our interviews

To get straight into our conversation, we would first like to take a look at the past few weeks. March in particular is a month of great significance for your movement. Historically, this month has seen critical developments for Kurdistan, and within it, many important people have given their lives for the freedom struggle. Last but not least, Newroz and the week from the 21st to the 28th, which your movement calls ‘Heroism Week’, are also part of March. What significance and impact do these developments still have today?

In the past month, some precious people, such as Mother Sakine (Sakine Arat), one of our precious mothers who fulfilled an important role in our struggle, and Heci Ehmedi, one of the founders of PJAK, who has an important place in the freedom struggle of Eastern Kurdistan, as well as all four parts of Kurdistan, have become martyrs. Both have made significant contributions to this struggle and will always be remembered.

On this occasion, and since it is the month of Newroz, I also want to gratefully and respectfully remember our modern-day Kawa comrade Mazlum Dogan, as well as the comrades Zekiye Alkan, Rahshan Demirel, Ronahi, and Berivan, whose struggle has made Newroz what it is today.

As you mentioned, March 21-28 was also the Heroism Week, and in this context I would also like to commemorate comrade Mahsum Korkmaz. Mahsum Korkmaz’s place in this struggle is well known. His stance and attitude played a very decisive role in the mobilization of the people, in the initiation and development of the armed struggle. We will always remember him as people and keep him alive in our struggle.

I also want to take the opportunity to respectfully commemorate three martyrs of the early stage of our struggle, who gave their lives on March 28, 1980, in Shikestun, Merdin (tr. Yaykili, Mardin); Mehmet Kurt, Ahmet Kurt, and Salman Dogru. They were some of the most important militants at the beginning of our struggle. They were really valuable comrades. We were in prison when they were martyred.

Then again I want to gratefully and respectfully commemorate Abdurrahman Timoki, who was also martyred this month. He was a valuable person, a man of religion, a man of faith, and in his last years he became an Apoist. He had joint the PKK member, because he found all the positive values that he searched for in the religion he believed in, in Islam, in our party. He saw that our party kept alive the real moral, conscientious, and social values that he believed in. He became a true Apoist. So much so that at that age, after joining the party, he did community work in Aleppo. Maybe this is little known, but he did public work in Aleppo as part of a committee assigned by Rêber Apo¹ himself. Because he saw the development of the PKK’s struggle as the realization of his own goals and values. He remained committed to this movement until his last breath. I remember him with gratitude and respect.

The month of March also brought along even more historically significant developments. Like the execution and martyrdom of the leaders of the Mahabad Republic, Qazi Muhammad and his friends, in Eastern Kurdistan after its collapse. I also commemorate them with gratitude. They too have a very important and prominent place in the memory of the freedom-struggling Kurdish people. They played a great role in the continuation of the Kurdish uprising and in the revival of the Kurdish passion for freedom. They have also made a great contribution to today’s struggle, which can be seen as a response to their legacy, as the PKK is the continuation of the struggle of the martyrs who gave their lives for a free Kurdistan. The PKK keeps their memories and struggles alive. It was like this in the past, it is like this in the present, and it will be like this in the future.

Of course, there are many other martyrs we need to commemorate. There is for example the martyrdom of Mahir Cayan and his friends on March 30, 1972 in Kizildere. Mahir Cayan is a very important leader of the revolutionary movement in Turkey. If there is a leftist tradition, a revolutionary spirit in Turkey today, then Mahir Cayan’s thoughts and practice have had a very important impact in creating, sustaining and carrying this tradition until today. Rêber Apo is big a sympathizer of Mahir Cayan. In fact, when Mahir Cayan was murdered in Kizildere, Rêber Apo led the boycott at the Faculty of Political Sciences, the university where Mahir Cayan had studied. He was young then, just a freshman. He was not in any organization, just a revolutionary sympathizer, a sympathizer of Mahir Cayan. Because of this leadership he was imprisoned for about seven months. It was in this period when Deniz, Yusuf and Huseyin were executed. The struggle and resistance of Mahir Cayan had an impact on our struggle, and they still are alive in our struggle. I also want to remember them with gratitude and respect.

