PKK Executive Council Member Murat Karayılan spoke to the Dengê Kurdistan (Voice of Kurdistan) Radio on AKP’s plans to disband the Kurdistan Freedom Movement, the stage of the war, the Turkish state’s policies on Rojava and Southern Kurdistan and the importance of the national unity among Kurds.

Second part of Murat Karayılan’s speech, translated by ANF English service, is as follows:

FREE WILL IS IN RESISTANCE ON IMRALI

The 18th anniversary of the International Conspiracy is drawing close. First of all, I condemn all forces that took part in this conspiracy against Leader Apo and the Kurdish people. Our Leader has been under psychological torture in Imralı for 18 years. There is immense cruelty and violence there. The genocidal war waged against the Kurdish people is in truth waged there. Everybody should know this. None of the practices in place on Imralı right now have any place in law. There is a violently implemented, immoral attack. All convicts have rights, but none of these rights are anywhere to be seen in Imralı. This is the law of the AKP and the Turkish state. This exposes the true colors of Turkish colonialist policies over Kurdistan.

And against this aggression and cruelty, there is the true free person stance displayed by our Leader. This stance is extraordinary. Leader Apo has preserved his free and independent will in there for 18 years despite all attacks. This is immense and significant. Despite AKP tried all they could to make Leader Apo retreat, Leader Apo has said “I am for the solution, I am for a solution on the basis of recognition for the rights of the Kurdish people and the establishment of a democratic Turkey, I am ready for this. But if you tell me to surrender and deny myself, then I am out.” This is a very meaningful human stance.

Because of this, we are talking of a great danger for Leader Apo and an intense isolation. We have no information from our leader. But our people and everybody else should know that if all of us are considered in the fronts in the Kurdistan Revolution today, Leader Apo is in the very frontlines. That is to say, Leader Apo is facing the dangers before any of us. All of us should know this. Removing this threat over Leader Apo will be possible through strengthening ourselves more, a correct participation and answering the duties of the day. We will remove the threat looming over the Leader to the extent that we correctly assume responsibility. So, this matter lies entirely with us.

MEHMET TUNÇ’S WORDS COME TO LIFE EVERYWHERE TODAY

The existing laws in Turkey are the laws of colonialism. Today, all who stand against colonialism and Erdoğan’s dictatorship are dubbed criminals and considered fit for prison. There is no law other than this, and this is unlawfullness. To this end, many Kurdish politicians, many people who defended their identity, honor and dignity, who said they would be there for the society, who refused to be slaves to anybody, who didn’t surrender to money, gains, or threats have been imprisoned. In this sense, I salute wholeheartedly all imprisoned comrades and all the Kurdish politicians who are currently hostages, most of all Leader Apo. Their stance and their resistance is truly meaningful. We are trying to be worthy of them, and we are aware of the duty that falls on our shoulders.

The AKP-MHP regime wants to disband the Kurdistan Revolution, and naturally Kurdish politics. For that, they have continuously built prisons for the last 40 years. But a resistance also continues against these practices of theirs. This resistance has a history. The resistance that continued to this day from Mazlum Doğan, Kemal Pir, Hayri Durmuş and Ferhat Kurtay is a historic resistance. The prisons for us have always been a front for resistance. They have also been the foundations for great ascents.

As you know, the groundwork for the largest outburst of the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle was laid in the Amed Dungeon. And today, there is an approach that arrests all Kurdish politicians and patriots, that wants to make them surrender by pushing them with oppression. In this sense, the politicians held hostage in prisons are currently resisting in a different way as products of the tradition of resistance by the Kurdish Freedom Struggle. I salute all arrested MPs, co-mayors and democratic Kurdish politicians in the persons of HDP Co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, also Ahmet Türk who defends his will, dignity and honor despite his age and his illnesses. Kurdish politics have refused to bow down today against AKP’s attacks and policies of intimidation and threats. Mehmet Tunç’s words of “We didn’t bow down in the face of the colonialist attacks, we didn’t kneel, those who come after us be proud of us” come to life today in dungeons, streets and everywhere else.

