In a special broadcast on Stêrk TV, Amed Malazgirt, as one of the commanders of the headquarters of the People's Defense Center (HSM), spoke out about the chemical weapons operations of the Turkish army, the resistance of the guerrillas and the attitude of the South Kurdistan’s ruling party KDP.

Malazgirt stated, "The enemy keeps claiming that they have finished off the guerrillas in Northern Kurdistan. However, the guerrillas are carrying out very effective actions in Amed, Botan, Dersim and Serhad. The Turkish state's propaganda that it has neutralized the guerrillas in Bakur [Northern Kurdistan] is simply mendacious. If the Turkish state resorts to such lies, then our people should know that the Turkish state is facing great difficulties in the fight against the guerrillas and therefore needs such propaganda."

Regarding the collaboration of the KDP, Malazgirt said: "The KDP should not try to block the way for our friends in military terms. If it continues like this, the Kurdish people will lose, especially in Southern Kurdistan. We are a movement that puts its life on the line and fights. It is not important for us whether we die in this struggle or not. However, the malicious actions of the KDP harm the entire Kurdish people and their struggle. We are aware of how gratifying such a fratricidal war would be for the Turkish state and how much it would harm the Kurdish people. That is why we are very cautious. Those who think they can interpret this as weakness are wrong."

The full interview includes the following:

There are many actions taking place in Kurdistan and Europe for the freedom of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. How do you see these actions?

For more than 22 years, Rêber Apo [Leader Abdullah Ocalan] has been resisting the plot in Imrali. Thanks to this resistance, the plot has failed. But the Turkish state and the forces of the international plot are still playing a dirty game with Rêber Apo. They want to neutralize him and thus make the plot succeed after all. However, Ocalan continues to resist. It is time for him to be physically freed. Our movement, the Kurdish people and their friends should not accept the situation in which Rêber Apo finds himself. Our movement launched a campaign for freedom last year. The campaign "Time for Freedom" has reached a certain level. The Kurdish people and their friends, especially the guerrillas, have taken great actions everywhere and represented the campaign initiated by the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK). These actions are continuing. I believe that the actions will increase so that results can be achieved. We take this opportunity to send our warm greetings to all those involved in the activities and wish them continued success.

Guerrillas carry out effective actions in Northern Kurdistan

The Turkish state claims to have finished off the guerrillas in Bakur, but the guerrillas have carried out very effective actions from Botan to Dersim. How do you evaluate the Turkish state's statements?

The Turkish state wants to change the agenda through these special war methods. When soldiers and policemen die in guerrilla actions, the Turkish media immediately report that "many PKK members were killed." In this way, both the guerrillas' actions are to be overshadowed and the Turkish state is to be portrayed as successful as possible. In a statement, it claims that the army has killed so many guerrilla fighters, and in another statement that there is no PKK left in the north. If there is no PKK anymore, who are they fighting against? In fact, they are destroying their own propaganda in this way. The enemy keeps claiming that they have destroyed the guerrillas in Northern Kurdistan. However, the guerrillas are carrying out very effective actions in Amed, Botan, Dersim and Serhad. The Turkish state's propaganda that it has neutralized the guerrillas in Bakur is simply mendacious. If the Turkish state resorts to such lies, then our people should know that the Turkish state is facing great difficulties in the fight against the guerrillas and therefore needs such propaganda. If it were not so, why would the Turkish state have needed to use a few traitorous, collaborating Kurds against us?

"Families can come to the PKK and ask for their children there"

On the orders of Suleyman Soylu [Turkish Interior Minister], the MIT [Turkish secret service] is using traitors against us. They deceive a few people and make them protest in central places in Kurdistan. Soylu publishes balances every day, claiming that they killed so many PKK fighters. And then he uses the families of people he says were killed as if nothing happened. He makes them appear one by one in television programs. If these people are really Kurds, if they didn't sell themselves for money, if they care about their children, then they should consult their conscience. Hundreds of people are tortured in Kurdistan every day, including women and children. And those who work for money for MIT should know that the blood of Kurdish youth is on that money. The Kurdish youth will of course demand accountability from these scoundrels and from the MIT one day. They will say: if it is about money for you, then take the money and stuff it down your throat. If it is not really about politics, if it is not about breaking the will of the Kurdish people, they should come and ask the PKK for their sons and daughters. We are creating all the opportunities for that. We have not abducted anyone.