Something else drastic also happened a few years ago in the month of March. It was in Mush where 14 of our guerrilla fighters had been brutally massacred with chemical weapons. This created a great outrage and anger in Amed (tr. Diyarbakir) and all of Kurdistan. The uprisings that followed this month in Amed were some of the most important actions in the history of Kurdistan. The spirit of resistance, the militancy, the patriotism, and the general will to struggle of the people of Kurdistan were clearly seen. That month, Amed recreated itself once again. In fact, throughout our 50 years of struggle, the people of Kurdistan have been constantly recreating themselves. The spirit of Amed is the spirit of Kurdistan. Amed’s resistance is the resistance of Kurdistan. Amed’s measures of patriotism and struggle also express the measures of patriotism and struggle of all Kurdistan. It raised not only its own standards of struggle, patriotism, and resistance, but also the standards of patriotism, struggle, and resistance of the entire Kurdistan people. On the occasion of this month, while commemorating those 14 comrades with gratitude and respect, I salute once again the people of Amed who stood up.

Can you elaborate on the meaning of these martyrdoms? In particular, with regard to the beginning of this movement and the role that people’s leader Abdullah Ocalan also played in this beginning? And also what this led to?

We have just passed the Heroism Week. Of course, this is a symbolic week, but looking at today’s reality all the guerrilla fighters have become heroes, the whole people have become heroes. This is the result of 50 years of struggle. And it was the great sacrifice of Rêber Apo who created the beginning. In those conditions when Kurdishness and Kurdistan were almost forgotten and made to be forgotten, when fighting for Kurds and Kurdistan was considered the biggest crime, Rêber Apo took the risk and started the struggle and showed a great example of sacrifice. This is how it should be understood. In fact, when Rêber Apo said, “Kurdistan is a colony,” he was almost whispering at the time. Because the emergence of a new, radical organization, an organization that would change the fate of Kurdistan, meant the greatest enmity, the greatest danger for the Turkish state. Rêber dared to do this.

That is the way on how Rêber Apo’s steps in those years should be evaluated. At that time, the Turkish left was influential, particularly among the youth. There were also some groups among the Kurdish youth, groups like Rizgari or DDKD; they were mostly reformist nationalists or collaborationist nationalists. In this environment, forming a separate group needed courage, and it was a very difficult but important step. From the very first day, the group was both excluded by the leftist forces in Turkey and perceived as the other and despised by Kurdish groups. When the group first emerged, both a significant part of the Turkish left and some Kurdish groups were ridiculing it, saying, “Apo has taken 15-20 people with him and is going to establish Kurdistan”. They were belittling and laughing. Back then, Rêber Apo stated: “The revolution in Kurdistan is not easy; it is difficult. If we are going to develop as a group, if we are going to carry out this struggle, we will have to face these difficulties. Everyone must be ready to take the upcoming risks”. In other words, he did not fantasize about the ease of the revolution. He was very clear and told us that the conditions are as difficult as they get, that there are no prepared opportunities that we can simply grab for, and that we are in a period of great chaos, with a harsh geography and a cruel enemy. In fact, when describing the reality of the society of Kurdistan at that time, in order to show how deep the colonial domination was, in order to reflect how sensitive society was, he used the expression “There is almost no Kurd left who has not betrayed himself”. When he said this, he meant that there is hardly a personality, a thought, or a stance that can show will and dare to put up a serious struggle against this genocidal colonialism. It was clear that nothing could be reached just through some words, phrases, and slogans.

Rêber Apo analyzed the absence of such a thought and feeling, the lack of such an understanding of resistance, and the absence of such an attitude. Of course, there still was the Kurdish, but there was no willful stance that could prevent and stop the genocidal and colonialist policies of the Turkish state. At that time, there was a social reality that was struggling in a genocidal-colonialist siege. From such a social reality, a sacrificial army emerged, a sacrificial people emerged. How was this possible? Rêber Apo criticized the Kurdish people, revealing their shortcomings and inadequacies. And of course, while criticizing the Kurds, he also criticized himself. He always said that the personality in Kurdistan had not yet been created and that this would only be possible at all through struggle. This approach gave birth to the self-sacrificial militancy and mentality.

