Mahsum Korkmaz Military Academy and Haki Karer Academy carry out training activity within the Apollo Academies Command under the HPG. Their winter training cycles have just concluded with a ceremony. The closing ceremony coincided with the Newroz week, and in the ceremony People’s Defense Central Headquarters Commander Murat Karayılan gave important messages on the guerrilla’s preparations for the coming period, the conflict in Shengal and Newroz.

The winter training cycles have concluded in the Mahsum Korkmaz Military Academy and Haki Karer Academy that carry out training activity within the Apollo Academies Command under the HPG. The ceremony was held under a heavy downpour and People’s Defense Central Headquarters commanders Murat Karayılan, Zozan Çewlîg, İrfan Amed, Leyla Sorxwîn and Atakan Mahir, along with many guerrilla commanders and fighters. The ceremony coincided with the Newroz week. People’s Defense Central Headquarters Commander Murat Karayılan spoke to the guerrilla commanders and gave important messages on the guerrilla’s preparations for the coming period, the conflict in Shengal and Newroz.

“NEWROZ IS A DAY OF STRUGGLE AND SUCCESS”

Highlights from Karayılan’s speech are as follows:

“Newroz Day has a significant place in our people’s history. Newroz is a day of struggle and success that heralds freedom. In the name of all the Kurdistan freedom guerillas, we celebrate Leader Apo’s Newroz, express our loyalty and offer our respects. We celebrate Newroz for all the peoples of Kurdistan, the peoples of the region, the free prisoners, all our comrades and all the martyr families and the mothers of martyrs.

In the person of the contemporary Kawa, Mazlum Doğan, we salute all our martyrs of the revolution and repeat our promise to them. We also salute Commander Dr. Ferzende, martyred in the current period, our Mardin State Commander Soro and comrades Zinarîn, Behzat and Rojhat. We salute the martyrs of Shengal in the persons of comrade Martyr Orhan Baran whose father and brother were also martyrs, and comrade Martyr Çekdar. We salute the Shengal heroes, YBŞ martyrs comrades Amed Şengalî, Şoreş Şengalî, Çiya Zerdeşt, Arîf Şengalî and Tekoşîn. We offer our condolences to the YBŞ General Command, the families of these esteemed martyrs, and the people of Shengal. We salute the esteemed Kurdish daughter Nazê Naîf Qewal. Our martyrs are our honor. They always light our way. We will honor their memory by liberating Kurdistan.

“THE GOAL OF THE AKP-MHP IS TO HINDER KURDS”

Our people are greeting Newroz 2017 at an important point in history. The Kurdistan Freedom Movement is going through an important period today. There is a war in our region today. After this war in which the Kurdish people are an important actor, the region will be redesigned. The Kurdish people will have a place in the region. It is the time to build the free Kurdistan. Nobody can cover up this reality any more. The colonialist states invading Kurdistan know this reality very well. Look, the state of Iran works covertly, but the state of Turkey has drawn their sword and are openly on the arena. The strategic goal of the alliance between the AKP and the MHP is to prevent the Kurds achieving freedom and a status. On this basis, they have been carrying out a great attack for the last 2 years. Right now, there is a great isolation and psychological torture that is unprecedented in the world imposed upon Leader Apo. At the same time, this state destroyed our cities: Cizre, Sur, Şırnak, Nusaybin, Hezex, Gever, Silopi and Farqîn. They locked ten thousand Kurdish politicians in dungeons. Today they are attacking all the values of our people.

These attacks aren’t limited to Northern Kurdistan. They are attacking in Rojava and Southern Kurdistan as well. They are attacking the Kurdish people and the Kurdish revolution to defeat the Kurdistan Freedom Movement. They aren’t attacking because they are strong, they are attacking because they are weak. They are afraid of free Kurdistan, but they also know that they can’t prevail in the war against us on their own. For that, the Turkish generals are holding meetings with Arab tribes in Kurdistan and some Kurdish circles to get them to fight against Rojava. They are also holding meetings with all tribal chiefs and village guard chiefs. They are offering them money to turn the war in the North into a Kurdish civil war. The Turkish state led by AKP and MHP wants to start a Kurdish civil war through many tricks and intrigues in Southern Kurdistan. All who call themselves Kurds and democrats should be aware of this trick by the colonialists.

