In an interview with Radio Dengê Welat, PKK Executive Committee member Karayılan said that Turkey has no strength to attack Efrîn citing Turkish army’s operation against 70 YPS fighters which lasted more than 9 months.

“They make it seem like the Turkish state will enter Efrîn in an instant if they attack Efrîn. The whole world should know that the Turkish army doesn’t have such strength. There is no such situation. The people of Efrîn and everybody should know that this army couldn’t enter Şirnex for 9 months, couldn’t enter Nusaybin for 9 months. The Turkish army has come down with Nusaybin syndrome. How could they enter Efrîn immediately? 60-70 YPS guards defended Nusaybin. This army failed to enter Bab, they only could enter with Russian help. They dealt with Bab for 3 months and they couldn’t enter. They were left powerless. They make it seem like they could enter Efrîn any time they want. In Efrîn the YPG/YPJ has experience, there is the SDF. There have been such diverse experiences. They defeated ISIS when nobody could go near them. They took the capital of ISIS. The Turkish army can’t fight against the YPG. If the people and the YPG are united, they can’t handle them. If they come they will lose. They will experience a historic defeat. They will come and see. They have threats, they can come and prove it” Karayılan said.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

“We believe that the patriotic people of Efrîn will stand with the fighters with their courage, sacrifice and their experience and nobody will be able to handle them. The Turkish army for sure won’t be able to take it over. They will be broken. That is apparent. How can a force that couldn’t enter Nusaybin for 9 months enter Efrîn? There are such a large group of forces in Efrîn, there are so many patriotic people. There are the Arab people. There is the resistance of peoples. Faced with the resistance of peoples, fascist Tayyip Erdoğan’s threats won’t prevail. But there is this, they are trying to create a psychology in people, they are engaged in psychological warfare. They make it seem like they are so strong. Now they are at Russia’s feet, so Russia will approve their entrance. So they can fight and fly their planes. They are depending completely on Russia. If the Turkish state attacks Efrîn, that will mean that Russia also approves of that. Without approval from Russia and the US, Turkey is nothing. Russia greenlighted Bab to get gangs out of Aleppo. We don’t know what Russia will ask for in return if they greenlight the attack on Efrîn. But Turkey could do anything. That could be expected of Tayyip Erdoğan. I said Erdoğan is a salesman. He could do anything to make people forget about his thievery and to prevent his collapse. He could even put his honor up for sale. These people are like this. That is why one should expect anything from them, but should not fear. If they come, they will get their answer.”

"EFRIN WON’T BE ALONE!"

“If such a situation does emerge, I believe that all Kurds and all the public will come together around Efrîn. Efrîn won’t be alone. There will be a great strength behind it. Like the support behind Kobanê was strong, there will be a great force behind Efrîn. The whole world will support this. History will be made there again. That is our hope and our belief. With this hope and belief, we salute the people of Efrîn. We expect great things from them, and they are candidates for making history. The forces there issue statements that fit this framework. We can see that they will prevail. How do we know? From practice. The practice of Turkey and the Turkish army is known. They can’t just go in and take over. They don’t have the strength for it. On the other hand, the status of Rojava Kurdistan and the resistance of YPG-YPJ militants are also known. Comparing these, we can say that the Turkish state will experience a great rupture when they go there.”

"TURKISH STATE BOMBED XAKURKE OUT OF FEAR"

On midnight December 14, there was an intense bombing by jet fighters on Xakurke. Aerial attacks started first in Geliyê Reş, Kaniya Reş, Evdalkovî and Desta Heyatê. Then there was an invasion attempt against areas under Southern Kurdistan sovereignty officially, known as the Southern Kurdistan territories. Now there are the Siro Hill and Mavan skirts in Deşta Heyatê. They entered those areas, but there are no guerillas there. It’s not high ground, it’s like a plateau. So it’s on the Xakurkê side, but it’s not Xakurkê. But the enemy bombed Xakurkê out of fear, and in the meantime they advanced their soldiers on that plain. They are holding the Siro Hill. It was empty in any case. There were no guerilla forces there. That’s the deal. It’s not clear if this will expand and spread into Xakurkê as an operation. If they turn towards Xakurkê, there will undoubtedly be great resistance. There will be war. It’s not that easy, or possible for that matter, to enter Xakurkê. There will be a great war. But now they are close. They passed Geliyê Reş and the Heci Beg river, they arrived and are holding that area. That is a hill in the South. According to rumors among the people, the Southern Kurdistani and Iraqi governments are aware of the situation, and they haven’t reacted at all. That might very well be true. Why did they come and hold this hill? This hill is on a triangle. To hold the whole region, all entrances and exits under control over the South line, to control all movement.

"TURKEY IS DEFEATED BY KURDISH STRUGGLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST"

The Turkish state and the AKP-MHP government are at their worst period. Their Rojava policies haven’t amounted to anything. Their Middle East policies have collapsed in general. The core of their Middle Eastern policies was anti-Kurdishness. And they failed at that. They had geared their policies towards Kurds not achieving any status in the process of change and transformation in the whole region. They even wanted to clamp on the status in Southern Kurdistan and weaken it. This is not the first time we are talking about this. We have been saying these things for the last 4-5 years. Look, some opportunities came along, the Southern Kurdistan politics had some mistakes, the Turkish state intervened immediately, they went to Iran and Iraq and formed an alliance. They did all that they could to weaken the status of Southern Kurdistan.

“The Turkish state sees their success in the defeat of the Kurds’ gains. Despite that, if you go to their feet that doesn’t mean anything. There is no place for such acts in politics. As it is known, they employ the same oppositional politics against Rojava as well. As we said before, they employed the same policies in Cizre and Silopi too. Now they employ the same policies everywhere. But they have been defeated. They have lost against Rojava. From the beginning, they used Al-Nusra and the groups who called themselves the “Free Syrian Army”. Until 2014. They were defeated. Then they deployed ISIS, which has also been defeated. Now they come out themselves. With gangs under their control. Everybody knows that they don’t constitute a will, they are agents, they are mercenaries and paramilitary forces.”

“The Turkish state failed in their Middle East policies, in Syria, against Kurds, in the North, in Rojava. Their policies against Kurds and Kurdistan have failed. Now they are attempting to cover up their defeat and their thievery with an operation. Why? See, now there is the Reza Zarrab case in the US. This case is about Tayyip Erdoğan in particular. The crimes and the thievery of Tayyip Erdoğan and his network can be seen clearly. The AKP and Tayyip Erdoğan are deeply afraid of this.”