The Kurdish question, which has not yet been resolved as the most fundamental historical-social issues in the Middle East, plays a role that can cause important developments to determine the fate of the whole region. The resolution to Kurdish question will be an historical turning point in terms of the fraternity of peoples as well as the development of freedom and democracy. On the other hand, lack of a just resolution to the question will cause reaction, pressure and violence to be institutionalised in the region as well as strengthening of the status quo.
Our Movement, which leads our people to freedom and the democratisation process in the Middle East, has moved this question to the stage of resolution as a result of 37 years of struggle led by Leader Apo. However, the resolution has not taken place due to the policies based on massacre, denial and annihilation used against our people by Turkish state based on Lausanne Agreement, but has currently deteriorated.
Our people went through a process of resurrection led by PKK between 1984-93 through resistance based on armed struggle against the inhuman practices in Kurdistan and against the annihilation of Kurdish people. Leader APO has started a new process in March 1993 by deciding upon a unilateral ceasefire necessitated by his sense of responsibility for the mutual future and freedom of peoples, and in order to initiate the peaceful-democratic process against the policies of violence, war and lack of resolution.
The purpose of Kurdistan Liberation Movement has been to resolve the question through dialogue with the relevant authorities. In the last 18 years since the first ceasefire, our movement has declared six (6) unilateral ceasefires for the development of peaceful and democratic resolution. Upon leader APO’s call, which aimed at the creation of adequate terrain for a permanent resolution, armed struggle has been brought to an end in 1999 and guerrilla forces have been withdrawn beyond the borders of Turkey. This decision has not been changed during the withdrawal process despite the fact that three hundred (300) people have fallen martyrs as a result of the opportunist and malevolent policies of Turkish state.
During the 18 years of search for peaceful resolution, our Leader and Movement have made innumerable declarations and proposed resolution projects. The Kurdish Leader has sent letters to Turkish Republic with this purpose at different stages. Our leader has developed completely rational proposals, which have been communicated to the Turkish state for resolution and shared with the public opinion within the existing frameworks while also taking into consideration the sensitivity of Turkish people.
Nevertheless, all the steps taken by our Leader and Movement on the purpose of a peaceful and democratic resolution have been evaluated by Turkish state as a weakness and tried to be used as a basis for annihilation. For this reason, the process of dialogue and resolution have not developed, as a result of which comprehensive concepts of annihilation have been developed. In the face of all this, a resistance process has been developed on June 1st 2004 in accordance with the UN agreements for the purpose of self-defence, and defending our identity and values. This process has been carried out as a controlled active defence within the framework of completely legitimate right to self-defence.
During this period, Kurdish people and our Movement that came together around our leader against internal treason and annihilation have attained many accomplishments through defence practices and movement of uprisings. The meaningful attitude developed by Leader Apo at Imrali despite assaults that involved poisoning, physical torture and being thrown into a death pit, the social resistance carried out by our people through great sacrifices as well as the successful military performance demonstrated by the guerrilla on the basis of the strategy of legitimate defence managed to pre-empt the international plot and once more proved the invincibility of our liberation movement. The level of success attained by our peoples’ defence powers in February 2008 during the ZAP resistance, has become a striking example of the fact that the violence policies of Turkish state cannot succeed. Moreover, our people have attained a political triumph during the 29 March 2009 local elections that progressed as a referendum, despite all the efforts of AKP government and Turkish state.
Our movement, taking all these developments into consideration, has reached the conclusion that it is time to resolve the Kurdish question through peaceful and political methods instead of violence and military methods. This is the basis on which it has been decided to declare unilateral inactivity on 13 April 2009. Leader Apo has prepared and offered a 160 page long road map to the state in order to transform the process into a permanent peace. However, the resolution project prepared by our Leader has been confiscated and not been explained to the public opinion. Despite this, our sincerity has once more been proven through the peace groups, who have been sent from Maxmur and Kandil for the development of peace and context of trust.
Turkish state and AKP government, whose real intention has emerged as a result of all these concrete steps taken by our movement, have strengthened their annihilation policies through different tactics instead of the resolution. In order to pre-empt our move that has been taken in the name of peace, AKP government has introduced a new “democratic process”, which served as a guise of their annihilation policy, by creating a change in the their classical state policy. It has been well understood that the essence of this plan was to restore the denial-annihilation policy in accordance with the new conditions and pre-empt the resolution process that we have developed and continue to annihilate.