Rêber Apo has a deep-rooted patriotism and a deep-rooted passion for freedom. With these, and with his approach, he was able to unleash the strongest anger in the people against the genocidal colonialism raging in Kurdistan. Through this, he was able to create this self-sacrificial militancy and mentality and this great people’s resistance. Because if you don’t feel the oppression and pressure exerted on you deeply, if your anger doesn’t come out, if you can’t grasp its depth, you can’t put up a great struggle. This is one of the most important effects of Rêber Apo. He creates this kind of anger, consciousness, and passion for freedom in everyone, regardless of who. Just as Kemal Pir said, “I love life so much that I would die for it,” Rêber Apo set forth a goal, a life that people are ready to make sacrifices for. It is Rêber Apo’s sacrificial personality that, for example, made at all possible the death fast of July 14th in the prison. It is the spirit of Rêber Apo. It is the anger, the spirit of struggle, the passion for freedom that Rêber Apo has created against the genocidal colonialists, which has revealed this dimension of resistance in the prison.

For more than 50 years, Rêber Apo has been pioneering this and thus paved the way for hundreds and thousands of militants from Mazlum to Mahsum, from Asya to Rojger. All of these have arisen from Rêber Apo’s passion for freedom, the depth and consciousness created by his commitment to the cause, and the emergence of this in society and cadres.

In this context, we also want to turn to Newroz, now that all the celebrations in Kurdistan, and also abroad, are gradually over. What can you tell us about the significance of Newroz in general? And how do you assess the expression of this year’s festivities?

The festivities on the occasion of this year’s Newroz were indeed a peak. I’m not just saying this for the sake of saying it; it really was. The stance, excitement, enthusiasm, and embrace of the society emerged beyond what we expected. That is why we are speaking of the ‘Newroz People’, that is why Rêber Apo gave the Kurdish people this title. By the people of Newroz, he means a people of resistance, a people who create themselves through resistance. The greater the power and impact of Newroz, the greater the expression of the reality of the people. Newroz and the people’s reality are intertwined. Because Newroz is the most fundamental cultural value of the Kurdish people. It is a value that keeps the passion for freedom alive.

In the 1970s, especially in northern Kurdistan, the foundation of Newroz was again prepared. The first true Newroz that I participated in was in 1977 in Dilok (tr. Antep). It was our first big Newroz. We piled tires on all the hills, on all the big intersections of Dilok, and then we simultaneously lit up the banks of the city and all the piles of tires. The people of Dilok who didn’t know about Newroz – whether Turkish or Kurdish – were surprised. Everyone was wondering what was going on, why there was fire all over the city. From that day to today, every year Newroz has grown, developing itself further, gaining more depth of meaning, and being embraced by a wider part of society. The Kurdish people have also grown and developed; their striving for freedom and democracy has strengthened and developed. This passion of Newroz also means the rise and deepening of the Kurdish people’s passion for freedom, for democracy, for justice, and their desire to live according to their own values. These people cannot be annihilated anymore, their history cannot be denied anymore, and their struggle cannot be prevented anymore.

That is why Newroz is not just a day. One has to look at what it means for Kurds, what it means for Kurdistan, and for all the peoples of the Middle East. With this year’s Newroz, the Kurdish people expressed that they are ready to be the pioneers of the struggle for freedom and democracy not only for themselves but for all the Middle East. The passion for freedom, for democracy, and for justice for the people, the attitude of struggle against injustice… The fact that this has become so widespread in society, regardless of age, proves what level the Kurdish social reality has reached as a result of the tradition of Newroz and the decades of struggle.