Whenever the Turkish state comes under pressure in the fight against the guerrillas, it attacks the patriots and takes revenge on the Kurdish people. If the Turkish state claims to have destroyed the guerrillas in Northern Kurdistan, then it should publish the balance sheet of the war. Then it will be clear whether the guerrillas still exist or not. They say they are conducting airborne operations every day in Amed, Dersim, Botan and many other areas of Kurdistan. If there are no guerrillas, who are they attacking? The truth is, the guerrillas are inflicting heavy blows on the Turkish state with effective actions.

"Resistance continues despite poison gas"

Resistance to the invasion of the Medya Defense Zones, which began on April 23, continues. What is the latest situation there?

The Turkish state launched its attacks on the Medya Defense Zones with a lot of propaganda. It reached an understanding with NATO and concluded agreements with a number of collaborators in the region. Thus, it thought it would be able to achieve results quickly. But theory and practice did not match. For example, when the invasion began, there was massive resistance in Zendûra. Despite being surrounded by the enemy, the friends there fought with the greatest sacrifice. In this way, they conveyed the following message to the Turkish state: "You may have all the technical capabilities, but you can't invade everywhere you want as easily as you want." The Turkish state launched a comprehensive operation against Avaşîn, Zap and Metîna. The friends in the Mamreşo area fought against the enemy in the spirit of the PKK. The enemy kept trying to enter the tunnels, but the friends did not let them through. Unable to break the resistance of the guerrillas, the enemy finally killed the friends with poison gas. Under the leadership of Heval Serhad and Heval Sarya, the friends made great sacrifices there. They hit the enemy hard. Yes, seven friends fell heroically, but they set a sign of the PKK's spirit of resistance against the enemy. Since June 7, there has been great resistance on the slopes of Werxelê. The Turkish state is using everything, including its chemical weapons, but friends are not giving way to the enemy. There was great resistance at Hill Sor under the leadership of Heval Botan and Heval Zinarîn. The friends did not let the Turkish troops even near the tunnels. After months of resistance, some friends fell there by poison gas. But resistance still continues at Hill Sor, as well as in Mamreşo. In these areas there is the enemy, but there are also the friends. The war may intensify there and spread to other areas. The friends have made preparations for this. 

"The Turkish army even murders its own soldiers"

In the Zap region, a Kurdish soldier of the Turkish army was shot dead by his comrades when he tried to surrender. What happened?

Our forces are moving in the areas I spoke about. The friends are holding some positions in the Small Cilo area for security reasons, but in general they are on the move. The enemy has also established themselves in some areas, but there is movement in some places because they cannot fully secure themselves. There were enemy movements observed in the T area and Small Cilo at that time. As a result, the friends laid an ambush because they assumed that the enemy would attack. Then we saw that a soldier had separated from the group and was coming towards us. The friends called on him to surrender. The other soldiers saw this and a battle ensued. Then there was a massive attack. There was an air attack and shells from howitzers hit the area. The soldier seems to have fallen in this chaos. So it is obvious that the soldiers had a problem among themselves. But it is unclear if it is because he wanted to surrender. The friends confiscated the supplies of that soldier anyway. This was also reported in the media. The character of the Turkish state is well known. If it does not work out for it, it even kills its own soldiers. For example, we handed over the soldiers we captured in the Oremar resistance after political and diplomatic negotiations, but at that time AKP representatives said, "I wish they had all died and we wouldn't have seen them as prisoners." This is the character of the Turkish state.

"Protests against chemical weapons use are insufficient"

Reactions to the use of chemical weapons by the Turkish state are insufficient. Of course, the whole world knows that the Turkish state uses chemical weapons, but there is a difference between knowing and thematizing. I think there are deficiencies at this point. Especially the free press is addressing this issue, but it should be addressed more. The crimes of the Turkish state against PKK guerrilla fighters and Kurdish youth should be better exposed. Our patriotic institutions and human rights organizations should put this more on the agenda. Turning a blind eye to this and legitimizing the crackdown will lead the Turkish state to extend these attacks to everyone. Erdoğan is issuing new threats every day. When the Arab Union criticizes Erdoğan, he says, "Even if all Arab states unite, that doesn't make one Turk." That's how he sees his counterpart. Erdoğan utters such threats with the courage he receives from outside powers. If these forces put aside their own interests and act according to human values and oppose Erdoğan, let's see if he can continue to threaten everyone like this. But these forces are encouraging Erdoğan and the AKP/MHP. They see that the Kurds are on their own and have no unity among themselves. They see this as an opportunity and attack like rabid dogs. But we will resist these attacks until the end.

"We demand nothing from the KDP"

The KDP is becoming more and more provocative. What is it all about? What are your demands from the KDP?