“KURDS SHOULD SOLVE THEIR ISSUES THROUGH DIALOGUE”

The times we are in are the times for Kurdistan to be free. Newroz 2017 is the Newroz of freedom and victory. With this day, we are calling on all Kurdish politics, all the peoples of Kurdistan to build their unity and get together in the basis of the National-Democratic Congress. This unity will determine the future of the Kurdish people and the free Kurdistan. Kurdish politics should be able to work through their issues with contemporary techniques and dialogue. If they don’t, then “the Kurds will be trampled” as the MHP says. Everybody will say, ‘These are tribespeople, they are backwards, they don’t know how to handle and solve their problems’. That would be a great shame. The solution to problems is through dialogue. Not attacks and threats.

“OUR DUTY IS TO MAKE ÊZIDÎS THRIVE, NOT DIE”

How could they attack the people not firing on them and not fighting them in Shengal? Aren’t they Kurds? Didn’t the Êzidîs experience dozens of genocides? As the revolutionaries of Kurdistan and the politicians of this country,we have a responsibility towards Êzidî women and girls. There are Êzidî women and girls captive in the hands of ISIS still. Our duty is not to kill them, but to save them. What explanation is there to kill the Kurdish daughter Nazê Naîf? An unarmed person, doing a peaceful march. What does that mean? Is that what the peshmerga is? Is that how you command? Isn’t that a shame? Nobody should make such mistakes. All our people should know that we have only one concern, and that is the interest and gains of our people. Wrong policies will threaten the gains of the Kurdish people, and waste these golden opportunities. So, we are warning: Nobody should make these mistakes! This period offers the Kurdish people’s struggle the conditions to prevail, but first the tricks of the colonialist states must be fought. We must void them, and thus carry the Kurdish will over to victory.

“THE PEOPLE OF AMED SHOULD BURN THE NEWROZ FIRE STRONGER”

Today is an important day. Today all our people should take to the Newroz grounds and celebrate this sacred day. Especially the people of Amed, and all the people of Bakur, should burn the Newroz fire stronger against the AKP-MHP fascism and tyranny and build their unity in Newroz grounds. Our people should put their stance forth in this manner by giving the message of freedom and democracy to all.

“THE GUERILLA WILL SHOW EVERYONE THEY ARE INVINCIBLE”

The training cycles of Mahsum Korkmaz Military Academy and Haki Karer Academy under the Apollo Academies are completing on such a sacred day. This year, 12 academies including these academies have successfully completed their training cycles. With these trainings developed in the Apollo Academies, we want to improve the victory performance of the Freedom Guerrilla and create the modern-professional guerrilla. The guerrilla of the 21st century will be an answer to the contemporary technology and through making technique serve tactic, will manage to ascertain victory in great creativity.

For the past four years, we have been working to finalize the restructuring project of the HPG. Now, with this training cycle complete, we are crowning and completing our restructuring project. And the Kurdistan Freedom Guerilla, wherever they are, will protect the people of Kurdistan and in this important period will show everyone in the battle fields that they are invincible. The Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla, with their Apoist sacrifice spirit, with the stance of Çiyager, Azad Sîser and Devrim Amed, will play their role in 2017 and make this year a year of success.

“NO KURD SHOULD COME BETWEEN US AND OUR ENEMY”

The enemy says ‘PKK will be defeated in March or April, nobody will speak of them again’. Here, everything is out in the open. Our people should know that the AKP state is waging a psychological war and 90% of what they say are lies. Nobody can stand in the way of the Kurdistan freedom march anymore. Nobody can stop the flow of history anymore. Victory will be our people’s.

All should understand this very well: The enemy wants to fight against us today, and we as the People’s Defense Forces are ready for this war. These comrades, as commanders who have completed their training, all want to go to the Black Sea, to Dersim, to Amed and to Botan and fight there. For this, nobody should come between us and our enemy. If the Turkish chauvinism and the AKP-MHP fascism wants to fight us, then no Kurd should stand between us and them. We as the guardians of Kurdistan, have nothing to lose in this war. We have no other goal than to protect the interests and gains of our people and we will uphold our duty in this important period.

“THE FUTURE WILL BELONG TO THE PEOPLE OF KURDISTAN”

We believe that the training they receive in the Mahsum Korkmaz and Haki Karer Academies on the basis of Leader Apo’s philosophy and the performance they achieve on the basis of our military experience will form the foundation of victory and success in our comrades. With this belief, we congratulate our comrades who have successfully completed their training. We state that with the new period of struggle starting with Newroz 2017, Leader Apo’s and Kurdistan’s march to freedom will prevail. On this basis, the future will belong to the people of Kurdistan.”