The Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) has a number of times declared unilateral ceasefire for a democratic and political resolution of the Kurdish question. While the third one of these was announced on 1 September 1998, the Turkish state wasted the process which lasted till 2004, acting in the same manner it did during the former periods of cease-fire. In the face of the Turkish state and AKP government's persistence on policies of destruction against the Kurds, the Kurdish freedom movement announced beginning of an active defense battle on 1 June 2004, which initiated a new phase in the Kurdish question.

HPG (People's Defense Forces) guerillas spoke to ANF on the anniversary of the June 1 initiative that emerged in response to the international conspiracy of 1999 when Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan was kidnapped and arrested as rumors about the PKK’s collapse were being disseminated.

Also known as the second August 15 initiative, the June 1 initiative has gained historical importance for the Kurdish Freedom Movement and the peoples of the Middle East. The initiative paved way for the gains that have been made until today at a moment when all hope was lost for the Kurdish people. Guerillas evaluated the conditions that led to the June 1 initiative, the return, the ways in which the initiative took place, the gains of the initiative for the HPG, and the significance of this initiative for the PKK.

What were the conditions that required the June 1 initiative?

Sabır Serero: We have been in an armed struggle since 1984 and Leader Apo initiated a new period after the international conspiracy of 1999 that targeted our Leader himself. He initiated a period of democratic and non-violent resistance for the solution of the Kurdish issue. With this move, we felt the need to develop a new method and transform armed resistance for the development of peace. Despite great sacrifices, guerrillas began their great march for peace.

Upon our Leader’s call, HPG and YJA Star forces moved from northern Kurdistan to the Medya Defense Areas in the south. Forces of capitalist modernity and conspiracy tried to impose their views and systems upon the PKK in this period. Instead of establishing a permanent peace, they tried to demobilize the freedom movement and the Kurdish people. Forces of capitalist modernity also enforced their politics of marginalization on the PKK both politically and militarily. They did their best to create cracks among patriotic civilians who have made many sacrifices for democracy and freedom.

This period began in 1999 and lasted until 2003. When AKP came into power, the genocidal and destructive regime in Turkey began a counter initiative against our movement. In order to invalidate the enemy’s efforts militarily, politically and culturally, we began the June 1 initiative that was supposed to begin in 2003. However, both the demobilization pressures of foreign forces and the demobilization tendencies from within delayed our initiative, which finally began in 2004.

The main goal of our initiative was to end the denialist and destructive policies that have targeted Kurdish people for centuries. Kurdish people required protection against genocidal and denialist policies and we began the June 1 initiative in 2004 in order to protect our freedom and social values.

Zilan Kobanê: After our Leader’s imprisonment, the whole movement changed its strategy. Before this period, there was a struggle for the establishment of an independent Kurdistan. After his imprisonment, our Leader initiated a peace process and expressed his will to solve this conflict on the basis of peace and equality.
Our Leader initiated the peace process when he said ‘If we establish an independent Kurdistan today, we will not be any different from other states. We declared the unilateral ceasefire of 1999 and began to move from the north to the south. The Turkish state continued its attacks despite our ceasefire and tried every possible mean to finish off our organization. They never wanted a permanent peace and we needed to respond with a different strategy. As part of our Leader’s peace efforts, the PKK was not going to use arms as long as the issue was solved through dialogue and political methods.

However, the Turkish state did not give up on its denialist and destructive policies and the insincere response to our ceasefire made armed conflict inevitable. Our war was of course defensive as we could not be silent towards their arrests, massacres and attempts to demobilize our movement. We also witnessed ideological problems and demobilizing groups within the movement, so we responded with the June 1 initiative.

As a witness of this initiative, could you evaluate how and under which circumstances it was began?

Bedran Kawa: Within the June 1, 2004 initiative, I took place in the Serhat town where preparations were being made as the guerrilla developed a self-sacrificing spirit on the basis of the Leader's ideology and philosophy. A great effort was being made in order to answer the expectations of the process and the people from us. The martyrdom of our comrades who had been in the mountains and made great efforts, was a significant message for us. It was such a process that both the isolation of the Leader and the psychological tendencies on the people made the 1 June initiative essential.

From the history up to date, the Kurdish people have always paid prices. To some, our June 1 initiative was just a loss of time while it, however, raised the moral of our movement, comrades and people. The guerrilla and the people merged with each other, and the Leader. The switch into the new paradigm was not easy but a revival was achieved with the practiced efforts which was a legacy left to us by our comrades. We will continue pursuing this line from now on as well.

What are the gains achieved on the side of HPG?

Roni Munzur: HPG regenerated and became an organization of resistance and defense on the basis of the legacy it had gained from ARGK. Unlike ARGK which was a structure with a different formation, motivation and sense of defense, HPG had a completely new sense of defense and an untried formation set to be put into practice in Kurdistan for the first time. Its chance of success was being debated by some circles within the organization that related it with equivocacy. While some tendencies were eliminated after remaining outside this process due to their stance, the results were tremendous as the pro-Apo spirit in Kurdistan was advanced from ARGK to a higher level of military performance. The demolition of the system of denial-destruction in Kurdistan, and the ending of the hope and intention of colonist powers to maintain it, are all results of the new initiative developed by the HPG on June 1. We are still pursuing this initiative and achieving great results.

The performance developed by HPG inspires the four parts of Kurdistan today. In South, East and West Kurdistan besides the North, there are military organizations that were created on the basis of this inspiration. YPG-YPJ and other forces are a follow-up of the inspiration created by the military course developed by HPG. In this sense, we see these as a legacy and attach importance to them which became a line of defense extending across Kurdistan lands, including Sinjar and Kirkuk. In other words, the initiative of 1 June made the PKK the banner of the Middle East peoples.

Tolhıldan Serdar: June 1 was the re-attainment of a guerrilla spirit for the HPG. It eliminated all the then-voiced arguments such as "PKK has ended, they have no more power to fight", and brought along new achievements in both military and political arena as guerrilla re-emerged as a force to eliminate the deadlock in Turkey and its politics. With this initiative, we showed that the guerrilla force didn't end but on the contrary achieved a stronger spirit of struggle.

What does June 1 mean to PKK and its members today?

Roni Munzur: It turned the PKK into a movement going beyond Kurdistan. Just like August 15 initiative made PKK a reality and a great freedom dynamics, June 1 initiative made PKK the banner of the Middle East peoples. Dozens of forces are emerging across the world with the inspiration they get from the line the PKK represents today. The PKK is also establishing a ground for the organization of the peoples in Turkey and the Middle East. The revolutionary spirit was like a burned-out ash for the world humanity, the Che period had ended and revolutionism had become a simple habit of the small bourgeois romanticism. The June 1 initiative proved once again that the revolutionary stance against injustice would serve the humanity.

On the other hand, state-backed gang groups and the powers organizing them turned their steps towards the Kurdish people, youth and women, assuming that Kurdistan become abandoned and unclaimed after 1 June. It was intended to intimidate the Kurdistan society by these gangs. The guerrilla force, however, expelled them once again from Kurdistan and caused them to go back. 1 June move showed everyone that Kurdistan is not unclaimed.

The guerrilla became an alternative force against the resistance of capitalist modernity. It is thanks to the success of the 1 June initiative and the practice of the PKK's line that it promises hope to the Middle East peoples as a third line today, and calls for unity against modernity all around the world. 1 June initiative made PKK a global reality and revealed the spirit of freedom and invincibility of it. It is thanks to PKK that peoples today have a hope against capitalist modernity, and the hope becomes reality. If all the identities unite under the HDP umbrella today, this is definitely a result of the 1 June initiative.