People’s Defense Forces (HPG) Main Headquarters has said that the action on Kartepe ferry on 11 November had been carried out by HPG militant Mensur Güzel (Sinan Azad). HPG stated that the action aimed to call attention to the isolation of Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan and the torture he is subjected to for 12 years. HPG underlined that Güzel wasn’t carrying any arms or explosives and that every precautions had been taken to prevent hurting civilians in any way.

The statement noted that the action was carried out with the sole purpose of creating public opinion, and added that Güzel had been executed although he had never intended to hurt or kill anybody. He showed, the statement said, a remarkable sensibility and self-sacrifice.

The statement continued as follows; “This murder is a message the Turkish state is giving. Besides the great effort given to conceal the aim of the action as of the beginning, government officials also misinformed the public with the news that the ‘hijacker was killed because he did not surrender’. The AKP government has once more shown its real face when it comes to kill and bloodshed. By killing an unarmed person who does not represent a threat, the state has once more stated that who protects Kurds and their rights can be killed.”

HPG further stated that the fair and right struggle would continue in appropriate ways against the AKP government and its accomplices who attack the Kurdish people with all its war enforcements including all kinds of prohibited weapons.

The statement ended by calling on the Kurdish people and democratic and sensitive public opinion to read the purpose of the action by Mensur Güzel well and to do what necessary for the safety and freedom of leader Öcalan.