THE POLITICAL STANCE OF THE KURDISH PEOPLE HAS DEFEATED AKP IN THE DUNGEONS AS WELL

Look, the FETÖ members have also been arrested. Now those Fethullahists are racing to become informants. So much so that the state doesn’t believe the informants anymore, they don’t accept their admissions. Because they all want to be informants. But there have been no informants in Kurdish politics, and it can be seen that there won’t be any in the future. It shows the greatness of this struggle that nobody has taken any steps back. This shows the strength of the ideology and the reality of freedom for the Kurdish people. Nobody bows down to the cruelty of colonialism anymore. This resistance continues now in all dungeons. This stance of the Kurdish people, Kurdish politics and the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle has defeated AKP in dungeons as well and has voided AKP’s policies on Imralı and all other prisons.

Today, AKP is implementing an unlimited policy of cruelty towards the people. They are pushing surrender as the only option for survival. Those who defend their identity are faced with displacement, hunger and poverty. Our people have displayed a truly great and respectable resistance in the face of this AKP-MHP fascism. The Kurdish people are resisting with a deep consciousness against Turkey’s colonialism. But we know that this method of resistance is no longer enough. We must put forth more organized methods. The enemy first tore down the villages of our people, forcing them to migrate, pushing them into cities. Now they are tearing down cities and forcing annihilation and surrender. And shamelessly, they say “PKK tore down these cities, we will rebuild them”. They tore down the beautiful cities of Kurdistan with tanks, artillery, and even jet fighters, in front of the whole world to see. They continued the destruction even though the fighters left, and they continue still.

These people will tear down the cities of Kurdistan and build outposts everywhere. They are developing a structure to ensure total control over cities under the guise of rebuilding. These cities are planned as open prisons. AS they know these are patriots’ neighborhoods, they want to take the people living there under surveillance. They even advertise this, mocking human intelligence saying they are “building beautiful and quality homes”. This is a vile game they are playing. They tore down our cities and neighborhoods, and now they say they are doing us a favor, giving us money, building us houses.

The Turkish state is the enemy of this people. It is a foreign and colonialist state. They came and forcibly took these lands, and now when the people demand their rights, they attack with all their military force. If they consider themselves the state of these people, then why can they only exist in fortified outposts and armored vehicles in Kurdistan? Because they are a foreign, colonialist power and have taken animosity towards Kurds as a method. Our people see this reality, and no Kurd, no individual in Kurdistan should ever forget this. Whatever the AKP state claims they are doing for the people, it must be known that there is a trick there. This enemy wants to enslave us. They may pay you salaries and put you to work, they might make you watchmen, village guards, agents, and thus enslave you. That is why people must protect themselves from this enemy.

OUR PEOPLE MUST STRENGTHEN THEIR ORGANIZATION

Our people must not forget this cruelty imposed upon them, they must remember everything and act accordingly. Our people have woken up to the reality of the enemy, but they lack organization. To overcome this, the people who believe in each other must be united, our people should be able to organize themselves, make themselves into a force, and help each other. They should aid the poor. Nobody should be left penniless, forced to sell themselves for bread. Especially, whether men or women, the youth must be aware of the games played upon them, must be aware of those who want to make them drug addicts, turn them to antisocial immoral things and remove them from their reality. They must defend themselves and develop their organizations.

THE OPERATIONS OF THE TURKISH STATE HAVE FAILED

The operations on the guerrilla have continued non-stop since fall. Up until now, there have never been such operations in harsh winter conditions. But this year, as part of the concept we pointed at, the Turkish state continued their operations in winter as well. They have failed to achieve any results yet. They had extensive attempts in Gabar, Garzan, Amed, Mardin, Dersim, Serhat and other places in Kurdistan, but all were in vain. Again, they failed to achieve the results they expected and promoted to the public in aerial bombings geared towards Medya Defense Zones.