Our Interviews

Parts of an interview with Duran Kalkan, member of the KCK Executive Council, about the need to intensifiy the struggle for the freedom of Abdullah Öcalan, the importance of support for the resistance in Turkey´s prisons, the succesful resistance against Turkey´s attacks on South Kurdistan/North Iraq, the support of the international powers for Turkey´s war crimes in South Kurdistan, Turkey´s latest massacre in the South Kurdish Zaxo area, Turkey´s deliberate ecological destruction in Kurdistan, the feed for a struggle against the consequences of the Treaty of Lausanne, the genocide against the Êzidî population of Şengal [Sinjar] on August 3, 2014 and the upcoming anniversary of the August 15 Offensive:

Need to Intensify Struggle for the Freedom of Abdullah Öcalan

“The aggravated isolation and the ban on visits continue. More precisely, no information has been received from İmralı for seventeen months. The struggle against this continues in every field. In the last program we talked about disciplinary penalties, and those penalties continue. These have been and are being discussed at a certain level. Why are the punishments being given? What do they mean? What do those who run the İmralı torture and isolation system want to achieve with this? It is good to discuss, but of course it is not enough. We also need to do something practical. For example, various conclusions are drawn from these practices that they may lead to certain things. In this case, it is necessary to struggle and take initiatives now already to prevent them. For example, we need to inform the ECHR. What are the reasons for the punishment, why are disciplinary penalties imposed? What does one person do in a place protected by thousands of people and where the state has sovereignty over everyone, so that disciplinary penalties are constantly imposed on this person? What is the situation of the other prisoners? What are the reasons for the disciplinary punishments? It is necessary to ask these questions, to investigate them, to push the relevant institutions more, especially to apply to the European Court of Human Rights. It is necessary to inform the court now already. Preparations are being made for the future. So that various legal rights will not be applied. So that European laws will be nullified. Therefore, for example, the CPT can investigate. The ECHR can investigate the reasons for the sentences. Lawyers should take more initiatives. They have made attempts to go to İmralı. But absolutely no information is given. No rights were granted, neither to the family nor to the lawyers. These applications have continued. It is clear that it is necessary to intensify the struggle. For the physical freedom of Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan], we must intensify the struggle on all fronts in order to overthrow the system of genocide, the system of torture and isolation in İmralı. We must not be satisfied with just discussing about this isse, but we must act practically.”

Importance of Support for Resistance in Turkey´s Prisons

“It was recently announced that comrade Kadir Ekici was martyred in the Amed prison. First of all, I commemorate comrade Kadri Ekici and all our prison şehits [martyrs] with respect and gratitude. I share the pain of their relatives and our people. The prisons are also a major place of resistance. When we are in a total resistance, as a movement and as a people, the prisons cannot be outside such a resistance. There is pressure, there is torture in the prisons. The fascist, genocidal attack is most present there. Living in a prison, living with honor and dignity, with revolutionary goals and ideals of freedom, consitutes the greatest resistance against the prisons. It is said that they don’t release the prionsers although their sentence is over, that they pressure them to confess and to surrender, but they don’t. Therefore, it is obvious that the resistance in the prisons will intensify and deepen. Because there is no government as aggressive, fascist, genocidal, racist, chauvinist and cruel as AKP and MHP fascism. Therefore, we need to support this resistance from outside. It is necessary to struggle, not to ask the state to do something or to try to reconcile those in prison with the state. So families should also organize. Society should be sensitive. Everyone should increase their struggle. We need show interested for the prisoners and support them.”

Succesful Resistance Against Turkey´s Attacks on South Kurdistan/North Iraq

“First of all, on behalf of the PKK leadership, I salute the leadership and fighting forces of the HPG and YJA Star who carried out the recent Mamreşo attack. I salute them wholeheartedly, I congratulate them on their success and I wish them continued success. There are two reasons for why I am mentioning Mamreşo. One, it happened on July 24th. This July 24th is a very important date. This is the day the Lausanne Treaty was signed, the day the Kurdish genocide treaty was signed. Secondly, on July 24, 2015, Turkey´s invasion attacks started. On the basis of the ´Submission Plan´, this was the beginning of the invasion attacks that AKP and MHP fascism, supported by the USA and KDP, developed to occupy the Medya Defense Zones, to occupy North and East Syria and to destroy the July 19 revolution there. Carrying out this attack on such a day is a response to all this. Also, the heroes of Mamreşo were massacred with chemical weapons on July 24. On the first anniversary of that day, they have been avenged. This is very important. The second thing that Mamreşo was the first place where the invasion attack against Zap, Avaşîn and Metîna started on the evening of April 23, 2021. The most fighting took place in Mamreşo in April, May, June and July 2021. Now that the guerrilla has carried out such an effective attack in Mamreşo, what is the conclusion? Since April 2021, AKP-MHP fascism has been unable to achieve any results in its occupation attacks against Zap, Avaşîn and Metîna. At thevery place where this attack started, the guerrilla has now carried out a revenge action by striking a fatal blow. This means that the Turkish state has not been able to establish full control in any place.”

