BEHDİNAN – PKK Executive Committee Member Murat Karayılan stated that the Turkish state wanted to scare people away in order to dominate Southern Kurdistan and Iraq, and said that they shot without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians, as required by this concept. Karayılan pointed out that he had acted quite comfortably because he had remained unresponsive until now, and therefore he emphasized that he did not see any harm in hitting the picnic area in Perex deliberately.
PKK Executive Committee Member Murat Karayılan answered the questions of Dengê Welat Radio.
The Turkish state attacked the village of Perex on 20 July. 9 Iraqi citizens were killed and dozens were injured. Why is the Turkish state targeting civilians too?
First of all, I would like to express my condolences to the families of everyone who lost their lives in this attack and wish a speedy recovery to all the injured. Rest in peace. These innocent and sinless people of ours were martyred by Turkish colonialism. I strongly condemn this massacre committed by the Turkish state. Undoubtedly, not only should it be condemned, but the struggle against this bloodsucking and occupying mentality should also be waged.
This issue is heavily debated in Iraq, Southern Kurdistan and throughout Kurdistan. First of all, it should be noted that; The village of Perex is in Heftanîn. It is also one and a half kilometers from the official border of Turkey. There is Kiryaresh, a large Turkish military base. The Turkish state has currently occupied 23 hills in Heftanîn. In other words, it has made military bases in 23 places, and most of them are around Perex. Behind Perex, there are Turkish colonial forces, and there is already a border from the west. In a way, it is a region under the control of Turkish soldiers. It is true; below are the Iraqi Border Forces on the Kerê line; There are also some peshmerga, but they are mainly under the control of the Turkish state.
Now it is necessary to express very clearly and clearly;
- The PKK has nothing to do with this incident. The Turkish state dominates there.
- As the Iraqi authorities said, this incident was carried out by the Turkish state. This is certain.
- The Turkish state did not commit this incident by mistake; deliberately shot. This too is certain, because it is directly opposite; 400-500 vehicles stop there during this period. There are about a thousand tourists there. The Turkish state also knows that it is a touristic place. If the Turkish state can see and assassinate a person under a tree with the technique it currently has, how can it accidentally hit a picnic area? There is no mistake here and a commander in the region did not shoot because he wanted to.
This is an approach of Turkish state politics. Turkish politics wants to establish its dominance in Southern Kurdistan and Iraq. They want to scare people, kidnap and make themselves dominant by psychological pressure in this way. This is not the first attack anyway; For how many years, on the basis of this policy, it has been killing our civilian people in Southern Kurdistan, Rojava and Northern Kurdistan. They want to intimidate people. And apparently, they don’t want it to be a picnic area, they want it to be left.
Especially in areas occupied by the Turkish army in Southern Kurdistan, they have such a policy. The same is true in Metîna and Xakurkê. In other words, he does not want people in those areas; He wants to establish complete military domination. In short, the Turkish state carried out this attack consciously.
DID NOT EXPECT THAT MUCH REACTION
Maybe he didn’t expect such a reaction. They did not expect such a reaction, because they committed many massacres before that, but no one reacted. For example, many massacres took place around Kandil, in Şêladize, and most recently in Bamernê. For example, they hit the hospital in Sikeniyê in Shengal last year; 8 of our civilians were martyred. If the Iraqi state and Kazimi government had reacted at that time, this event would not have happened today. Again in August 2020, the two top military commanders of the Iraqi army, Zübeyir Hali and Muhammed Reşit, were deliberately murdered by the Turkish state, but then the Iraqi Prime Minister went and bowed before Erdoğan. They didn’t react. For this, the Turkish government is acting comfortably, but this time, especially the Iraqi people showed a very valuable reaction. The Iraqi people said ‘enough is enough’. This event was the last straw in this sense. Such a reaction has developed. Of course, when the people developed such an attitude en masse, both Iraqi and Southern Kurdistan officials made statements, and on this basis, there has now been a reaction on the part of the governments.
