KCK Executive Council co-chair Cemil Bayık said that "Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] is making changes in the field of organization and struggle according to the developments and changes that are taking place. We are not giving up our ideology, philosophy, and paradigm. We are making a change and transformation on the basis of how we apply these in the field of organization and struggle. The Apoist Movement is being reorganized on this basis."

Bayık said: "Dear people, dear Kurds, and dear peoples of Kurdistan,

We are currently in the month of Ramadan and Newroz, with Eid al-Fitr also approaching. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on Eid and send my greetings and respect to Rêber Apo. In this course, I also respectfully remember the martyrs who gave their lives in the struggle for freedom and democracy. They will always be the pioneers of our struggle.

As it is known, Rêber Apo has taken a historic initiative. In 1973, he launched a historic intervention for the Kurds and the peoples of Kurdistan, and again today, he is developing an even bigger and deeper intervention. When Rêber Apo first laid the foundation for this struggle, the Kurdish people were in the sleep of death. They had been cut off from their roots, their history, their values, and everything. They were heading towards extinction. Nobody estimated that the Kurds would ever be able to get on their feet again. But Rêber Apo did not tolerate this. A life that kills the Kurds could not be possible. So he decided to press ahead with his historic intervention with the aim of giving the Kurds a life. As a result, he was able to bring the people to their feet again. All roads had been closed; there was only one way left for the Kurds, and that was to take up arms against genocide and occupation. This is how armed struggle came into play. The guerrillas played a historic role and caused the Kurdish people to start serhildans. The Kurdish people had reappropriated the true meaning of Newroz. That people who were on the brink of death revived, rose up, and started to fight for their existence, for freedom and for democracy."

Bayık continued: "At that time, Rêber Apo said: 'We have developed a revolution of resurrection, and we have succeeded with it. Now it is time for the liberation struggle of the Kurds and Kurdistan'. Therefore he wanted to transform the armed struggle into a political one. He wanted to develop the struggle democratically on political grounds. Because Rêber Apo’s entire struggle and aim was to enable a people to fight for their freedom under all circumstances. And since this was realized, the political and democratic struggle had to develop. The solution had to be achieved on this basis. And so, accordingly, he declared a ceasefire in 1993. Turgut Ozal responded to that ceasefire, and a democratic and political process was developing. But it was sabotaged. Both the gang-like structures within the freedom movement and within the state prevented that process from successfully developing, and in the course of it Turgut Ozal was also murdered. But Rêber Apo insisted on his decision. He pointed it out in his interview with Mehmet Ali Birand. In 1995, he submitted a report to our movement and called for a congress to bring about change in the freedom movement. And some changes were realized at this 5th Congress, but these were very insufficient and incomplete.

Despite even this, Rêber Apo still insisted on the strategy he wanted to develop, the change and transformation he wanted to make in the freedom movement, and so he took steps accordingly. When Necmettin Erbakan came to power in Turkey, he sent some letters to Rêber Apo, to which he responded. Necmettin Erbakan also wanted the Kurdish question to be solved. Maybe Turgut Ozal and Necmettin Erbakan did not want to develop a solution in the way we wanted, but they knew that if they did not solve this fundamental question, Turkey would face much bigger problems in the future. Therefore, they wanted to solve the question somehow. But just as Turgut Ozal was murdered, so was Necmettin Erbakan. But again, Rêber Apo continued to work on the basis of this strategy."

Bayık added: "On 15 August 1998, Rêber Apo made an evaluation in which he expressed that he works on fulfilling the work he had started in 1993 and developed in 1995. He wanted to complete the change and transformation he had started in the freedom movement. Based on this, he again declared a ceasefire. But the response to it was the international conspiracy. Through the international conspiracy, they searched to prevent the success of Rêber Apo’s efforts. They realized that if change and transformation were achieved within the freedom movement, they would not be able to stop it anymore. They put the international conspiracy into action to prevent the freedom movement from further developing. As is known, Rêber Apo was taken hostage, but he still did not give up his aim. Even though facing the most difficult circumstances in Imrali, he was able to complete the work he started in 1993.

Taking this as a foundation, he developed a new paradigm. Until 2005, he was able to put this paradigm into a comprehensive form, present it, and take responsibility for it. According to that paradigm, he started to work decisively and courageously, facing the Imrali conditions. He wanted to put the entire freedom movement on a democratic and political path. He wanted to solve the Kurdish question through democratic and political means. Every time he took a step towards this, those who do not want the Kurdish question to be solved, those who strive for war and profit from it, intervened. They intervened in 2003, 2005, 2009, 2013, and 2015 to prevent the freedom movement from implementing the new paradigm. They did not want the freedom movement to be organized according to the new paradigm in order to complete the genocide and liquidation. Rêber Apo still did not give up on this. Because Rêber Apo’s aim was to create a people who would be capable of fighting for their freedom under all circumstances, and he has been successful in this cause. That is why he said, 'Now the era of the peoples has begun; the era of the parties is over.' The PKK had played its historic role. It prevented assimilation and genocide, revitalized the Kurdish people, and brought them to their feet. It turned the Kurdish people towards freedom and democracy. Therefore, the party’s work was complete. It was now the era of the peoples, so it had changed the paradigm and wanted to organize society accordingly, to create an organized society, a people with a will.

