To Our Patriotic People and the Public!

We celebrate the 22nd anniversary of the Historic 1 June Initiative, which represents an important turning point in the Kurdistan people’s quest for freedom, democracy and an honorable life.

First and foremost, we congratulate Leader Apo, the families of our martyrs, our patriotic people, the friends of our people and all our comrades.

In the persons of comrades Fuat – Ali Haydar Kaytan, Sara – Sakine Cansız, Adil Bilikî, Nûda Karker, Delal Amed and Nûredîn Sofî, the vanguard fighters of the Historic 1 June Initiative and the immortal commanders of our guerrilla army, who embodied loyalty to the Apoist line, honesty, courage and the spirit of self-sacrifice, we commemorate all our martyrs with respect, love, profound gratitude and deep commitment.

The International Conspiracy carried out on 15 February 1999 against our people and the Kurdistan Freedom Movement in the person of Leader Apo has taken its place in history as a brutal attack aimed at leaving the Kurdish question unresolved and liquidating our people’s will for a free future. Against this attack, Leader Apo, through the Democratic Ecological Society Paradigm Based on Women’s Freedom, which he developed with great patience, fortitude, resistance and insistence despite the conditions of the Imrali Torture System, put forward the perspective of a democratic solution and common life. In line with the new paradigm, our Leadership created an important opportunity that could open the way for the resolution of the Kurdish question in Turkey through democratic and peaceful methods.

On the basis of this approach put forward by Leader Apo, our guerrilla forces also maintained their ceasefire position throughout the five-year period from the withdrawal decision taken on 2 August 1999 until 1 June 2004, thereby creating a strong basis for a democratic solution to the Kurdish question. Nevertheless, rather than evaluating the emerging process in the direction of a democratic solution, the Turkish state sought to use it as an instrument for liquidating the Apoist Movement. The absence of lasting and sincere steps toward a solution during this period, together with the continuation of policies of denial and liquidation, led to the emergence of a new historical period. Under these conditions, the 1 June 2004 Initiative became an important breakthrough developed on the basis of protecting our people’s existence, will and demand for a free life.

The 22-year period that has passed since then has once again demonstrated that the Kurdish question cannot be eliminated through policies of repression, denial and non-solution. During the same period, the correctness of Leader Apo’s ideas based on democratic solution, the unity of peoples, women’s freedom and democratic society was tested through a difficult process of struggle; their legitimacy was proven by the judgment of history, and despite the passage of time, they have preserved their existence as an unshakable truth illuminating the reality of today.

Today as well, the path to a lasting solution of the Kurdish question lies in ending the classical state approach toward Leader Apo, ensuring his complete freedom, enabling him to play his role as the chief negotiator of the Kurdish people, opening the way for democratic politics, and bringing peoples together on the basis of an equal and free life. Taking Leader Apo’s perspective of democratic solution as the basis, and the Turkish state seriously fulfilling what this requires, bears historical importance not only for the Kurdish people, but also for the common future of the peoples of Turkey and the Middle East, and for frustrating the plans imposed upon the region.

As the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrillas, deepening ourselves in the line of Apoist self-sacrificing militancy, and with awareness of the historical responsibility we carry, we declare: we will never allow the unparalleled efforts of our Leadership, nor the values created by our people through immense sacrifices and labor, to be squandered. As we have done until today, from now on as well, we will act with great willpower and determination, without experiencing the slightest hesitation in fulfilling the duties and responsibilities that fall upon us.

By representing the Apoist self-sacrificing spirit at the highest level, and by deepening ourselves further in the line of Apoist militancy, we will not deviate for even a single moment from the aim of securing the freedom of our Leadership and our people. In the direction set out by our Leadership, under all circumstances, and through rich and diverse ways and methods, we once again strongly emphasize our determination to struggle with the Apoist self-sacrificing spirit.

On this basis, we once again celebrate the 22nd anniversary of the Historic 1 June Initiative with our people, the families of our martyrs, our friends and all our comrades, and we wish success in the new year of struggle.

1 June 2026

HPG Press Liaison Center