KCK: July 14 Resistance was turning point in Kurdish struggle

The Co-Chairmanship of the Executive Council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) issued a statement marking the 44th anniversary of the July 14 Death Fast Resistance, stating:

"The 44th anniversary of the great July 14 Death Fast Resistance has arrived. We remember with deep gratitude and respect Kemal Pir, Mehmet Khayri Durmuş, Akif Yılmaz, and Ali Çiçek, who were martyred in this historic resistance that we call the 'Day of Dignity.' We renew our commitment to work, based on their philosophy of life and struggle, to build a democratic and free life."

July 14, 1982, is considered a highly significant day in the history of Kurdistan. On this day, the fascist coup leaders who seized power following the September 12 coup, with the aim of eliminating the Kurdish people, suffered an ideological and political defeat.

The fascist military coup of September 12 aimed to eliminate the Kurdish people’s struggle for freedom, as well as the struggles of the peoples of Turkey for socialism, democracy, and freedom. The "APO", who emerged in the 1970s, raised the banner of resistance against the policies of annihilation carried out by the Turkish state against the Kurdish people. This movement quickly expanded across Kurdistan, and on November 27, 1978, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was founded. Within a short period, the party shook the policies of annihilation across wide areas of Kurdistan and advanced in a way that the state was unable to stop.

The Turkish state’s primary objective was to transform Kurdistan into a field for the spread of Turkish nationalism, which constituted its fundamental national strategy. However, this objective was increasingly challenged. Therefore, the fascist military coup of September 12, 1980, was carried out to halt this progress and reimpose policies of annihilation. Through this coup, the state sought to suppress the PKK, which had risen in opposition to these policies.

Thousands of party cadres, supporters, and affiliates were subjected to severe torture and held in prisons for long periods. The aim of this brutal torture was to force detainees to express regret and provide confessions. In this way, the objective was not only to eliminate the party within prison walls, but also to break the will of the Kurdish people and push them to abandon their Kurdish identity in preparation for their annihilation.

The July 14 Death Fast Resistance fighters sacrificed their lives to defeat this genocidal project and halted the policy of imposing surrender inside prisons. Had this stance not been taken, the future of the Kurdish people would have been darkened, and Turkification would have been imposed throughout Kurdistan through policies of annihilation. Therefore, when commemorating the July 14 Resistance, this reality must be understood and emphasized. Reducing this resistance to merely a "protest against torture" obscures the true objective of the extermination project that was being carried out in Amed Prison No. 5.

It would be a great injustice to these resistance fighters to speak only about torture and resistance against it without revealing the fundamental purpose behind the torture system itself. The July 14 Resistance fighters understood the annihilation objectives of the Turkish state; therefore, they sacrificed their lives and carried out one of the greatest acts of resistance in the history of Kurdistan. This resistance came at a crucial moment. Without the July 14 Death Fast, the annihilation project would have spread much more widely across Kurdistan, as imposing surrender in prisons would have created a psychological and political environment that accelerated the implementation of annihilation policies.

The role of the July 14 Resistance fighters was not limited to stopping plans to accelerate annihilation. Through their philosophy of life and struggle, they created a force of resistance among the Kurdish people capable of building a democratic and free life. Had they not resisted under those harsh conditions and established, through their approach, the path of the Kurdish revolution and success, the achievements made over the past fifty years in the four parts of Kurdistan would not have been possible. Therefore, their philosophy of life and struggle continues to illuminate our path today, as Kemal Pir expressed by saying: "I love life so much that I am willing to sacrifice my life for it."

The project of peace and a democratic society can also succeed through this philosophy of life and struggle. Within this philosophy, hardship and difficulty are not viewed as obstacles; rather, hardship becomes the motivation for struggle and victory.

Through the July 14 Resistance fighters, we also remember all prison martyrs with gratitude and respect. We believe that we will achieve the free Kurdistan and democratic Middle East that they dreamed of, guided by their philosophy of life and struggle.

ANHA