Although there are some shortcomings, there is a certain level of reaction that emerges. If they had shown this reaction before, the Turkish state would not have been able to develop such massacres. If you don’t block the Turkish state, it can do anything because it wants to establish its dominance over the area. They have such a purpose due to their concept, and when necessary, they shoot without making any distinction between soldiers and civilians.
MASSACRE, DENIED AND LIE
Now the Turkish state has denied that it committed this massacre. He even said ‘PKK did it’. Although Iraq proved that this massacre was committed by the Turkish state, it denied it. This denial of Turkey causes the world to see its own realities. What is this reality? This is what Turkey always does. He is carrying out terror in Kurdistan, but he calls us ‘terrorists’. It kills our people, but clearly says ‘I don’t kill civilians’. It completely denies and ignores the Kurdish people anyway. The reality of the Turkish state is denial, massacre and lying. The Turkish state is practicing state terrorism. This is the Turkish state reality. Look, he already denied this incident. Now Iraqi authorities have determined; They say ‘you did it’ but they don’t even take it into account. For example, they did not even give an answer to Iraq. They even said, ‘Don’t fall into a trap, let’s make a partnership’ as if you were talking to a child. So they don’t even have respect. This enabled the real face of the Turkish state to be recognized a little more.
THERE ARE 30 THOUSAND TURKISH SOLDIERS
Now, most of the determinations made by the Iraqi state officials on this issue are correct, but there is some incompleteness in the numbers they gave. Maybe the information is not complete. TRUE; The number of military points established by the Turkish state in Southern Kurdistan is around 100, but the number of soldiers stationed and active in Iraqi territory is at least 30 thousand. Even the Turkish state’s special forces, commandos, etc. all the specialist brigades are currently based in Southern Kurdistan, that is, in Iraq. It would be good to know this properly. Another issue is that the number of bombardments made with warplanes on Iraqi territory in the three-month period from April 14 to July 14 is 2 thousand 574, and the number of attacks with helicopters is 1 933.
IRAQ’S ATTITUDE IS OPPORTUNITY
I don’t want to talk too much about who is responsible for the Turkish state to act so easily now. This is already obvious, but the important thing is that now the Iraqi people, the Iraqi state and government, have developed a stance against Turkish state aggression. I think this is an opportunity for the Federal Kurdistan Government and KDP to make a new exit. If they want, an opportunity has arisen for them and they can develop a new attitude towards Turkish colonialism. In other words, they can develop both a Kurdistani and Iraqi national attitude and make new breakthroughs against the increasing dominance of Turkish colonialism and aggression in Southern Kurdistan. In this sense, a part of Southern Kurdistan politics already has a stance; however, those who have not taken a stand yet, even those who cooperate can make new debuts. While this is possible, there are also expectations for them to see this policy and make new breakthroughs. We hope that a development can be experienced in this framework.
Others criticize the PKK, saying ‘it would take its war with the Turkish state to the South’. Was it like this?
There were also some discussions in the Iraqi Parliament on this issue. These discussions take place with a viewpoint as if the PKK crosses from Southern Kurdistan to Northern Kurdistan, hits the Turkish state there, and then returns to Southern Kurdistan. There is no such thing at the moment. Nothing like this has happened in the last 10 years. Ten years ago, there was a ceasefire between us and the Turkish state. It took 2 and a half years. According to that ceasefire, we would draw all our forces to Southern Kurdistan. We already withdrew some of our forces, but when we saw that the Turkish state did not have good intentions, we stopped the withdrawal. At that time, the process of withdrawing our forces to Southern Kurdistan included the Federal Kurdistan Government; He knew and confirmed. Iraq has de facto confirmed this. Everyone knows this. For a solution, the guerrilla had to withdraw to Southern Kurdistan. Then Erdogan in other words, the Turkish state disrupted the process, even though a memorandum of understanding was signed in Dolmabahçe. Look, we’re on our anniversary right now. On July 24, 2015, they launched a direct attack on Southern Kurdistan. Since then, the Turkish state has been unilaterally developing attacks wherever we can. We are also defending ourselves and the lands of Southern Kurdistan in a legitimate way. War takes place in this context. We have not brought the war to the South; The enemy brought this war here. It’s not like we go and shoot them and they respond. They attack unilaterally and mainly want to occupy the borders they call the National Pact. We are also against this; We defend the lands of Iraq and Southern Kurdistan. They want to occupy this place. This is the main situation;
IF WE ARE THE REASON, WHAT ARE THEY LOOKING FOR ELSE?