We don't want anything from the KDP. We used to see them as a Kurdish national party, and we said that although our political ideas are different, the goal is to serve the Kurdish cause. That's how we looked at them. In this context, we thought and hoped that they would eventually support us in the event of a war with the Turkish state. We did not expect them to take their weapons and fight with us against the Turkish state. They are not in a position to do that anyway. Our expectation was that they would just support us. That is what we expected. But let alone providing support in times of intensified war, we have seen that they are trying to restrict and surround us in the war zones. In this sense, we do not want anything from the KDP. Our expectation is that it should not encourage the Turkish state and harm us. At the same time, it should stop blocking our paths.

The KDP should not try to surround the land we use and block the way for our friends. We are a guerrilla movement and the KDP also used to wage a partisan struggle. We have made great efforts to prevent the war from spreading to other areas of the South. We took great care of that, even though we knew we would have casualties because of it. We held some positions and prevented the enemy from advancing. One should ask those who target us how many Turkish forces there are in the South and what these troops have to do on our land. We are waging a legitimate struggle for the people in all four parts of Kurdistan. But what does the Turkish state have to do here? That is what should be asked. If it continues like this, then much more negative things will happen. Rêber Apo said during the last short conversation [with his brother] that the PKK should be sensitive to prevent a civil war. In this regard, we have always considered ourselves responsible.

Our headquarters has made statements about this time and again. In no way have we allowed there to be discord between the Kurdish forces that would benefit the Turkish state. In spite of all this, we see the KDP forces trying to surround us and block the way for our friends. If these malicious attempts continue, certain negative developments are inevitable. Let the Kurdish people and the public know that we are ready to take any responsibility if it is proved that we really carried out a planned attack against the KDP. But if they intercept our friends on the way and open fire on them and our friends fall as a result, this will inevitably lead to conflict after a while.

If the KDP continues like this, all Kurds will lose

This topic is delicate. We act with patience and responsibility. But when they try to surround us and restrict the area, we know how to expand the field. That is what we inevitably have to do. Instead of forcing something like that, they should lay the foundation for us to move freely. Apart from these matters, we have no demands from the KDP. If there are problems, the people to contact in the political sphere are clear. They can talk among themselves and solve these problems. But as we said, they should not try to block our friends in military matters. If they continue like this, the Kurdish people will lose, especially in Southern Kurdistan.

We are a movement that puts its life on the line and fights. It is not important for us whether we die in this struggle or not. But the malicious actions of the KDP harm the entire Kurdish people and their struggle. We have been in a major war with the Turkish state since the fall of 2015. We want to end the occupation and persecution of the Turkish state on Kurdish territory. This is the basis on which we are waging our war. The Turkish state has brought in mercenaries and contras here from many places in this war. Whoever wants to fight with the Turkish state against us, let them do so, we will not look at who they are. We have been fighting for years against the Turkish state, which everyone fears. We are not afraid of it. Who should we be afraid of anyway? Those who take the approach or think that "the Turkish state is fighting against the PKK, the PKK is stuck and will make concessions" are making a big mistake. We are aware of how gratifying such a fratricidal war would be for the Turkish state and how much it would harm the Kurdish people. That is why we are very cautious. Those who think they can interpret this as weakness are wrong.

Therefore, some media, especially those that publish within the framework of MIT's propaganda, are waging a special war. These media outlets are trying to provoke in a vicious way in this regard. This is a disgrace. How can anyone be happy when a Kurd or a guerrilla from another party falls? In this sense, a national consciousness, a national bond and solidarity are very important. We can have political or ideological differences, that is normal. But there is a common Kurdish struggle. The pain and joy of all those who have lived and worked for this struggle should be one. Every day there are martyrs among our people. Nothing justifies the genocide of the Turkish state against the Kurdish people.

We are going through a very delicate phase in which the attacks on Rêber Apo, the Kurdish people and the Kurdish freedom movement continue in all respects. Our movement has launched a campaign for the freedom of Rêber Apo. Within the framework of this campaign, a very extensive struggle has been waged and a large public audience has been reached with rich actions throughout Kurdistan and in many parts of the world. Of course, this campaign continues successfully with even greater enthusiasm. My hope and conviction is that this campaign will continue even stronger and lead to the freedom of Rêber Apo. With this conviction, I wish success to all those who support this campaign. We invite all Kurdish youths to join the guerrillas in this sensitive time. We invite them to join the struggle for a life of dignity in a free Kurdistan and to fight side by side with the guerrillas.