Newroz in all parts of Kurdistan was very special this year. It was an indicator of the level reached by the results of fifty years of struggle. At the same time, there was a great embrace of the call made by Rêber Apo on February 27th. As we always say, the Newroz of each year is the struggle program of that year. It is like the annual people’s congress. In other words, there the people clarify how to fight that year and what the goals have to be. This year’s Newroz was all about the embracement and support of Rêber Apo’s message of February 27 by the Kurdish people. Rêber Apo’s call and the photo from Imrali motivated the society, and a great energy emerged. It is Rêber Apo who has created this people’s reality. Everyone should appreciate and realize the values created by the PKK under the leadership of Rêber Apo. This is not something ordinary. We see what kind of a “Kurdish climate” there is in the Middle East. Without Rêber Apo, without this struggle, would there have been any gains in southern Kurdistan? Could achievements have been made in Rojava? When one talks about the greatness of Newroz, one needs to see what created this vitality and what the results of it are.

You have just mentioned the call by peoples leader Abdullah Ocalan and the associated process regarding the Kurdish question. Please, could you elaborate on the current situation in this regard?

Rêber Apo has made a call. In fact, Devlet Bahceli had said, “Let him make a call that the organization will be dissolved, that the war will stop, then the ‘Right to Hope’ will come into play.” So Rêber Apo made the call. He called both for the organization to dissolve itself and for the armed struggle to stop. But for this, he said that a congress must be convened and that he must direct this congress. These issues were discussed and evaluated in Imrali. Comrade Besê and Abbas already drew attention to this. Within a week or ten days, Rêber Apo’s conditions were to change with the call. But no steps were taken. So, what are we to believe? It was said that the call should be made and the so-called ‘Right to Hope’ would come into play. The call was made, but the ‘Right to Hope’ did not come into play. It was said that the conditions in Imrali would change; they did not. It was said that Rêber Apo would regain free working and living conditions; this did not happen either.

This situation raises concerns about what the AKP-MHP government aims for and calculates. The Kurdish question is a big question, issues such as the silence of weapons, the organization’s self-dissolution… These are not simple. They themselves have been a problem for the Turkish state for 50 years. Demirel also called it “the biggest rebellion in a thousand years”. So now, is this how they will approach it? It is not a situation to be approached with such narrow, simple, ordinary party interests. We were waiting, and so was Rêber Apo. We expected steps to be taken; we expected the talks to continue. What happened? No delegations are going to Imrali. This seems to be a stalling, a holding pattern. Actually, there are promises. Both Bahceli’s promise and various promises that had been given in Imrali are not being fulfilled. It is again us that have to act cold-blooded. Rêber Apo is also being calm and patient. But there is a limit. This is not the way to approach a people’s party, leader, and organization. This is an unserious attitude. Their words have no value. They themselves were saying, “Let’s speed it up!”, “Let’s get quick results.” Where is it? There is great suspicion. From the very beginning, we said that we had our doubts about the approach of the Turkish state. The fact that no steps have been taken has increased these doubts even more. Maybe we will wait a little longer and see if something will develop. But if steps are not taken again, if promises are not fulfilled, we cannot wait like this. We will have to evaluate differently. We will reveal more clearly what this approach means.

One has to laugh when the AKP-MHP fascist government keeps saying ‘legislation’ when it comes to abolishing the Imrali torture system. What kind of ‘legislation’ is that supposed to be? If it suits them, it is applied, or amended if necessary, but if it doesn’t suit them, they pretend there is no legislation. They don’t listen to anyone, neither to the European Union nor to the Constitutional Court in Turkey. When they talk about ‘legislation’, it is a mockery. Now they say, for example, that the ‘Right to Hope’ is not in it. Turkey is a country in the Council of Europe; it has accepted the supremacy of the laws of the European Union over its own laws, and it has accepted that international laws are supra-constitutional. The European Court has already said, “Implement the Right to Hope”. It had said this long before. If they want anything to happen, they can do it immediately if they want to. Which legislation will prevent them? Both Rêber Apo and our movement always say this. And this is also generally expressed in the democratic arena. Laws need to be passed immediately. We have said this, and so has the opposition within the state. This must be taken to parliament. The parliament is above everything; it makes the laws, and it has to decide. But in reality, the laws that Erdogan wants are passed; the ones he doesn’t want are not. What the palace says goes. Almost all of the opposition says that they wouldn’t refuse the change. They point out that even the constitutional articles can be changed. All parties demand the problem be solved in parliament. So this “legislative issue” that the government is bringing up is just an excuse, a distraction.