Well, since we are always the reason for the attacks; then what is the Turkish military base looking for in Bashika? For example, why did the Turkish state not withdraw its troops, although the Iraqi government asked them to withdraw their troops from Bashika 3-4 years ago? As he did not, he now secretly wants to fill Kirkuk with soldiers. He wants to occupy that place, too, through the soldiers he sent as civilians and the MIT staff. He builds power there and trains them. The Turkish state has plans on these lands; this needs to be seen. Maybe one side of the issue may be the PKK, but the PKK is not the whole problem. This too is a reality and must be seen.
Haven’t some realities come to light after the reaction of the Iraqi people?
Of course, the reactions of the esteemed Iraqi people had such an effect. Against this concept of Turkey, which includes Neo-Ottomanism, all the peoples of the region, especially the Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian-Syrian peoples, can form an alliance; should make an alliance. This concept is against the Kurds, but also against the Arabs, Assyrian-Syriacs. It is against all the peoples of the region. Therefore, in this way, the ground of an alliance between peoples has also been strengthened. Already, an alliance has been formed in North-East Syria on the basis of the Democratic Nation perspective, but in general, an alliance of peoples should be formed against the attacks of the Turkish state. Once again, this side has been revealed.
There is also: Although the Iraqi state currently has internal problems, it is in a strong position against the Turkish state. For example, if he closed the border for two months and did not trade with Turkey, he could overthrow the AKP-MHP government. Now Southern Kurdistan and Iraq are like a breathing tube for the Turkish state. He brings all his goods and sells them here. If the Iraqi state stops this now, they cannot continue under this economic crisis and they will collapse. In other words, Iraq has an economy card and this card strengthens Iraq’s hand. Iraq can take a stance on this and give the necessary answer to the Turkish state in this way. In this way, not only Perex, but also 138 of our people who were martyred on Iraqi soil as a result of the attacks of the Turkish state in the last 7 years, and all Southern, Iraqi and Rojava martyrs who were massacred by colonialism can rest in peace.
The torture system on Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan continues to deepen. This situation in Imrali gradually spread to other dungeons of Turkey. Their corpses continue to come out of the dungeons. What would you say about this?
We always say; İmralı is not an ordinary system. It contains genocide and fascism. At the same time, it is not limited to Imrali. The system implemented by the Turkish state against Leader Apo and other friends there in İmralı gradually came to dominate the dungeons of all Turkey and Kurdistan, not only in the dungeons, but also in every aspect of life. A fascist regime was created. It must be fought against. Leader Apo has been resisting this for 24 years with great will and patience. On this occasion, I salute the resistance of Leader Apo and his friends. At the same time, I salute the comrades who carry out resistance in all Turkish dungeons, and convey the greetings of the guerrilla to them.
We are in a self-critical situation in the face of the reality of leadership. We know well that if the external struggle had been carried out at the required level, the enemy could not have attacked Leader Apo that far; He could not spread the system in Imrali to all dungeons in this way. So this is our situation against all friends in dungeons. We are aware of this. Today, both Leader Apo and our comrades, who are held captive by the enemy, are conducting a very important and historical resistance. Many martyrs have been given so far. Many martyrs were given under the name of ‘he committed suicide and got sick’. Kadri Ekici was the last martyr. I bow respectfully before his memory. In the person of Kadri Ekici, I repeat the promise we made to all our dungeon martyrs.
