Press Release

The Turkish state, which has been in panic with the rise of the Kurdistan Liberation Struggle in the region, entered 2017 with the promise of eradicating the Kurdish Movement. In this sense, it has basically attacked the Kurdish people and their values in an immoral manner.

 Having attacked the achievements of the Kurdish people in all four pieces of Kurdistan, the Turkish state has again carried out a war of occupation and genocide in Kurdistan with all its means. The Kurdish Freedom Movement exhibited a relentless resistance and displayed a historic resistance against the fascist Turkish state in a battle reality in which human dignity was denied and all kinds of massacres against the Kurdish people were carried out.

 The AKP-MHP state administration in fascist rule has witnessed a complete defeat and great loss in the year of 2017, which was entered into with the claim of eradicating the Kurdish freedom guerrilla. Against all the technical equipment of the Turkish army, in the past year our guerrilla forces have shown their superiority in battle by inflicting heavy blows on the Turkish army in each area of war. Unable to fight the guerrilla on the ground, the Turkish army fought with air attacks, while the AKP’s pool media tried to present these attacks as a great success. The true face of the war in Kurdistan is attempted to be hidden from the society, but the facts have been revealed in some way and many documentaries have been seen that have revealed the helplessness of Turkish soldiers against the guerrilla. A number of camera recordings of the guerrilla have become the most concrete document of the war.

 The year 2017 was a year when great resistance and heroism were experienced in terms of the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle. Our heroic comrades such as Berçem, Gülnaz, Aze, Soro, Salih, Ashut, Taylan, Dirok, Xalit and Savas pioneered our resistance as the leading militants of the Apoist sacrificial spirit, especially Comrade Delal Amed. Our resistance, which developed in the lead of all our heroic martyrs, frustrated all the attacks of the fascist Turkish state, maintaining its own positions and carrying the struggle to a greater level through experiencing innovation in the war. In this sense, the year 2017 was a year in which the Kurdistan Liberation Struggle continued to progress, a year in which a great resistance to the developing attacks was exhibited, and it was a year when Turkish colonialism was unsuccessful, having failed to reach its targets.

 The year 2018, which marks the 40th anniversary of the Kurdish Freedom Struggle, is already seen as a year in which significant gains and advantages for the revolutionary forces will take place.

 It is clear that the war in the Middle East will continue in different ways in the coming year. And in the course of this war, the winner will definitely not be the racism, nationalism, dictatorship, but the democratic mind that is based on collective society, but the party that will present the proposals for right solution. We will completely defeat the fascist AKP-MHP alliance by transforming the year 2018 into the year of victory and freedom in the struggle for freedom which has led the accumulation of the last years.

 As HPG we realize the revolutionary duty to share and reflect the facts of the great and significant accumulations created, the results of the war that took place through the year 2017, which is a comprehensive stage of resistance. On this basis we present the balance sheet of war for 2017 to the whole public:

 Air and Land Operations by the Occupying Turkish Army:

 Land Operations: 253

Aircraft Attacks: 329

Cobra Helicopter Attacks: 98

Mortar, Howitzer, Tank, Artillery Attacks: 278

Guerrilla Actions against the Attacks of the Occupying Turkish Army and its Results:

Guerrilla Actions: 772

Enemy Killed (police, soldiers, etc.): 2,616

Killed Majors (police, soldiers, etc.): 40

Wounded Enemy (police, soldiers, etc.): 772

Destroyed Military (Armoured) Vehicles: 83

Destroyed civilian vehicles used for military purposes: 34

Downed Sikorsy Type helicopters: 2

Downed Cobra Type Helicopters: 1

Destroyed Military (Armoured) Vehicles: 33

Damaged Cobra Type Helicopters: 6

Damaged Sikorsy Type Helicopters: 6

Conflicts: 99

Outcome Unclear Actions: 323

Martyr guerrillas: 594

Captured guerrillas: 30

January 3, 2018 

HPG Press Centre