It is clear that those who oppose the ceasefire are those who want the war to continue. In fact, there is a certain group in Turkey that wants the war to continue. They benefit from rent and the pretext of “fighting terrorism”. As long as the war continues, some people gain rent. They also use the war as an excuse to suppress the opposition and terrorize everyone. Even the legal parties are labeled as “associated with terrorism”. There is also this aspect of the issue. Those who do not want to lose these justifications want the war to continue. Now Rêber Apo has made a call, and the PKK will convene its congress, dissolve itself, and stop the armed struggle. For this, two things must happen. First, safe conditions must be ensured for the congress to convene. In other words, the attacks must stop. Second, Rêber Apo must participate in the congress and guide it. No party can be dissolved without a congress. There is no other way. Even if, for example, I were to declare now, “I dissolved the PKK”, without a congress decision, it would be meaningless. A bilateral ceasefire is necessary. There can be no congress when the war is in full swing and attacks continue. The fact that they do not accept this means they don’t want the PKK to be dissolved. The dissolution of the PKK could happen. Armed struggle can be abandoned. But conditions are needed to do these things.

The comrades have said it many times; the founder of this party is Rêber Apo. Party means ideology and politics, and it is the leader who shapes it. Today, the PKK is struggling in line with Rêber Apo’s ideological line. It has changed itself in many ways. It changed itself in the 1990s, accepted the new paradigm, and now it will change again. Instead of armed struggle, other methods of struggle will come into play. It will be about democratic politics. Therefore, the call was very important. We acted responsibly; we immediately responded to that call; we stated that we accepted the call of Rêber Apo. We said we would fulfill the requirements. What more can we do? We fulfill the requirements; the other side does not. We did not say that we would not dissolve the PKK or stop the armed struggle. But for that to happen, a PKK congress must be held, and Rêber Apo must attend. The current approach is not right.

Devlet Bahceli said, “Come to Malazgirt and hold the congress there.” This is not serious. They do not stop the war; all their attacks continue. They would try to kill every PKK member they see. There can be no congress like this. Therefore, Devlet Bahceli’s approach is not serious. He didn’t follow his own call either. He said, “Let Apo make a call, then the ‘Right to Hope’ will be implemented.” There is nothing in the middle. So there is an environment that wants the war to continue.

Our people trust Rêber Apo; they trust the party. The people have no doubt that this process can only be led by Rêber Apo. They know that Rêber Apo is acting in the interests of the people and that he trusts this movement. As a matter of fact, in Newroz, the people embraced the call with all their might. However, the Turkish state, the AKP-MHP government’s failure to take any steps increases suspicion among the people and their international friends. We are cautious when it comes to the Turkish state. We want to move the process forward, but we are cautious. And we never stop being cautious. But being cautious does not mean not doing anything, not advancing a process, or not leading it to success. That is important for everyone.

Our intention is to enter a new period of struggle. It is about a new beginning. To continue with new ways and methods of struggle instead of the old ways and methods. Our paradigm is clear; there is no change in our program. With the new paradigm, we have abandoned the old statist, power-oriented mentality and moved to a mentality striving for freedom and democracy far from the state and power. Instead of the state, we chose democratic confederalism; we chose radical democracy and democratic autonomy. And a democratic society means an organized society; organizing the whole society means democratizing society. Democratization will develop on this basis. Within this, all kinds of identities can approach each other on a democratic and equal basis. The people of Turkey and the Kurdish people will also approach each other on a democratic basis. A democratic society means all different parts of society approaching each other freely. Radical democracy is a democratic form of organization based on an organized society, and the same accounts for democratic confederalism. It is not a form of state; it is a social-political order based on the self-organization of society. Society builds its own system without waiting for the state.

