Translated from Turkish original (short text version), London 1 Feb. 2013

by DENİZ KENDAL

22 January 2013

BEHDİNAN – KCK Executive Council President Murat Karayılan said they had no doubt that the Turkish state was behind the murder of three Kurdish women activists in Paris, adding that it was “highly likely” the attack had been carried out along the lines of the Green Ergenekon integration strategy.

Karayılan stated there were two possibilities as regards which forces were behind the murders of PKK founder member Sakine Cansız, KNK Paris representative Fidan Doğan and youth movement member Leyla Söylemez on 9 January. Karayılan said it was highly likely that the attack had been carried out by Green Ergenekon forces as part of their plans to liquidate the leaders of the Kurdish movement. He added that the second possibility was that the Ergenekon deep state structure had carried out the attack without the knowledge of the government together with the NATO Gladio.  Karayılan also made assessments of the latest developments in Syria.

The funerals of the three Kurdish women murdered in Paris on 9 January took place in magnificent style despite the attempts of the Turkish government and its tame journalists to provoke trouble by suggesting there might be a “provocation”. We would like to hear your views on the solidarity shown both in Paris and in Kurdistan with the Kurds and with your movement.

As you point out the AKP government, first and foremost the Prime Minister and other ministers, warned that there might be a provocation in Diyarbakir. We said at the time that these statements were part of a psychological war. The authorities blockaded all roads leading to Amed (Diyarbakir) in an effort to reduce the participation in the funeral ceremony.  In parallel with this they gave instructions to the media to ensure that there was no live coverage and that the story was not the main news item. But in spite of this, just as in Paris the people of Kurdistan and their friends made the necessary response. The people of Amed gave the required message to the whole world and Turkey and demonstrated how they take possession of their martyrs and values. And on the following day the people of Dersim did the same for comrade Sakine, as did the people in Elbistan and Maras, sending a message to friend and foe. To sum up, despite all the manipulation the people of Kurdistan demonstrated their faith in the cause and the liberation struggle by taking possession of their martyrs.

Our Friends Sharing our Pain is Precious

The Paris attack was no ordinary attack. It was an international terrorist assault perpetrated at a highly significant time. Following this attack many revolutionary organisations and personalities in Latin America, first and foremost, FARC, and many others in Asia and Africa, prominently the Tamils, and in Europe, particularly the French Communist Party, and many parties, trade unions, civil society organisations and friendly organisations in Turkey and Kurdistan published messages of condolence, stating their solidarity with the freedom struggle in Kurdistan. Some of them also came to the ceremonies and demonstrations. We would like to thank them all. International solidarity is of great importance and we greatly appreciate our friends’ sharing our pain.

SAKİNE CANSIZ was a symbolic figure for our movement

Comrade Sakine was in our movement from the beginning nearly 40 years ago. She was a founder member and made her presence felt in all aspects of the struggle, from the prisons to the mountains, and was a symbol of the women’s movement.
Comrades Rojbîn and Ronahî were also determined activists in the movement.
This attack on our movement cannot be dismissed as a run of the mill attack. The attack on Sakine Cansız was an attack on the PKK, leader Apo and the Women’s Movement he developed. Only the most profound enemies of the Kurdish people can carry out such attacks, enemies who wish to eradicate the Kurdish people and commit genocide, like the Dersin massacre. We therefore do not view this attack as an ordinary incident.

So who could have carried out this attack?

The French have arrested a person by the name of Ömer Güney from Sivas-Şarkışlalı, who they claim has been a member of the PKK for two years. It is not that easy to be a member of the PKK and the party does not recruit people in Europe like this. We do not know such a person. But Kurdish associations in Europe are open to everyone, therefore not all the people who go to these associations are members of the PKK, or even supporters. According to our enquiries the person by the name of Ömer Güney is a person who came to the Kurdish association there and occasionally participated in peaceful protests. If he claims to be a PKK member then this is deliberately giving false information. This is obviously a serious situation as whoever carried out the murders must have had military training, as it was done professionally. It is therefore of the greatest importance that all aspects of this case are exposed.  We expect the French authorities to not leave a stone unturned in their search for the culprits.

We have exposed dozens of people who have been infiltrated into our ranks by the Turkish state in order to liquidate our leading cadres. Some of these we have made public. We are aware that they have developed this tactic of sending agents into our organization. We need to take into consideration the fact that the Turkish state has such a method and await the conclusion of the French prosecutor’s investigation. The most important thing is to find out who is behind this person. We feel that if this person was merely a hitman, then who was behind him is obvious.

What do Çelik and Şahin know?

Only one hour after these brutal murders AKP representative Hüseyin Çelik said “it’s an internal feud”. This was subsequently repeated by the Prime Minister and other AKP officials. And a few hours before the announcement by the French prosecutor AKP Deputy Chair Mehmet Ali Şahin stated that similar incidents could take place in Germany. Such statements strengthen suspicions that they know something and are trying to confuse. What lies behind their immediate claims that the incident was “an internal feud”? On what basis did M. Ali Şahin say that similar incidents might occur in Germany?

It is obvious that those behind this are enemies of the Kurdish people. Within this framework there are two possibilities.

