Karasu: Obstructing meetings with Leader reflects Turkish state’s adherence to denial policy 

Mustafa Karasu, a member of the Executive Council of the KCK, evaluated the latest developments on the current agenda during a special program aired on Medya Haber TV.

The interview text was as follows:

*We are now in the month of May, the month of martyrs. What would you like to say regarding the martyrs of May and the approach toward martyrs?”

The month of May is very important to us. During this month, many of our pioneers and beloved leaders were martyred, foremost among them our great comrade Haqi Qarar, Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan, Hüseyin İnan, and İbrahim Kaypakkaya. Among the pioneers of our movement, Muhammad Qara Sungur and İbrahim Belkin were also martyred. During this month as well, Sherin Alam Holi, Farzad Kamangar, Farhad Wakili, and Ali Heydarian were executed in Iran’s Evin Prison. Jalal Başlangiç, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Qasim Ankin, and most recently in Germany Bernd Robrecht and Şükrü Çatalbaş also were martyred. In this month, Leyla Qasim and four of her comrades who set themselves on fire were also martyred, and we have many more martyrs in May, including Azad Siser.

I remember all of these martyrs with great gratitude and respect. Martyrs hold a special place for us. They brought this struggle to its current stage. The Kurdish and Kurdistan freedom struggle is an extremely difficult struggle. We are carrying out a struggle unlike any other, and the martyrs, through their sacrifices and devotion, always opened the way for these stages and pushed the movement forward. They stood against every form of liquidation and made sacrifices until the struggle reached this level. Therefore, at the core of this struggle, we are indebted to the martyrs and to Leader Apo, who inspired them and brought them to this level of struggle.

Every May, before the martyrs, we reevaluate ourselves and engage in self-criticism. We ask ourselves how we can become worthy of the martyrs. We deepen ourselves in this question. Therefore, for us, May becomes a month of renewal, transformation, and carrying out the struggle with greater determination. Our stance in May determines how the entire year will pass. For this reason, we will always remember our martyrs and continue the struggle through their memory. The more we remember them, the more our struggle will advance. In this month, I remember them all with gratitude.”

“To be continued…”