What we want for the solution of the Kurdish question is clear. The Kurdish people have basic democratic demands; they have non-negotiable rights. Education in their mother tongue is a non-negotiable right; self-government is a non-negotiable right; they have their own identity. Our approach to the ways and methods by which these will be realized is also clear. These can be discussed in the new struggle process. But when no steps are taken, our people and their international friends have doubts: “Will these people make democratic transformation? Will they build a democratic society?” Yes, these doubts are not unfounded. The government’s current approach prevents the democratic struggle; it shows that they are not willing to carry out the struggle within a democratic framework. Therefore, the suspicion that the people and their international friends had from the beginning continues, and no one can say that this suspicion is unjustified.

We want to carry out this process with Rêber Apo. We want to concretize the call put forward by Rêber Apo, convene the congress, and act in line with this call. We have no hesitation. We are confident in ourselves. In a new struggle process, we will wage a bigger and more effective struggle. We will expand society’s struggle for democracy. We are convinced that the Kurdish people and the democratic forces in Turkey will experience progress, not regression, when this call is fulfilled.

To talk about the situation in Turkey in general; how do you see the increased pressure from the government on the CHP and the opposition?

In fact, it would be more appropriate not to say “pressure on the opposition”; there is a direct attack against democratic values, democratic mechanisms, and democratic mentality. This is how one should evaluate the events in Istanbul and Turkey. We should not only focus on CHP here as well. Because the Kurds are experiencing the most suffering under the repression. More than 150 mayors were unlawfully arrested and replaced with trustees. What they always use as a pretext is that the municipalities would transfer state resources to terrorist organizations, but this is nonsense. It is all slander. Not a single penny was transferred, and they know it themselves. The Kurds know this situation well. Now the government is trying to do similar things to the CHP. And they use completely fabricated, false justifications. They are producing fake reasons and pretexts to seize the municipalities. The reasons that they claim in Istanbul may be different from the ones in Amed, but it is basically the same logic: They don’t want the opposition to be effective in municipalities.

Under the pretext of “urban reconciliation”, municipal administrations close to the AKP or other parties have sometimes made compromises. Now the opposition is being targeted. What is being done to Ekrem Imamoglu and others is completely undemocratic and unlawful; it is abuse of the judiciary. Democracy means tolerating the opposition. It means tolerating different views, recognizing their role in the democratic struggle. But they are abusing the judiciary. Kurds have made a lot of experience with this. Therefore, the Kurdish stance on what happened in Istanbul is clear. Who can still trust this government? Who still believes in Turkey? Definitely not Kurds. It’s hard to say what the situation is like in Turkish society, but even there only the hard-line AKP supporters still believe.

Narrowing the space for democracy, abusing the judiciary, suppressing the opposition… How will a group that behaves like this solve the problems in Turkey? How will they take democratization steps? Especially the Kurdish question, which cannot be solved in any other way than democratization. It is basically not possible. These practices are completely undemocratic. The struggle of the people and the youth against this is a just and democratic struggle. From this point of view, this practice in Istanbul is a sabotage to the process Rêber Apo is trying to develop. It is to increase suspicions. The opposition is questioning how the Kurdish question will be solved with such a mentality, and they are doing so rightly. The AKP-MHP fascist government has put the “urban reconciliation” at the center of these repressions against the opposition. On the one hand, they say “Kurdish-Turkish brotherhood”; on the other hand, they terrorize the urban consensus, which could be an important practical prototype of Kurdish-Turkish brotherhood. Doesn’t this constitute a contradiction in itself? Actually, it is both a contradiction and not. Because until four or five months ago, there was no such discourse of “brotherhood with Kurds”. Any Kurd was seen as a traitor. There was nothing in the name of democracy. Now, when there is a new process, it is as if they are saying “historical brotherhood with the Kurds”, but when there is a situation called urban reconciliation, they terrorize. So that previous understanding is still there; they haven’t let it go.

Suleyman Soylu, for example, defends different things by saying, “An agreement with HUDA PAR,” and so on. He is living his own reality. To him, Kurds who are not the majority in Istanbul and Izmir can be in the administration; they are appointing trustees in places where they are the majority. He is being completely Kurdish-hostile. So their mentality is the same: A Kurd who lives with his own identity and resists can never come side by side with a Turkish party. Only a Kurd who rejects his identity and surrenders can be reconciled. Ozgür Ozel responded to this and said that he embraces the urban reconciliation. This is what should be embraced. Because how else will the Kurdish-Turkish relationship be established?