In short, there is an important struggle in the dungeons. All the comrades in the dungeons should know this. We are going through a difficult and difficult process. Our struggle is happening at a peak level. There is a struggle in the mountains, in the streets, in the dungeons. The enemy wants to dominate the policy of genocide and liquidation; we are resisting against it and today this resistance has reached its peak. This is especially the case with the resistance currently being waged in the Medya Defense Zones. Undoubtedly, such a period has its difficulties. We know that our comrades in the dungeon are under pressure in those cells. Our leadership is under severe isolation, isolation and pressure. As we mentioned before, this situation cannot be explained by a single isolation. For example, we have not heard from him for 16 months. Their connection to the world has been severed. There is such a severe torture. No doubt this is not easy. We know that sacrifices have been made for this. But in such conditions, especially the comrades in the dungeon should solve their problems in the spirit of Apoist comradeship. In other words, just as we say that the Apoist comradeship spirit is the main source of the war waged in the guerrilla today, if this spirit is strengthened, all problems and difficulties can be answered wherever they are. This is our advice to the comrades in the dungeon. We believe that if our comrades in the dungeons develop the spirit of comradeship and communal organization among themselves, they will certainly be able to succeed in the face of all kinds of attacks of the enemy on the basis of the spirit of July 14. I believe that our comrades have deepened in this framework and can be an answer, once again I greet our comrades in the dungeons, and I offer my greetings and devotion to Leader Apo in particular. in the mountains,
July 24 was the anniversary of both the Treaty of Lausanne and the Turkish state’s re-starting the war by ending the dialogue process. This concept of total war has been going on for 7 years. Has the Turkish state achieved the desired result?
First of all, it is necessary to say something about the Treaty of Lausanne: Our struggle aims at eliminating the Treaty of Lausanne and its destruction. The Treaty of Lausanne is the denial of the Kurdish people and the division of Kurdistan into four parts, but it is also a plan of the imperialist powers against all the peoples of the region. In other words, it is not only an evil against the Kurds, but actually an evil against all the peoples of the region. For example, this treaty made the Arab people a second class. They made maps on the table; They divided the Arabs into 22 parts and Kurdistan into four parts; They denied all minority rights. In other words, they took the nation-state mentality as a basis; This resulted in constant deaths and massacres in the region. For these 99 years, blood has not stopped in Kurdistan. So this is such an agreement; this needs to be known. The main thing that paved the way for this genocidal system in Kurdistan and caused so many massacres is this Treaty of Lausanne. We need to know this.
The Turkish state chooses such important days in every new practice it makes against us; takes such anniversaries into account. For this reason, they started their attacks against us on July 24, 2015. In fact, there were negotiations for 2 and a half years; Dolmabahçe Agreement was made; now the problem was heading towards a solution; The weapon was about to be completely disabled. The Turkish state and Erdogan wanted to implement the Sri Lanka model. Sri Lanka also started a dialogue process with Tamil guerrillas, and after a while, the Tamil guerrillas relaxed and believed that a solution would indeed develop. So they’ve been mistaken. Sri Lanka developed a massive massacre and developed a purge. That’s what Turkey wanted to do.
PKK WILL FINISH IN APRIL 2017
Of course it didn’t work. At that time, they officially declared through the mouth of the Ministry of Interior, “With April 2017, no one will mention the PKK’s name, because there will be no such thing as PKK.” They wanted to liquidate us. It has been 5 years since April 2017. Now, the most comprehensive war is taking place, and the AKP-MHP has not succeeded in this task they received from the state. Now he has a year left and he tries his last chance. As of 2022, it is attacking with all its might to reach a conclusion. They cannot reach the end. For these 100 days, a very fierce war has been going on in the Zap, Avaşîn and Metîna regions. The Turkish state has never inflicted the losses it suffered in this 100-day war. In other words, they have never inflicted so many casualties in Southern Kurdistan throughout their history. Again, advanced technology and chemical weapons, Despite using prohibited weapons such as tactical nuclear bombs and thermobaric weapons, there has never been such a great resistance and war for 100 days without interruption. This war has not yielded any results so far. This shows that the Turkish state has not been successful in the face of the guerrilla reality, despite the help and technique it has declared and carried out against us for these 7 years.
