Kurdistan People’s Defense Forces Central Headquarters Commander Murat Karayılan addressed guerrillas on the 30th year anniversary of Mahsum Korkmaz’s (Commander Egîd) martyrdom.

Karayılan addressed guerrillas based in South and North Kurdistan via long-distance transmitters, and emphasized the importance of Mahsum Korkmaz for the Kurdistan Freedom Movement. Regarding the urban resistance in Kurdistan and recent AKP policies, Karayılan said that Kurdistan guerrillas should put the historic spring process to use and the Kurdish people would come out victorious at the end of this process. Karayılan recalled people’s demands for the HPG to make an intervention during spring months. Below are some of the headlines of Murat Karayılan’s recent statements:

‘EGÎD IS THE SYMBOL OF SUCCESS AND THE SPIRIT OF ATTACK’

30 years have passed since the martyrdom of our great commander Egîd. The struggle of comrade Egîd entered a new and crucial phase recently. We commemorate comrade Egîd on the 30th year anniversary of his martyrdom, and repeat our promise to him and all other revolutionary martyrs of Kurdistan. The Kurdistan Freedom Struggle will honor their memories by reaching success.

Comrade Egîd was a spirit, a stance, and a way of becoming a commander. But above all, he was the symbol of success and attack. 32 years ago, on 15 August 1984, 32 people led by commander Egîd began their march for freedom. Their struggle has made history, and comrade Egîd has tens of thousands of soldiers and millions of followers.

‘ERDOĞAN WILL LOSE, JUST LIKE HOW KENAN EVREN LOST’

When the August 15 initiative took place, Kenan Evren, the president of Turkey back then, stated that the perpetrators would be caught and brought to justice within 72 hours no matter where they hid. However, 32 years have passed and the march of that little group has grown into a movement of tens of thousands of guerrillas and millions of people. The side that lost during this process has been Turkish colonialism based on denial, authoritarianism and assimilation. They thought that they could defeat our movement through their use of NATO power and organization of international conspiracies, but our movement is at its strongest. The Kurdistan Freedom Movement is one of the major actors in the Middle East, and the resistance spirit of Kurdistan guerrillas in the mountains has spread over to the youth in plains and urban centers. Erdoğan will fail to produce results and experience defeat, just like Kenan Evren who failed to finish the guerrilla movement within 72 hours. In the fall of 2015, AKP colonialism had claimed that the resistance in urban areas would end within a month. However, the fire of urban resistance has not beet put out over the last 7 months.

Today, Erdoğan knows that he cannot defeat the guerrillas of Kurdistan but he wages war on our movement in order to strengthen its power. Under the pretense of ‘providing public order,’ the Turkish state tried to exert dominance in urban areas this winter. They also tried to damage and weaken us in the mountains, so that our capabilities would be limited in the spring of 2016. However, they have failed. It is true that they attacked Medya Defense Zones and North Kurdistan in many different ways, but their attacks failed. They tried to weaken our forces in Shengal with the support of certain forces in South Kurdistan, but Kurdistan Freedom Guerrillas defeated their plans and played an important role in the liberation of Shengal. Our guerillas have even successfully liberated the strategic location of Medîban without any aerial support. Today, Kurdistan Freedom Forces play a fundamental role in the liberation of Mosul and Til Afer.

Turkey also tried to siege the revolution in Rojava diplomatically, Erdoğan even said ‘Us or them’ regarding this issue. They tried to make international powers object to Rojava Revolution, but they failed miserably and the revolution grew and took the vital step of declaring North Syria Federation with the support of Arab people in the region.

'AKP IS SCARED BECAUSE IT IS GUILTY'

Its diplomatic and military failures, coupled with our people’s growing urban resistance, scares the AKP. This is why all AKP officials say that they are not scared in their press statements. They tried to bring us to kneel last year, and now they say that they are not scared and would not be brought to kneel. We know that they are scared of us, they are scared of the reality of Kurdistan because they are guilty. They burned unarmed civilians in Cizre and destroyed Kurdish cities, they are scared because of their crimes against humanity.

'MARTYRS OF SUR AND CİZRE PAVE THE WAY FOR VICTORY'

When the Turkish army started attacking urban resistance, we warned that we would intervene if the army waged a war in the cities. They used tanks and destroyed cities as they attacked young people who were only using shotguns and Kalashnikovs. Their true aim was to destroy Kurdish cities, and they tried to bring our people and youth to kneel with their cowardly attacks.

However, the resistance in Sur and Cizre against colonial attacks was historic. It is true that we have martyrs, but these martyrs pave the way for victory. This spirit is the spirit of our times. It is possible to reach results if we have this spirit, take lessons from previous practices, and have a diverse tactical approach.

'HPG SHOULD NOW INTERVENE'

Spring has come, the HPG should now intervene. However, this intervention should not be in the form of entering urban areas. It should be in the form of supporting the self-defense resistance of Kurdish youth under the umbrella of YPS from the mountains. The HPG action in Mermer military post is a successful step in this direction, and the HPG should be active in rural areas in order to show solidarity with the resistance in urban areas. The HPG would not intervene if the army had not attacked urban areas, but we have to intervene since the Turkish army mobilized its forces against the Kurdish youth in cities. There was no need for such a war, and the issue of trenches would have been resolved if the state had responded to the issue differently.

Our people’s demand for autonomy is a universal right. Different cultures and languages coexist in the world through the formula of autonomy. Kurdish people’s demand for autonomy is appropriate, and the resistance against the attacks on our people’s demand is a resistance of democracy and freedom. The struggle for autonomy in Kurdistan democratizes Turkey, but the HPG should support the resistance against the Turkish state’s attacks on autonomy demands with tanks and artillery.

'FREEDOM OF LEADER APO IS THE ONLY SOLUTION PATH'

Turkish state officials should know that they cannot win this war. Cities, mountains and plains are all sites of resistance. They should see this reality. The Erdoğan regime should stop killing Turkish and Kurdish youth, and agree to a solution. The freedom of Leader Apo and the autonomy of Kurdish people is the only solution path, and there is no alternative option.

'WE ARE BOUND TO SUCCEED'

A historic spring period is underway and we enter the spring with great opportunities. We are at our strongest, and we can take advantage of these opportunities and carry out appropriate actions. It is important for our guerrillas to prepare themselves. Our guerrillas did not receive a critical blow this winter and we believe that they prepared themselves sufficiently. We trust in our guerrillas just like Leader Apo trusts in our people.

We are bound to succeed in this period. Our goals are clear; “Free Leadership, Autonomous Kurdistan, Democratic Turkey.” There won’t be any peaceful resolution without the freedom of Leader Apo. We must come up with the most creative tactics and fulfill our duties in order to ensure our leader’s freedom. We believe that w will achieve great results if our guerrillas carry out actions with determination. On this basis, we wish success to our guerrillas and believe that they will yield great results when they act with the spirit of our heroic comrade Egîd.