“It had happened before, for example in Şukê. It happened again between the waters of Basya and Avaşîn. In other words, there are guerrillas in all areas up to Cilo, up to Çarçela. They are waging war. There are guerrillas on the front lines in Zap, Şikefta Birindara, Mamreşo. This clearly shows the state of the war. In other words, the war, the guerrilla is everywhere, and the enemy is trying to hold on to certain parts of the area. In other words, it is trying to consolidate its foothold. If possible, they are trying to build roads, trying to protect themselves, especially from the air. But there is fighting every day. Our Central Headquarters Command also published this. The Turkish army and the guerrilla are positioned very close to each other. There is a hand-to-hand battle. At a distance of a hundred meters, they are fighting against each other. So this is the current situation. This is the point AKP-MHP fascism has been able to reach in the course of its occupation attacks in the last 2 years. In other words, it has not been able to occupy anywhere completely. It has only been able to settle in certain places.”

“What is the situation of the combatants? The HPG Press Center releases balance sheets on a daily basis. Our Central Headquarters Command publishes monthly balance sheets. It has also published a quarterly balance sheet. The results are obvious. It is obvious that AKP-MHP fascism has been hit very hard. The guerrilla also announces its şehits [martyrs]. They announce them on a daily basis. We have taken a decision which our headquarters is implementing: We will publish the balance sheets daily in this war. So that everyone can be informed. Because this is a war that concerns everyone. In this sense, we publish all the information available to us. It is obvious what the situation of the soldiers sent by the AKP-MHP fascism is. Turkey´s Minister of Defense came to the area the other day. The Chief of General Staff came all the way to Çelê, almost to the places of clashes. They asked him why he was coming. He said there is a need for morale. Their morale has clearly fallen. The whole Turkish army has a real Zap syndrome. This is very obvious. In fact, there is an Avashîn syndrome, there is a Metîna syndrome, there is a Kurdistan syndrome. It is not only in the armed forces, but actually in the whole state. This is actually a Kurdistan syndrome for Turkish state officials. Just like what happened in Sur, just like what happened in Nusaybin. Now they are experiencing a very similar situation. The guerrilla is really acting heroically. No force can fight like the guerrilla in Zap. The guerrilla is creating the greatest victories in the history of warfare. It will definitely bring this to a conclusion. It will win the greatest military victory in history in Zap. Step by step it is paving the way for this victory. We hope that very soon it will lead to a decisive victory. Because the guerrilla´s team and tunnel warfare has developed into a coordinated style. Every day, the guerrilla carries out dozens of actions, killing and wounding dozens. It has achieved a great superiority. The guerrilla definitely has the superiority of movement in the field on the ground; it controls and attacks. Turkey´s air force is trying to limit the guerrilla with fighter jets, helicopters, reconnaissance planes, and keep the Turkish army alive. What is the effect of this on the AKP-MHP administration? It is attacking everywhere in a frenzy. We see how deep the collapse of AKP-MHP fascism has become. It is committing massacres. It is carrying out more and more attacks. It is selling Turkey and its opportunities even more than before. It resorts to more forbidden weapons. It commits war crimes.”

