Murat Karayilan, a member of the PKK Executive Committee, told ANF in this interview that the next three months are crucial for the guerrilla struggle in Kurdistan. “It is not for nothing that we speak of a struggle for existence. That's the reality. Therefore, everyone in this process should play their part. This period is a very important time in the history of our struggle and we want to win in this process," said Karayilan, adding: "If I were not a Kurd, if I were an impartial person, I would support those who struggle to defend themselves with their own resources. People should have a conscience, a certain honor.”

However, Karayilan also emphasizes that the PKK as an ideological movement cannot be crushed.

A week ago, the HPG published a war balance sheet for the past five months. The balance sheet made it clear once again how comprehensive the war was. How do you evaluate these five months?

The last five months have been very important for us. Another week has now passed. For five months and a week, there has been a constant and all-out war in Zap, Metîna and Avaşîn. This is a new situation in the history of Kurdistan and in our history of struggle. For the first time in more than five months, the Turkish occupation is being resisted in the same place, and the Turkish state is being stopped. This is not an ordinary situation. As I said before, this is a new situation in the history of our people, in our history of struggle. Despite the Turkish state's support from inside and outside and the use of all modern weapons, including internationally banned weapons, the Turkish state has not achieved the desired result. Everyone should know that this war is something new. Fighting on one side is a huge force, large in numbers, possessing all the technology of the time, and on the other is a force possessing conviction, courage, expertise, knowledge of the terrain, and tactical knowledge. In other words, in this war we put human will against modern technology and banned weapons.

The new tactical methods we developed surprised the enemy. Presumably he did not expect that such a deep, rich tactic could be carried out in a coordinated manner. An important achievement is being made in this war, and it is being done in a spirit of sacrifice. A great sacrifice is made. The courage shown today by Kurdish women and men, as well as Arabs, is a great example of the sublimation of the human will. We believe that the new ways and methods we have developed in this war will be an example for all, especially for those forces that do not have the technical means against large armies and modern weapons to fight their countries and themselves with defending guerrilla methods within the perspective of people's revolutionary war.

As you know, there were fortresses in the past. In the past, peoples used castles to defend themselves against large armies. Now there are no more above-ground fortresses, because these can be destroyed with modern weapons. The Kurdish freedom guerrillas, meanwhile, have built underground fortresses and fight in the terrain with special teams that turn every tree into a position against the enemy. The same applies to the underground. The Turkish state can no longer move freely in the field and occupy terrain with its army as before. If he wants to move from one hill to another hill, covering only a distance of one kilometre, he is afraid, because on the land path he encounters many obstacles. For this reason, he first bombards the place he wants to go with planes and missiles. Then the cobras [helicopter] come and shoot. In the dust created by the bombing, troops are dropped from Sikorsky helicopters. This is the Turkish state's current method of occupation. He cannot invade and advance as before. He comes out of the air. The Turkish army is fighting us from the air and with forbidden weapons. We fight them with the will, the courage and the commitment of the people.

Where would the Turkish army be now if they hadn't been stopped in the Zap?

The political consequences for our entire people are also important. If the Turkish army hadn't been held up for five months in Zap, Avaşîn and Metîna, who knows where they would have gone and how far they would have come by now. She would have extended her dominion over the people of the region even further. However, she is stuck here. For this reason, the resistance is of great importance for the Kurdish nation and of great importance for the future of the people in the region, especially the Arab people.

The Turkish state is building roads in South Kurdistan and wants to consolidate its position in the occupied territories. What is its goal?

It is true that the Turkish state builds roads everywhere it goes, spending a lot of money. This shows that it wants to stay there permanently. He's building his system. What is his goal now? He used to fight us within the borders set for Turkey. There have also been cross-border attacks, but he has always withdrawn. So his strategy was inward. But after the fight against ISIS, the Rojava Revolution has developed and gained status. The Kurdish people came to the fore in Rojava and the other parts of Kurdistan and the Middle East. The Turkish state was afraid of that. During these development processes, a dialogue was also held with Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] on Imrali. This dialogue culminated in the Dolmabahçe Memorandum in February 2015, which was created before the eyes of the world public. It was signed by HDP MPs and representatives of the Turkish state. An agreement should be reached between the Kurdish and Turkish sides. However, the state got scared. Tayyip Erdoğan rejected the agreement and the Turkish state developed a new strategy and concept for itself. They said the state had a survival problem, the Kurds had become a force of its own and already had foreign powers behind them, they wanted to crush Turkey and that this threat had to be eliminated. Therefore, interventions should not only be made within the borders of Turkey, but also in southern and western Kurdistan [Rojava]. They said it was already a mistake to recognize the status of Southern Kurdistan [Kurdistan Region of Iraq] and Rojava should not have any status either.

This is how they came up with a new concept and in 2015 they declared war on us. They speak openly of a thirty-kilometre zone beyond their borders, which stretches from Afrin in Rojava to Xakurke and Sidekan in southern Kurdistan. Their ultimate goal, however, is to occupy the territory within the borders of Misak-ı Milli [National Pact; a plan drawn up in the Ottoman parliament in the early 1920s, which envisages a Turkish territory including Thrace, northern Syria and northern Iraq]. They want control of three parts of Kurdistan.