INVOLVEMENT OF GENOCIDE IS SHOWED
Kurdistan is a great reality; It is a social fact. Leader Apo’s ideology and ideas inspired Kurdish youth, Kurdish women, and the Kurdish society as a whole, and created a spirit. The mentality formed on the basis of Leader Apo’s ideas enables people to develop their creativity, to experience bravery and to reveal the self-sacrificing spirit. In addition, consciousness develops. Today, this war is being waged with great awareness in the field of tactical method and strategy. The strategy carried out by the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla and our Movement is successful against the strategy of Turkish colonialism. For this reason, the AKP-MHP government, which waged and commanded this war, is heading towards destruction today. In other words, whatever happened to the President of Sri Lanka will also happen to the head of the AKP-MHP government. They too will suffer the same fate. Because they do not consider the social reality and want to achieve results with massacres. We wanted to solve the problem with dialogue, but they wanted to go to the end with deaths. The process that has been going on for 7 years has once again shown that they cannot reach a conclusion with the politics of death and genocide, and that the only solution is to accept the existence of the Kurdish people and to take a political solution as a basis. There is no other way; this reality has once again come to the fore with this 7-year war. He also revealed that the only solution is to accept the existence of the Kurdish people and to take the political solution as a basis. There is no other way; this reality has once again come to the fore with this 7-year war. He also revealed that the only solution is to accept the existence of the Kurdish people and to take the political solution as a basis. There is no other way; this reality has once again come to the fore with this 7-year war.
There are many attacks against Rojava every day. The Turkish state carries out assassinations and bombards areas with SİHAs every day. Now, there are reports that the Turkish state has not received the green light from other forces in the area, but when these attacks are looked at, a contradiction emerges. Did the Turkish state get approval from the relevant powers?
As you know, a triple summit was held in Tehran a while ago. It seems that the Turkish state has not received approval from international powers through an official method. Other than if they have made some deals in secret, but it seems that they haven’t received any official confirmation. The Turkish state declared war on Rojava and North-East Syria. The Turkish state is now at war against Rojava and North-East Syria, just as it declared war in the South and is waging a war with the same method. War does not necessarily mean that soldiers attack from the ground. No, it is now waging a political-diplomatic war; attacking with drones; now conducting intelligence operations; now he hits with balls. Howitzer and cannon are now almost as effective as air forces. They’re throwing them all out based on coordinates. So you’re looking; every day in Shehba, Cizîrê, Kobanê, It is hitting villages in Ayn Îsa and everywhere. This is a war; no one should have any doubts about it.
SDF AND AUTONOMOUS ADMINISTRATION SHOULD SEE THE TRUTH
The Turkish state wants to change the situation and create some actual situations by waging a war on the border in this way. Of course, if he attacks that much, the forces there will also respond; In this way, he wants to make a change in the situation. This is a game. Now against this, the Autonomous Administration, SDF and other North-East Syrian forces must see this reality. Nobody should think of the Turkish state’s attacking with intense forces and then describing it as a war. What is currently being waged is a war anyway. It should be handled as such and this should be well explained to both its partners and the public. The Turkish state attacks civilians every day, as well as the commanders who have fought and worked hard against ISIS. Just as some of his friends who fought against ISIS in Shengal were martyred, they are developing similar attacks in Rojava. Finally, they martyred Jiyan Tohildan and his two companions. In the person of the esteemed commander Jiyan Tolhildan, I commemorate all our martyrs who were sacrificed in such attacks of the enemy, and bow respectfully before their memories. They are also the martyrs of all Kurdistan.