Support of International Powers for Turkey´s War Crimes in South Kurdistan

“This situation of committing war crimes continues. The use of chemical weapons is being reported daily by the HPG Press Center. They state what kind of chemical weapons are used and what kind of effects they have based on the available information. On the other hand, tactical nuclear bombs are being used. Our Central Headquarters has also stated that thermobaric bombs are being used. This is a kind of tactical nuclear bomb. The Turks call it a mini atomic bomb. We have proof for this. They have been using them very widely in the Media Defense Zones since 2017. They themselves have confessed this. According to the documents we have, they used this bomb the most in the tunnels in Efrin. The Republic of Turkey cannot make this bomb. They openly say that they cannot make it. Who is making it? The United States of America, Britain, Germany, France. Where does the Turkish state get it from to use it in Afrin, in the Media Defense Zones, in Serêkaniyê? It takes them from these states and uses them. Last time we addressed the NATO General Secretariat, the US administration, the Pentagon. The Turkish state is using NATO bombs. In other words, it is using bombs that do not belong to it. It is using forbidden bombs. We still haven’t received an answer on this issue, but we are waiting for an explanation. The public is waiting for an explanation. This is a serious issue. With what do the enemies attack the Kurdish guerrilla? They attack with NATO and US bombs. And with forbidden bombs. This needs to be explained. Of course, this issue needs to be discussed publically even more. In other words, it is necessary for Kurds and our friends to expose this situation more, and to increase the struggle against the use of forbidden weapons.”

Turkey´s Latest Massacre in the South Kurdish Zaxo Area

“First of all, I respectfully commemorate the Arab citizens who were martyred in the Perex massacre. I share the pain of the Iraqi Arab people and their relatives. I express my condolences. This is a clear massacre. I think the Perex massacre and the Qamişlo massacre, the massacre of Jiyan Tolhildan and her friends, should be considered together. They happened one after the other. Two massacres, one on July 20 and one on July 22. Secondly, Tayyip Erdoğan is still denying them, trying to get away with claiming that they didn’t do it. He has asked NATO for permission to attack North and East Syria. Then, on July 19, he went to Tehran and asked for permission there. He didn’t get it from either sides. It has been claimed that he got it from NATO, but then the US announced that it was against such an attack. At the Tehran summit, both Russia and Iran clearly stated that such an attack would destabilize the situation and that they were against it. Even before he returned, Tayyip Erdoğan called for a meeting of the National Security Council. Immediately afterwards, the National Security Council convened. And as soon as the meeting was over, the Perex massacre happened. There is no need to discuss who did it, whether it was conscious or organized. These massacres were decided at the Turkish National Security Council. We are faced with conscious, planned and organized massacres that were decided at this level. Why such massacres? Turkey is stuck in Zap. It can neither advance nor retreat. There is no possibility of escape. There is no possibility to create more progress and development. The longer this situation continues, the more it collapses. Turkey has also entered the election process. The AKP-MHP administration is finished. So it is counting its last days.”

“Therefore, AKP-MHP fascism needs a success that will restore its power. By attacking and occupying some areas of Rojava and reviving Turkish nationalism, they are trying to see if they can win elections by force, oppression and fraud. Having failed to achieve this, these massacres were actually a threat to those who obstruct him. Iraq and Iran were threatened with the Perex massacre. The coalition was threatened with the Qamishlo massacre. The coalition had not made a statement until now, but condemned the massacre of Jiyan Tolhildan and his friends. Why did it condemn it? Because the attack was directed against the Coalition. It understood and responded in this way. So the AKP is looking for the following: What will happen if I attack without authorization? It is testing the pulse. It insists on carrying out an attack. In other words, if AKP-MHP fascism finds an opportunity, they will attack Rojava, North and East Syria. Everyone should know this and be prepared. Moreover, Turkey may develop an internal conflict and civil war in Iraq. The Perex massacre also has this dimension. In other words, it can provoke an internal conflict and war. There are also preparations for this. There is yet another dimension of the Perex massacre. Yes, it is true what the HPG announced. Turkey insists on depopulating the area. It has depopulated all the other surrounding villages. The village of Perex did not go. Because it is a very important place. Those villagers insisted on staying. Beyond the villagers, hundreds of tourists come there regularly. It is a very important touristic area in such a hot summer. Therefore, the villagers did not leave, but Turkey deliberately hit the village to depopulate it. So, if Perex is emptied, will the Turkish state have achieved its goal? No, it won’t. AKP-MHP have a map. We know it. If it succeeds to occupy the Media Defense Zones and if it occupies the map it has drawn by occupying new areas in Rojava and North and East Syria, it will also occupy Zaxo. This is the requirement of the Misak ı Milli. This is the requirement of the map Tayyip Erdoğan has drawn as a security zone. He will evacuate all the villages of Zaxo. In fact, he will also evacuate the city center of Zaxo. So after Perex, the villages in the plain will be next. He wants to evacuate the whole area. If it cannot be prevented, the Tayyip Erdoğan administration will attack Rojava, it will want to create internal conflict in Iraq, it will create instability, and it will depopulate more villages. Everybody must be aware of this. Now there have been reactions regarding this issue and it is being evaluated. There were less reactions in South Kurdistan. There should definitely have been more. The KDP prevented this but that cannot be an excuse in such a situation. In other words, society and the patriotic dynamics of society should be more sensitive. If they won’t react at a time like this, when else will they react? But the reaction of the people in Baghdad, in the Arab areas, was good. We salute those mass reactions. By necessity, both the state and the administrations reacted internationally, but of course the reaction of the people forced them to do so. They went all the way to the United Nations. The Security Council met and issued a condemnation. The Iraqi state wants the Turkish army to leave its territory. But it is not clear how much they will insist on this. It is not clear how far the United Nations, the Iraqi state and various states will take these condemnations. It depends on the attitude of the society. It depends on the attitude of the Iraqi society and the South Kurdistish society. It depends on their reaction. Everybody should know this. Otherwise, they are states, they will reconcile among themselves. No one should be fooled by such a few words. What they say now can be forgotten tomorrow.”