Moreover, military operations have not ceased during this year long process during which more than a hundred of our guerrillas have been martyred while the soldiers had casualties as well. AKP government, failing in digesting the newly appeared social will of our people, has initiated a series of new operations akin to massacres on 14 April 2009 against the legal and legitimate leaders of Kurdish people. More than 1500 politicians, human rights advocates, writers, artisans and leaders of civil society organisations have been arrested. Also as part of a practice that does not exist anywhere else around the world, around four thousand (4000) children have been taken to court, four hundred (400) of which are being kept in dungeons as an implementation aimed at breaking the personalities of Kurdish children. In fact, AKP government managed to render permanent the covert system of martial law in Kurdistan through the anti-terror law it has enacted, and subjected every individual from Kurdistan, who defended their identity, to legal proceedings. As well as the bans received by the institutions of Kurdish press, journalists have received inconceivably heavy terms of prosecutions. While extrajudicial killings have started to re-emerge, the massacre of Kurdish children and youth are also continuing.
Turkish state wants to annihilate the essence of Kurdish people, and destroy their honour in order to break their resistance. On this purpose, as well as condemning our people to hunger, special war methods are becoming much more prevalent such as assault and rape, prostitution, and drugs that specifically target Kurdish women. All these clearly prove what sort of insidious war the AKP government is waging.
On the other hand, AKP government has placed the isolation and terrorisation of our movement at the international level as the centre of its foreign policy. It is doing everything within its power to break the will of Kurdish people by marketing the geo-strategic position of Turkey that is a part of the regional equation while, on the one hand, forming a mutual concept with the Co-ordination of “Triad” that involves USA and Iraq, and, on the other, endeavouring to form a triple anti-Kurdish alliance with Iran and Syria.
The most recent incident that revealed the mentality of AKP in terms of Kurdish question is the package of constitutional change. The fact that none of the articles of 12th September constitution, which deem the denial and annihilation of Kurdish people proper, have been changed, demonstrated the real face of the government in terms of Kurdish politics. Turkish state and AKP government, which thereby formed their home and foreign concepts, have expanded their operations in Northern Kurdistan by spring, and are placing a great importance on developing relationships with the powers in the South, which had previously been regarded as a red line, on the purpose of enabling themselves to carry out operations in Southern Kurdistan as well. As well as carrying out political and diplomatic activities, it is also in the process of preparation for a comprehensive war that also targets Southern Kurdistan. While the Media Defence Areas are being bombarded almost every day, most recently, an air assault has occurred in Xakurke and Xinere on May 20th that lasted 7 hours. 4 of our guerrillas have fallen martyrs during this assault, while 5 guerrillas have been wounded.
AKP government and Turkish state have continued with their policy of political, social and cultural annihilation, while our movement continuously struggled for peace and democratic resolution and while our democratic circles staged demonstrations in the streets every day for the purpose of peace. Despite this, our movement has remained loyal to its ceasefire declared on 13 April 2009. Our movement has maintained its ceasefire position until a week ago apart from the occasional activities carried out by local powers on their own initiative and the uncontrolled skirmishes.
During this period, AKP government has not taken any convincing and serious steps in terms of resolution. It has demonstrated tactical approaches and a hypocritical policy that involves influencing the Kurdish people to disintegrate their unity and weakening our movement. It has been understood upon the attitudes and signals given through different channels that instead of engaging in a dialogue with various institutions, they insist on diversionary tactics.
On the other hand, our leader has frequently warned against such deceptive and diversionary tactics, and invited the state authorities to negotiate. However, AKP government has insulted by refusing to address anybody, making even the most strategic phenomenon casual and simple, and evaluating everything in accordance with the interests of its own power and position. AKP government, which is apparently capable of doing everything for the sake of power, is chiefly responsible for the bloodshed and darkening the democratic future of the peoples of Turkey. With this attitude, it has sabotaged and destroyed the terrain of peace and dialogue, which rendered meaninglessness and pre-empted the process of our unilateral inaction. It is not our movement, but the AKP government that is responsible for ending the 13 months of ceasefire.
Almost screaming, leader Apo has once more repeated his call for democratic and honourable resolution, and, as he received no response, declared to our people and public opinion that he ended his endeavours to negotiate as of May 31st. We would also like to emphasise that everybody should know that AKP government, which does not give up violence, is responsible for the war that will cause huge massacres, pain and tragedies.