HE WAS THE COMMANDER FIGHTING DAESH FOR 10 YEARS
For example, notice; Who is Jiyan Tolhildan? He is a commander who has been fighting against ISIS for 10 years. He was now the commander of the YAT forces. YAT forces are a force specially organized to fight against DAESH terrorism and constantly act together with the International Coalition. Now the commander of this force is targeted. In other words, if the forces that call themselves the Coalition remain silent in the face of this reality, it means that they are also partners. In other words, a friend of theirs with whom they work every day is martyred. So how does this happen? This requires an explanation. Indeed, the Rojava Revolution needs to carry out a more fruitful diplomacy in this regard. This should be well explained to both the public and foreign partners. They also have the right to retaliate, but if it is done directly, it can be understood as if a border war is desired, like the Turkish state. No, it must first be grasped by the public and those forces; Then either these attacks must be stopped or retaliation must be made. They shed blood; the blood of civilians and commanders is shed. Already, two groups are targets: the commanders who fought against ISIS and the civilian population.
This state, especially the AKP-MHP government, wants to maintain its power by shedding blood. By waging a war against the Kurds and North-East Syria before the elections, it wants to gather its masses around it with nationalist feelings and to get results from the elections on this basis. It is such a dirty and bloodsucking mentality. They are so sadistic. For this reason, they are targeting and killing civilians in Shehba, Cizîre and everywhere else. While they are at work, they suddenly attack and martyr the commanders who fought against ISIS while they are on the road. They fight so cowardly.
Everyone should have an attitude towards it. First of all, of course, North-East Syrian politicians and pioneers must carry out the political-diplomatic-military struggle together and strongly. In this regard, both internal and external forces need to be enlightened, and they already have the right to respond. This is before our people in Rojava and North-East Syria. They should know that; The Turkish state is currently developing such a private and covert war against themselves and they should be cautious accordingly. They should not make themselves targets; they must act to protect themselves. They should know that this is an extraordinary war situation.
There have been recent reports of how the forests of Kurdistan were plundered and great slaughters were made. As a movement, you said stop to some of the tendencies towards the forests of Turkey in the past, and you criticized them. What would you like to say about this at the current stage?
Yes. There is an organization called the Children of Fire Initiative. It was established a few years ago. It is a group of patriots. They use the method of incineration, not weapons. They said, ‘We will hold the enemy accountable; We will be the answer to the martyrs, they say. Organizationally, they have no organic ties to us. Now they also carried out that burning method towards the forests; we criticized We are against the burning of forests. At the moment, the enemy is cutting down all the forests of Garzan, Dersim, Amed and Kurdistan, especially in Botan, but against this, in Turkey, there are so many helicopters, planes and firefighters to protect the forests. It destroys forests in Kurdistan and protects forests in Turkey. There is a great deal of discrimination.
Environmentalists from Turkey have failed in this regard. They react when it comes to the forests of Turkey, but they remain silent in the practices directed towards Kurdistan. If there is so much discrimination, tree massacre, forest massacre, then how can we criticize the Children of Fire! They stated that the enemy discriminated in every respect and said that they had the right to take such actions. Now, if the Children of Fire go out and start fires in Turkey, who can say anything to them! Therefore, intellectuals, environmentalists, those who watch and do nothing against the destruction of Kurdistan’s forests in the face of this natural massacre should prevent it.
In the past, you had various evaluations regarding young people who wanted to join your Movement. You stated that the youth wanted to participate but could not find a way. What would you like to point out about the way to do this?
We know that there are young friends who want to participate. Anyone can contact the states and participate from within to become a guerrilla. In this regard, the guerrillas in the states should abandon the approach that does not accept new fighters. Obstacles that arise with such an approach will also be overcome. This is the way.
Finally, I can state the following; This period we are going through is a very strategic one for our Movement and our people. We want to be an answer to the period on this issue, but for this, every friend and every patriot should take care of their duties. Only on this basis can the people of Kurdistan write their name on success.