In Turkey, especially since 2015, the AKP-MHP government has exerted a lot of pressure. It acts like a fascist dictatorship. It does not let anyone breathe, particularly the Kurds and, in general, the youth. The pressure is unimaginable. Tens of thousands of Kurds are imprisoned and persecuted. Thousands of villages have been burned and destroyed. Particularly in the last ten years, they have committed unprecedented atrocities.

Sometimes there are discussions on TV about whether there will be a solution process; they are talking about all the soldiers and policemen that have died. Kurds have been and still are severely persecuted. Torture, imprisonment, maiming, and murdering of children is what the state imposes on the Kurds in the course of this war. The society in Turkey is also under pressure. They say they spent 4 trillion dollars on the war; poverty is rampant. Young people cannot breathe anymore. Youth, by nature, wants to express itself and seeks innovation. This government stifled it. In the history of Turkey, the youth have an important role in the struggle. The 68 generation had a great struggle. So were the 70s, in which high prices were paid. The youth was partially revived in the 90s. This is a tradition. Now they are speaking about a Gen Z, but we are talking about a youth tradition. It is passed on. Society passes on its resistance and methods to the youth. It is not only a matter of today’s technical and communication age. There is such a historical tradition. This is why the youth stood up. I remember the 70s; there was almost no young person who was not politicized. There were fascists, islamists, socialists; there was a very widespread youth movement. Youth is always a transformative element. It is the first to reject the status quo with the struggle it is involved in. The spirit of the youth also has a share in Ozgur Ozel’s or the CHP’s more radical stance recently.

There have also been notable events and developments outside Kurdistan itself, such as the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal and the Kurdish Conference. Have you been able to follow this?

The Rojava tribunal was important, especially at this time. There are efforts by the group surrounding Colani and HTS to take over power; they are very undemocratic. It is not clear where they will take Syria. In such a process, it was important to put the crimes committed by the Turkish state in Rojava on trial and to discuss the situation in Syria in general. It is important to keep it on the agenda. It has set an agenda, and it will have further impact on public opinion. That is good, and I am convinced of it.

The mentioned Kurdish conference is important as well. Moreover, it was important that it was held after the call of Rêber Apo. It was a conference guided by the principles of the call. In the discussions, clear demands were reached: Rêber Apo’s freedom, the Turkish state to take steps, the PKK to be removed from the terror list… Those who attended voiced their support.

Then there was the support of the Kurdish people and their international friends in Europe on the occasion of Newroz. We attach great value to all of this and salute the organizers and participants of the festivities and the conference. We believe that their efforts will surely bear fruit.

Finally, I would like to talk to you briefly about April 4, the birthday of peoples leader Abdullah Ocalan. Why is this day so important for your movement and the people?

It is clear that an objective evaluation shows that the birth of Rêber Apo is also the birth of the Kurdish people. One can understand what the reality of Rêber Apo means for the Kurdish society by looking at the results of 50 years of struggle. That is why the Kurdish people see it as their own birth. They see it as the birth of their passion for freedom, their passion for resistance, and the struggle for the existence of their identity and culture.

For this reason, they must take responsibility for Rêber Apo. The birthday of Rêber Apo should also be seen as the day of the birth of the struggle, the day when the seed of the emerging values and achievements was planted. The birthday of Rêber Apo should be given such a meaning. Public celebrations are very important, and so is the celebration in the village of Amara.

It is meaningful to plant thousands, hundreds of thousands of saplings everywhere on the birthday of Rêber Apo. This birth should be given such a concrete meaning. This has become a tradition, but it should be even stronger and more effective. I also celebrate Rêber Apo’s birthday. The birthday of Rêber Apo is the birthday of all of us. This is how we interpret it. I believe that our people in the four parts of Kurdistan and abroad will celebrate this day properly and show their attachment and loyalty to Rêber Apo.

On this occasion, I congratulate the Kurdish people and everyone on April 4th, our birthday.

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