“On the other hand, the place that should have reacted the most was Turkey. There was no reaction at all. I mean, apart from a few limited statements by the democratic revolutionary forces, there was no social reaction, nothing. Something interesting happened. Instead of condemning this situation, the so-called opposition CHP sent a get well soon message to the Foreign Ministry. Get well soon for what? I mean, such a situation, outside its own borders, within the borders of another state. They kill 9 people and injure 30. If any government did this anywhere else in the world, they would immediately overthrow it. The opposition would go and occupy the government office. In Turkey, the opposition says get well soon to the government instead of overthrowing it. I mean, this is really too much. These massacres were carried out in the name of Turkish society. Where are the workers, women, youth, civil servants? Where are the patriotic, sensitive, democratic circles? In other words, the power that is supposed to be governing in their name is slaughtering Kurds and Arabs. It organizes gangs in different parts of the world in the Middle East and attacks and massacres people. Are they going to put up with this? What does this have to do with democracy, brotherhood and solidarity? Turkish society and the revolutionary democratic forces and the opposition should evaluate themselves and their situation much better. In fact, with something like this, the AKP-MHP government should have fallen, the fact that it did not fall is not due to its own power. This shows that they didn’t want it to fall. This means that there is a fake opposition. In other words, there is no power that wants to govern. This reality has once again become clear.”

Turkey´s Deliberate Ecological Destruction in Kurdistan

“We need to focus more extensively on the logging and forest destruction in Şırnak, Besta, Dersim and Bitlis. In previous years they used to burn them. They didn’t get results with that. The more they burned them, the thicker the forest grew. Now they are clearing them, cutting them down. They say eight percent is already gone. So of course this should be seen as an ecological attack. In this sense, Kurdish nature is being deforested. But Kurdistan is a part of this world, it is the property of everyone. The whole world breathes the oxygen it creates. It is an attack against humanity. An ecological attack. Where are the ecologists? One wonders, no one makes a sound. On the other hand, we cannot see this only as an ecological attack. This is a special war attack, a special war method. In other words, the Turkish state is doing this as a necessity of war. In 1994, they burned, destroyed and evacuated villages. It was a special war attack. They said that in order to catch the fish, it is necessary to dry the water. In other words, evacuating the villages and the people in order to leave the guerrilla without the people. They burned, destroyed and evacuated those villages as a requirement of the war against the guerrilla. Now they are doing the same thing with nature, they are destroying it as a method of special warfare so that the forces of freedom cannot take shelter, so that the guerrilla cannot move. They are deforesting the area. At this point, we can say that there has never been an administration as anti-Kurdish, anti-human, fascist, genocidal, racist and massacring as the administration of Tayyip Erdoğan and Devlet Bahçeli. For 2 years this cutting down of forests has been happening. Nothing has happened against this so far. The attention of the press is not enough. They say the state should prevent these kinds of things from happening. The executioner is expected to do good. Thus, they want this to be prevented. The executioner himself is doing this. Therefore, he won´t prevent it. So you have to do something, you have to prevent this yourself. This cutting down of forests also constitutes a war crime. So there are more opportunities to fight against this. Not doing so is really a big deficiency.”

