Karayılan: Framework law does not fully meet peace process' requirements

People's Defense Center leadership member Murat Karayılan has evaluated the Peace and Democratic Society Process in a message marking August 15, the Day of Resurrection. The message included the following:

"First of all, on behalf of all the freedom fighters and comrades, we congratulate Leader Apo on the 42nd anniversary of the Revolution of Rebirth, and extend our greetings, respect and loyalty to him.

We also congratulate all the mothers and families of the martyrs, our dear people, all the peoples of the region, our friends and our comrades on the Revolution of Rebirth.

With great respect and gratitude, we commemorate all the martyrs of the revolution through the figure of the immortal commander Agîd (Ma'soum Korkmaz), and we renew once again the pledge we made to them, saying: "We will achieve your goals and triumph in your struggle!"

We also remember with great respect, through the figures of Erdal (Engin Sincer), Zeki Şengali (İsmail Özden), and Atakan Mahir (İbrahim Çoban), all our martyrs who fell during the month of August.

The August 15 Leap was not merely the launch of the guerrillas; at the same time, it was the beginning of a movement by our people. Since those days, our people have continued their resistance and have gone through many massacres. We remember with respect and gratitude all those who lost their lives in the Şırnaxk, Dêgor and Kendakol massacres, as well as all those who were martyred in attacks by the Turkish state."

Dear comrades,

Following the suppression of the uprisings in North Kurdistan, a deep and wide-ranging policy of assimilation was developed. By the 1970s, this policy had advanced to such an extent that our people had reached the brink of disappearance and extinction. At such a stage, Leader Apo launched a historic initiative.

The freedom struggle that began during that period developed under different names and created a breathing space for our people. However, shortly afterwards, on September 12, 1980, the fascist military junta came to power.

It is true that the junta came to power with the aim of eliminating the revolutionary movement in Turkey and the Kurdstan Liberation Movement. At the same time, in Kurdistan, it sought to implement the Eastern Reform Plan, attempting to complete the implementation of the plan that had been initiated in 1925.

In Kurdistan, people were forcibly made to learn the Turkish language: children during the day, and women and men at night. The Kurdish language was banned, and it reached the point where people were even prevented from speaking Kurdish inside their own homes.

They also turned village squares into places of torture. Kurdish men and women were stripped naked and lined up in the same place, and they were given food in containers used for animals. They carried out acts of this kind of brutality. These practices were not limited to prisons; rather, they turned all of Kurdistan into a prison.

Naturally, remaining silent in the face of such brutality meant abandoning humanity. At first, Mazloum Dogan, Ferhad Kurtay and their comrades, along with the July 14 activists, stood against this situation in Amed Prison, broke the state of silence and developed resistance.

Leader Apo made great efforts to prevent silence in the face of these inhumane practices and carried out the necessary preparations for this.

In this context, the launch of the August 15 Leap, led by Ma'soum Korkmaz, was put into action. There was no other way to rise up against such brutality.

The Kurdish people took to the streets, beginning in Nusaybin and Cizîre, and then in many parts of Kurdistan. Our people went out into the streets to hold funeral ceremonies for our heroes. Thus, the uprising began and paved the way for major transformations in society.

In this way, the Revolution of Rebirth was realized and became an intellectual, political, cultural and social revolution. It also became a women’s revolution. Kurdish women joined this revolution under the leadership of Berivan, Sa'adet and Hewa, and in this way, the August 15 Leap itself created a social revolution. Thus, the real revolution was achieved.

In 1992, the then Turkish Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel said: "We recognize the Kurdish reality." In this way, the guerrilla strategy that continued from 1984 to 1990 had achieved success and had begun to bear fruit.

By the time we reached 1993, the success of the guerrilla strategy had become evident. For this reason, the then Turkish President Turgut Özal, through the mediation of Mr. Mam Celal, called for a ceasefire to be declared in order to begin a new process.

Accordingly, Leader Apo announced the first ceasefire during Newroz in 1993. This marked the beginning of a new phase in our struggle and the start of a new strategy: the strategy of a political solution.

The war had played its role and done what it was supposed to do. It had revealed the Kurdish issue, which had been concealed, and placed it on the table for discussion. Therefore, the need emerged to advance a solution through political methods and approaches.

However, we saw that immediately afterwards, deep intervention took place within Turkey against the process. Turgut Özal was assassinated, as were many others, including General Eşref Bitlis, who advocated resolving the Kurdish issue through political means and stood alongside Turgut Özal, as well as Cem Ersever, who had overseen a large-scale special war in Kurdistan. In this way, an intervention from within the state turned the issue into an intractable problem.

After that, Leader Apo continued to declare ceasefires whenever the opportunity arose. In order to stop the war and advance a political solution, he put forward the necessary methods and approaches. Until now, we have declared nine ceasefires. Out of 42 years of the course of the war, 11 years were periods of ceasefire, while 31 years were years of war. Why? Because a mindset within the state was preventing this and sought to eliminate us through force and weapons. Every time it launched an attack, it would say: "We will win and achieve the result." A psychological war and a special war of this kind were waged on a wide scale.

During the past ten years as well, they considered the advancement of our movement a threat to them and said: "Turkey is facing an existential threat." All currents within the state united and declared war. They sought to eliminate us through force and war.

We went through a period of intense and large-scale warfare. They used various types of modern weapons against us, as well as prohibited weapons. They sought to eliminate us with the support of NATO, and even with the support of neighboring countries and some Kurds. However, they were unable to eliminate us. They were defeated in Zap and Metina and were unable to advance. When they realized that they could not eliminate us by force, a call for dialogue was launched once again.

The call made by Devlet Bahçeli should be viewed within this context. As is known, Leader Apo also responded positively to it, and the process has continued until today.

The rest of the statement follows ANF's translation

weighed down while the other side is left empty? A just approach is needed on this matter.

We will carry out this process on the basis of Önder Apo's perspectives and the memory of our valued martyrs. We know that this process emerged through the resistance and labor of Önder Apo and our martyrs. At the foundation of this framework law, too, lies the labor of Önder Apo and the blood of our martyrs. We do not treat the framework law as something ordinary, but its deficiencies must also be remedied. Because we want to secure a lasting peace. No one should deceive anyone else. Lasting peace will bring the peoples of Turkey many gains. Turkey will become a pioneer in the Middle East region and will gain a great deal. Historically too, whenever the Turkish state has formed an alliance with the Kurds, it has developed and gained strength. We are now passing through just such a historic period. If this is approached within the framework we have described, we too will fulfill what falls to us in this process. But we remain committed to our values, and we want to carry the Kurdistan Freedom Cause forward through democratic politics, and to bring it to success in this way. For this, the necessary conditions must exist."

Karayılan underlined that "it is true, we have ended the strategy of armed struggle. We are now moving into the stage of democratic politics. But the August 15th Offensive is a milestone in the history of our people. It created, in itself, a historic revival, a revolution of rebirth. For this reason, the Revolution of Rebirth will always be embraced and celebrated by our people as a national holiday. Because through this revolution our people have gained a great many things. Above all, they gained themselves. Through this revolution, our people rose to their feet, raised high the cause of freedom, renewed themselves, and recreated themselves. This is how the rebirth took place. For this reason, let us always stand firmly behind the Revolution of Rebirth."