they’re not just talking about Zap, Avaşîn and Metina. But the Hevals’ resistance to these things is also historic. There is great resistance. Many of our Hevals have spoken of this in their statements. That’s right. Until now, in the last three months, despite the fact that the Turkish state has many opportunities and received outside support, despite the fact that it attacked with great force, advanced technology and, most importantly, banned weapons, so far they have no results achieved. It was clear, that the Turkish state probably had prepared some of its forces for Rojava or for other places, but in this war of Zap, Metina and Avaşîn it had to put all its backup forces into the war. From the beginning of July they used their special forces from the General Army. This is a very chosen power. In Çemço and Girê Amêdiyê she used this particular choice. The enemy used all the weapons they had in this war. As we often say, many types of chemical weapons are used. But recently, as our Hevals said, they are using tactical nuclear weapons. In fact, we’ve been investigating this issue for 11 months. We’re trying to understand what kind of weapon they’re using. It’s not a regular explosive. The Hevals did a little research, we at HPG continue to research.
And now we see that they use two new bombs. One of them is the tactical nuclear bomb that they use, that is, they mix different explosives and nuclear materials, making them a very powerful explosive and poison. They also use thermobaric bombs. Both types are used. In short, no matter what banned weapons they have, the fascist regime will use them against us. With F-16s they are already working non-stop, having carried out 2,500 airstrikes in three months. They are waging such a war right now. Such a war should at most be waged between two states.
After three months, one can say: the Turkish state has not achieved any results and has essentially failed. In order to hide this failure, they used their last strength, but these forces also suffered a severe blow. Everywhere they went, they were beaten and therefore couldn’t get any results. The war has been going on like this for three months. The AKP-MHP regime, despite all the possibilities, could not achieve results, but they do not admit it. Should Tayyip Erdogan and Hulusi Akar admit this situation, the current regime would collapse immediately. To prevent this, they censored the reality of war. No one can share information on this subject. All information is provided by Hulusi Akar only. Nobody else can comment on this.
They don’t publish their dead; they hide everything. In fact, they act with great dishonesty. They violate not only international martial law, but also moral standards. Their soldiers are dying, but they cannot surrender; To get rid of the bodies, they use planes to bomb and dismember them. Where the corpses are, it’s raining bombs. So it was, for example, in Şikefta Birindara in the east of Zap, as well as in Gire Cudi in the west of Zap; Our hevals there say they can’t move because of the dead body smell. Because the area is full of dead bodies and they’ve all been bombed. What is said to the families of these soldiers, it leaves people speechless.
In fact, they had already made arrangements. When these soldiers enlist in the military, they also sign documents with their families and document with them that they will hide it if necessary in the interest of the state, not disclose it and if they act outside of it, they will not receive any remuneration. After all, anyone who dies in war pays their family an additional salary. Because of the imminent violation of this salary, nobody talks about it. The soldiers’ families don’t talk either; one or two are talking. For example, their bodies are in the hands of the Hevals, but they don’t talk about it. The Hevals say their names, but still don’t speak. For the soldier who died in front of his friends, they say: “We took him to the hospital and he died there”. However, his body is on the mountain. In other words, they do everything with lies. Because they failed in the south, Mexmur, Shengal and Rojava, they are attacking civilian areas and attacking our people in the north and democratic politics. And they do it in an unmeasured way.
Surely, as the Hevals said, this war could not be fought unless there were sacrificial forces. Of course, we draw our strength from the thoughts and opinions of Rêber Apo, based on the spirit of July 14th, we have reached a certain level. We have faith and are willing to sacrifice ourselves. There is such an aspect, but that alone is not enough. There is also a tactical method. In tactical depth, a level is reached and there is an achievement. In addition, if the troops are not specialized and do not know the methods of war, they will not be able to respond to such large-scale attacks. Here, too, our armed forces have reached a certain level. That is, there are preparations; to defeat a large force of the enemy with a small force. The professional military, the depth of tactics and war has reached a level. This is how this result was achieved.
Now we apply a new tactical method. We want to defeat the enemy with the Revolutionary People’s War Strategy. The goal of our new tactical method is to neutralize the weapons that strengthen the enemy. In other words, the purpose of using the subsoil and the total depth and width of the land is to disable the enemy air force, disable the reconnaissance aircraft, and thus face the enemy face to face. That is the goal and it has been done many times. In some places there were mistakes and weaknesses; That’s true, but more often than not that happened and the enemy got pinned down. That is, they said: “We will achieve results with the Air Force”. That didn’t happen, they couldn’t; Already they say: “We will achieve results with prohibited weapons”. On the other hand, the Hevals take precautions and thwart the attacks. Of course, if we had not taken the necessary measures against these chemical weapons, it would have done us great damage. If it didn’t hurt us too much, it was because we took precautions. We can thwart the attacks with technical measures and methods that have been tried and tested by the Hevals in practice. But the enemies insist on it too. That is, the enemy has not achieved results, but he insists; So the longer the war lasts, the longer it will exist. It seems so. Because they don’t want to accept and insist on the truth of their failure; Of course we worked so hard here; this war is also important for us. We want to prevent the enemy’s invasion and fascism and lead the enemy to defeat. Therefore, it is important to us and we insist on it. Now the war goes on in this context.”