GREEN ERGENEKON and ERGENEKON

For a year and a half the AKP government has been waging an all-out war against our movement. We also know that they have planned to liquidate our leading cadre, which is part of their “multi-dimensional integration strategy” It is therefore highly likely that the Paris murders were carried out as part of the present government’s strategy. Perhaps they were not carried out following an order given after the announcement of the talks begun in Imralı, as it would surely be difficult for those who carried out these murders to have made their preparations in only 1 or 2 weeks. The decision to carry out such an attack must have been taken at least a year ago, as part of a strategy to target leading cadre of the movement in Europe.

A second possibility is that of the attack having been carried out by the NATO Gladio together with the Turkish Gladio. The possibility that this attack was carried out by deep forces known as the “deep state” which transcend the AKP government, in league with international Gladio, cannot be ignored. In any event we have no doubt that there is Turkish state involvement. It would appear that the first possibility, i.e., that the attack was part of the Green Ergenekon integration strategy, is more likely.

The possible involvement of international forces cannot be ignored

It is also a fact that Europe and America do not want a resolution of the Kurdish question. I said this in an interview with Hasan Cemal 4 years ago. He asked me to elaborate and I explained that we had seen no efforts by Europe or America to find a resolution. They have always backed the Turkish policy of violence, and encouraged it by providing technological and intelligence support. Therefore we cannot rule out the possibility of an international power wishing to sabotage the talks process launched in Imralı being behind the attacks in Paris. Consequently, it is vital to ascertain who carried out this attack and which forces were behind it. It is particularly important as regards understanding the real intentions of the Turkish state which has launched a process of dialogue. As the PKK movement, we are therefore prepared to offer all assistance to the French authorities. They can investigate and enquire anywhere. We will facilitate this. It is sufficient that they sincerely intend to expose this incident.

It is misleading to talk of an “internal feud”

We must emphasise that this is something which is constantly brought up by the Turkish state. Our movement is not divided and there are no internal problems. There is absolutely no doubt that this attack was carried out by hostile forces.

You mentioned the importance of uncovering the truth behind this incident. What exactly is this importance?

Uncovering the truth is important as regards determining the orientation of the process. We want to know if this incident is part of the integration strategy or something else. For instance, on 31 December 10 of our comrades were martyred in Lice. They were all experienced leading militants. Numan (Ertem Karabulut) was in charge of the region. In our system the person in charge of a region is equivalent to a general in a regular army. That is, comrade Numan was someone who would be on a list of leading cadre to be targeted. Then on 9 January comrade Sakine Cansız was murdered, followed by aerial bombardment of our movement’s leading cadre on 14 January. When we consider these together we see a concept at work. The plan to carry out a murder in particular in a place like Paris to strike a serious blow at our movement and at the same time portray it as an internal feud is a profound plan. Consequently it is of great importance that this incident is uncovered, both so that the truth emerges and for the progress of the existing talks process.
Since everything points towards Turkish government involvement it is up to the AKP government to also make efforts to uncover the truth.

In recent days there have been fierce clashes in West Kurdistan. PYD forces are on the one hand fighting state forces while on the other armed groups claiming to be in the opposition are attacking the Kurds in Serêkaniyê. How do you assess these developments?

The AKP government originally had a policy of “zero problems with neighbours”, but as a result of its becoming part of the forces of Western global capital it is now in conflict with all its neighbours. It did this in order to prevent the Kurdish people taking advantage of new developments. It assumed the Syrian government would collapse like the Libyan government, not seeing the reality of the situation in Syria and the position of Syria in the Middle East. The Turkish state cannot succeed in the Middle East with a policy of friendship with some Kurdish circles while treating all the freedom movements that are in the orbit of Apo’s ideas as enemies. Leader Apo’s ideas have a broad support base in all four parts of Kurdistan. The Turkish state cannot achieve success by opposing this. Due to the ongoing war in Syria a vacuum has emerged and the Kurds have established liberated systems in their own areas. The AKP government has actively opposed this. In Aleppo, Afrin and now in Serêkaniyê [Ras al-Ain] they have encouraged certain forces to attack the areas under Kurdish control. The Turkish authorities have even given one tribal leader, Nawwaf Al Bashir, 7 tanks to assist him in attacking the Kurds. This is barefaced hostility towards the Kurds by the AKP government, which is concealing its involvement in Syria from Turkish public opinion. The Turkish media is ignoring what is going on there. The Turkish government’s policy shows it has no practical strategy towards resolving the Kurdish question. I congratulate the heroic fighters of the YPG for their resistance in West Kurdistan and send my condolences to the families of those who have fallen in the struggle. We will always stand in solidarity with them. Our people must step up their solidarity with the people in West Kurdistan. I would like to emphasise that the struggle in West Kurdistan is the portent of our people’s future freedom.

Finally, today is the anniversary of the inauguration of the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad. What would you like to say about this?

Yes, 67 years ago the Kurdish people proclaimed the Mahabad Kurdish Republic in East Kurdistan under the leadership of Qazi Muhammed. Despite the fact that this was a shortlived event it has a significant place in the memory of the Kurdish people.  The democratic, national framework of the Mahabad Republic is very important and has not been attained by parties that are its successors. We therefore commemorate all the martyrs of the Mahabad Republic, first and foremost Qazi Muhammed. We are a movement that has taken on the liberation struggle in Kurdistan and we believe the just struggle of the Kurds will prevail everywhere. Once again I would like to emphasise the importance on this anniversary of remaining loyal to the memory of the Mahabad Republic.

Translated from Turkish original (short text version), London 1 Feb. 2013