Need for Struggle Against Consequences of the Treaty of Lausanne

“The year of the 100th anniversary of Lausanne, the Kurdish genocide treaty, has just begun. October will also mark the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey, the state founded on the basis of that agreement. The 100th year is important for the agreement. Forces like the CHP want the treaty to continue as it is. AKP-MHP found the agreement insufficient. The Turkish state gave some areas of of the Misak-ı Milli to other states. They set themselves the target of 2023, saying that Turkey should take all of these areas back. They want to update and change the Misak-ı Milli and the Lausanne Treaty on the basis of Misak-ı Milli. On the basis of forcibly adding the Kurdish territories in South Kurdistan and Rojava to the Turkish Republic. They have already taken some of these areas back. Now they are making new efforts with regards to this goal. Of course, the Kurds also want this treaty, which ignores the Kurds and subjected them to genocide, to be abolished, they want it to be renewed. This is quite understandable. Because with the Treaty of Lausanne, a sovereign state was established over Kurdistan. The state of the Republic of Turkey encompasses more than half of Kurdistan. But in this agreement, the Kurds have no name, no place. Kurds were ignored and a sovereign state was established over Kurdistan. And that state started an attack to destroy the ignored Kurds. For 100 years, the genocide of Kurds has been promoted based on that agreement. The agreement denies and ignores the Kurds. The state established by the treaty carries out all kinds of economic, political, military, cultural, ideological and psychological attacks to destroy them. It carries out massacres and genocide. The Kurds held a conference against this as they entered the centenary year. It was a good conference, we salute it. It really expressed an important stance. What did it show? `As the people ignored by this treaty, we Kurds exist, we are conscious, we are organized, we know ourselves. We have the power to govern ourselves. We want to govern ourselves.´ This has been made very clear. This will be the attitude that Kurds will constantly put forward in the centenary year. They should put it forward as much as they can. So the conference could have been even stronger. It was good, it showed a good attitude, but it could have been much stronger. We should not consider what we have as enough, we need to strengthen it much more from now on. It is necessary to reveal more clearly the level of Kurdish maturity, organization, power and determination for self-administration.”

“On this basis, we need to go to the UN, to the states that are parties to the agreement: ´You are party to this agreement, but this agreement ignores us. But we exist and we are organized. We want to govern ourselves. If you don’t accept our right to govern, your function as a government will disappear. It is necessary to wage a much more intense and effective struggle on this basis so that you can maintain this, that is, you must accept our right to govern ourselves.´ Kurds have never accepted this agreement. They rebelled and resisted in 1925 against the new genocidal approach of the state established with this treaty when the 1924 Constitution ignored the Kurds. In fact, when this tendency became more visible, when the Parliament was opened in Ankara in 1920, Koçgîri revolted. They said, ´You will give us the right to govern ourselves.´ And then came the Ağrı and Dersim revolts. It was not only in the North. Kurds in South Kurdistan and East Kurdistan never recognized this agreement either. The most organized and holistic attitude against the agreement has been developed by Leader Apo and the PKK. For 50 years there has been a great struggle against it. This struggle has spread all over Kurdistan. It has spread to the four parts of Kurdistan and has also included the Kurds abroad. Now Kurdish consciousness has developed its own language and organization. It has developed the Kurdish power for self-administration. Therefore, it has rendered the borders inoperable. In fact, the Kurdish freedom struggle has actually nullified the agreement. But the desire of AKP-MHP fascism is to update the agreement by expanding it to the level of Misak-ı Milli and to raise the genocide of the Kurdish genocide to the level of a global agreement again. It is absolutely necessary not to not allow them to do that. No one can or should accept this. This is a genocide situation. No one can legitimize this crime, no one can find it right. Therefore, in the centenary year, this treaty must be abolished and the Kurdish genocide must cease to be a legal agreement. For this, there is also a need for a legal struggle. But of course, the main thing is to further develop the struggle for freedom on the basis of national unity and organization.”