As the movement, we understand and respect leader Apo’s decision to withdraw. We believe that our people and friends will also attribute a great meaning to his decision. The management of our movement will certainly be directly responsible for the next process of the struggle. In this sense, upon comprehensive evaluation, our movement have taken a decision and made a plan to protect our people and ensure their freedom together with our Leader. At this new stage, the struggle and resistance to protect our national existence in accordance with legitimate defence and construct our lives in liberty will take place with great determination.
Efficiently using our right to self-defence to protect our existence as a movement and people in the face of developing assaults is now an inviolable duty and historical responsibility. All patriotic institutions are face to face with the duty of defending their existence and raising the struggle to construct a life in freedom by taking their positions in defence and resistance.
The future of the people of Kurdistan is subject to great danger and threat. This danger is in question for all parts of Kurdistan as well as Northern Kurdistan. In this sense, the factors that will determine the existence and free future of our people are national unity, perspective of true resolution, and organised resistance based on the essence of its power. This period, that we characterise as the fourth, as well as being a strategic one, is also a process in which our people will establish their own democratic system and declare their democratic autonomy. Our struggle, which envisages a resolution on the basis of gender equality as well as a system of ecological, Democratic Confederation, will proceed in a tactical spirit in all areas and develop a resolution in accordance with democratic autonomy. Provided that the dominant system recognises the free will of our people, we will always be open to dialogue for resolution upon the formula of “state + democracy”. However, no diversionary tactics or a different annihilation tactics will be provided with an opening.
Despite the fact that the process of resistance, which started with June 1st 2004 move of which the 6th anniversary is approaching, and which developed through the heroic legends of our martyrs, resulted in important political developments, it has not been sufficient in terms of realising a deep-rooted democratic resolution. For this reason, the struggle of this new period should be able to capture a level of performance that reveals the will to formulate a resolution, instead of a repetition of the past. The system of defence that will be developed in all the areas of struggle; ideological, political, social, cultural and military areas must be absolutely realise a resolution by raising the intensity of struggle.
The regional status-quo of which the longevity is subject to endeavours for extension does not only threaten Turkey and Kurdistan, but also cause the Middle East to be open to many dangers. Most recently, the massacre that took place in the ship, which carried aid, as a result of the Israeli assault, indicates what kind of dangers can be caused by violence based policies. In order to make its influence in the region more effective, AKP government acts in alliance with Israel while also making an effort to resolve the Palestinian issue, which is a double standard and hypocritical policy. Apparently, this is also an act that will achieve nothing but intensify the problems.
We call upon all the international powers that prefer peace and stability in the region to stop providing support to violent policies, which also disregard the Kurdish issue for the sake of their own political and economic interests and instead support the democratic and peaceful policies that based on dialogue to formulate resolutions to all the problems that relate to all the peoples in the region including the issues in Kurdistan and Palestine.
The workers intellectuals, democrats and revolutionaries in Turkey should raise their voices against the policies based on annihilation and denial, which are aiming at weakening and gradually annihilating the opportunity of our peoples to co-exist. For this reason, we call upon everybody to own their responsibilities for a struggle which is more important than ever.
The liberation issue of Kurdish people is the liberation and democracy issue of the region. The system that is imposed on our people is based on annihilation – denial and slavery. As a people, it is impossible for us to accept this. The alliances formed against the purpose of liberation of our people have reached a dangerous level. As a result, our people, livings in all parts of Kurdistan and abroad as well as the political powers have to come together on the basis of national unity in order to target the elimination of this dangerous situation. Under the current circumstances, although there is a danger of annihilation in question, the conditions that exist for its elimination and liberation are also strong. The struggle for liberation that depends on the attainments in all four parts is strong enough and has the opportunity to realise the dream of hundreds of years through the accumulated experience. In this sense, the period that we are in is the expression of an historical turning point. The success of Kurdish Liberation Movement will mean the fraternity of all the peoples in the region including the Turkish, Persian and Arabic peoples, as well as the democratisation of the region.
In this sense, we call upon all the pro-liberation powers and patriotic peoples of Kurdistan, and democratic and patriotic institutions to resist the fascistic system imposed by the status-quo in the region for the creation of a free and democratic future in the Middle East.
The Executive Council of the KCK