The collaborators with the Turkish state, NATO, and the capitalist modernity system – those in Kurdistan or outside – have always stood behind the Turkish state and its policy of denial and annihilation. The Turkish state always strived to achieve results with this policy. It aimed to liquidate the freedom movement and complete the Kurdish genocide. With the capture of Rêber Apo, the movement suffered a blow. They calculated that if they went after the movement, it would not be able to implement the new paradigm and continue to wage an according struggle. They used all their means on this basis. They put a policy and a plan in front of them; they said they would “force them to their knees”. In other words, they said, they will break the will of the Kurdish people, liquidate their freedom movement, and complete the Kurdish genocide. They worked on this basis for years. Especially after February 15, they deepened these policies. They calculated that they would get results this way, but they didn’t. No matter how much they worked on liquidating the PKK and completing the Kurdish genocide, they at the end still failed. At the same time, Turkey’s problems have only gotten worse."

Bayık underlined that "the Third World War developed with its focus on the Middle East. Turkey and Iran were given roles in the First and Second World Wars. Their role was to develop the mentality and system of the nation state in the Middle East. Based on this, the Sykes-Picot Agreement for the Middle East was formed by the alliance of Britain and France. It paved the way for the system of capitalist modernity. But now, the Third World War has set an end to the Sykes-Picot Agreement. The nation state system was dealt a serious blow, and a fundamental, new situation emerged in the Middle East. As a result, Iran and Turkey no longer have the role they used to have. After the First World War, the Turkish state was established, Shah Pahlavi became the head of Iran, and after the Second World War, Israel was established. Now through the Third World War, Israeli hegemony developed in the Middle East, thus taking over the role played by Turkey and Iran. That’s why Turkey and Iran are suffering so heavily. They were the ones who developed the nation state system which is now dismantling in the Middle East. A great danger has emerged for both Iran and the Turkish state.

Turkey is becoming aware of the great danger that awaits it. They fear the war that Israel is waging in the Middle East. They realize that they have no one to help them out of their bad situation except the Kurds. And so, they want both to prevent the danger posed by the Kurds and to get out of their difficult situation with the help of the Kurds. So there are not many options in front of them. Either they will improve their relations with the Kurds and get their support, and in this way they will get out of the bad situation they are in, or they will suffer a big blow. That’s why Devlet Bahceli took the initiative and went to the DEM Party in parliament.

They wanted to liquidate the PKK and complete the Kurdish genocide. For this, they were focusing on Rêber Apo, following the idea that once Rêber Apo was neutralized, then they would get results. But the developments and changes in the Middle East and the problems Turkey was facing proved them wrong and forced them to turn to Rêber Apo. Now they have started to accept Rêber Apo and the Kurds. This is a massive change that has taken place.

What their intentions are is not so relevant for us, but it is necessary to see and understand the changes, developments, and the steps taken on this basis. Rêber Apo developed the call for peace and democratic society under these conditions. Because Rêber Apo realized that if he takes the initiative, he can get results. He expressed that he has the power to develop this initiative. Rêber Apo saw that he could bring the process he started in 1993 to a conclusion because the conditions have changed a lot. He is capable of fulfilling his goals and objectives. Therefore, Rêber Apo said that the era of parties is over and that the era of peoples has begun. He wants to strengthen, organize, and develop the Kurdish society and communities. The move he initiated and the statement and call he made developed on this basis. It is not as if he sat down and negotiated with the Turkish state and developed this step. This movement is a movement of will. Rêber Apo made a historic intervention at a time when there were no opportunities, when there were many difficulties, when the genocide policy of the Turkish state was being carried out at full extent, when the Kurds were on the brink of death. Rêber Apo believes in himself, his will, his comrades, and his people; he has trained himself well, and on this basis, he is taking these steps. With the steps he is taking, he is also forcing the Turkish state to take steps. He wants to develop democratic politics and the people to have their own will so that the people can decide their own destiny. This is the goal and purpose of the move developed by Rêber Apo. Rêber Apo wants to drag the Kurdish question from the ground of war. What was needed to be done on the ground of war has been done; the remaining issues need to be solved without war. The movement and the people have reached this stage.

There are many states, powers, individuals, and politics among Kurds, in Turkey, and in the international arena who benefit from the war in Kurdistan. They do not want the war to end; they do not want the struggle for a solution to the Kurdish question to be moved to a political and legal level. The moment the Kurdish question is solved, they will lose their livelihood. Achieving this and letting their attempts at sabotage run empty is one of the aims of the move developed by Rêber Apo."