Genocide Against the Êzidî Population of Şengal [Sinjar] on August 3, 2014

“Here, a solution has been sought for 8 years. It is entering the 9th year. Various decisions have been taken. They were taken between the Hewlêr [Erbil] and Baghdad administrations. There were constant attacks by Turkey. When Daesh was defeated, Turkey stepped in and is trying to complete these attacks. Massacres are carried out with air strikes. The Êzidî community wants to have its own self-administration and develop a democratic autonomy system. They do not want to face such a genocidal massacre again. They want to have the power to defend and protect themselves. They don’t want to beg for help from others. Nobody is giving support anyway. In 2014, the PKK supported them. In previous massacres and Fermans, there was no PKK and no one gave any support. This society went through severe genocides. There is a great struggle. We need to continue this struggle with determination. Of course, it is necessary to be careful, to develop appropriate ways and methods and to be resolute. But it is absolutely necessary to develop a level, organization and administration in Şengal that will not allow a genocide to happen again, that will completely block the way for genocidal and massacring attacks. When the genocide in Şengal was prevented by more than 100 şehits, the Baghdad administration greeted and congratulated the PKK and its guerrillas. They stated that they defended humanity and kept the honor of humanity alive in Iraq. Today, the same PKK guerrillas are resisting against the AKP-MHP aggression and occupation in Metîna, Heftanin, Zap and Zaxo. Here, the Turkish Republic is committing massacres like in Perex. Similar massacres took place in many areas of the Medya Defense Zones, in many areas of the territories within Iraqi borders, and the PKK resisted against them. Just as it tried to prevent the genocidal invasion of Daesh, the PKK guerrillas are resisting here to prevent the AKP-MHP genocidal invasion, that is, to protect the honor of Iraq, to protect the honor of humanity in Iraq. Just as the resistance against Daesh in Şengal was seen as honorable, the resistance in Heftanin, Metîna, Zap and Xakurkê should also be seen as honorable. If the Baghdad administration is not going to be full of contradictions, if there is going to be a unified administration, if different governments are going to defend similar understandings, then they need to see that the resistance in Zap and Avashîn, as in Şengal, and the resistance fighters are protecting the honor of Iraq and the honor of humanity in Iraq. The guerrilla fighters are heroically resisting by sacrificing their lives. Therefore, it is necessary to salute them too. Only then will the consistency of what has been said about the resistance against the Daesh genocide in Şengal be shown. We hope that this will be the case. On this basis, I once again salute the resistance against the Daesh genocide and commemorate the martyrs with respect and gratitude.”

Upcoming Anniversary of August 15 Offensive

“We have entered a new August, a month of breakthrough and victory for us. This August 15th is the thirty-ninth August on the basis of the 1984 revolutionary guerrilla breakthrough. We are completing the thirty-eighth year of the August 15 Breakthrough. August 15th was a great and historic breakthrough. It brought about great developments. In fact, it carried the decision to resist for freedom, which was made in the prisons in ’82, to the mountain, to the guerrilla, and took it to the people. It turned it into a guerrilla and popular resistance. On the basis of this breakthrough, the most powerful revolutions of thought in history have taken place. SInce then, the greatest libertarian, practical developments and revolutions have taken place. The revolution of national revival took place. The women’s freedom revolution developed. The Rojava freedom revolution took place. The organization of Democratic Nation consciousness is developing in every field. 5 thousand years of power and state system, 5 hundred years of capitalist modernity system, against all the weight and insolubility of the problems that have emerged, as a method of solving these problems, the Democratic Nation solution against the insolubility of the nation state emerges on this basis. This is how we should understand August 15th. It consitutes a day of national resurrection for the Kurds. It became a day of the guerrilla. Consciousness, organization, will, passion for free life, courage, sacrifice, everything was gained with this breakthrough. On this basis, I congratulate all comrades, especially Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan], our guerrilla forces, our people and our friends on the day of national resurrection and guerrilla. I commemorate the immortal commanders of the breakthrough, comrades Agit and Zilan, and all the martyrs of the breakthrough in their person with respect, love and gratitude. With the August 15th breakthrough, the new Kurdistan became a fortress of resistance. A new human and social stance and life emerged for men and women. Today, the spirit of August 15th is in Zap. It lives in Avaşîn and Metîna. The guerrilla fights with the spirit of August 15th, the spirit of breakthrough and victory. Our people and friends in the four parts of Kurdistan and abroad are resisting with the spirit of August 15th. The people are resisting for freedom under the leadership of Leader Apo and our party with the greatest courage, sacrifice and spirit of victory. August 15 represents this. It is necessary to struggle every day of August with the spirit of August 15, to raise our Dem Dema Azadiyê [´Time for Freedom] capaign aiming for the physical freedom of Leader Apo and our 50th anniversary resistance in every field with the spirit of August 15. I call on all comrades, our people and friends to adopt such an attitude and raise the resistance on this basis.”