The Executive Committee of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) issued a statement on the martyrs who died in the revolutionary struggle in the month of May. "We call on our people and friends to develop the freedom struggle in May on the line of the martyrs and to hold events every day in memory of our brave martyrs", said the PKK, remembering the revolutionaries Haki Karer, Deniz Gezmiş, Hüseyin Inan, Yusuf Aslan, Şîrîn Elemhûlî, Ferzad Kemanger, Ozan Mizgîn, Ulaş Bayraktaroğlu and all those who fell in May.

"Starting from our first great martyr Haki Karer to Gulçiya Gabar, we remember all our brave martyrs with respect, love and gratitude and renew our pledge to implement their aims and keep their memory alive. We salute all the people of our nation and our democratic friends who are resisting in the line of Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] and the martyrs. We are convinced that we will increase our struggle for freedom and democracy in this month of the martyrs and with 14 May [election day in Turkey] we will bring about a development that will smash AKP/MHP fascism and usher in a free Kurdistan and a democratic Turkey," said the PKK Executive Committee.

The statement stressed that dozens of precious people have died in the liberation struggle on every day of May in the past decades. Shortly before the beginning of the Month of the Martyrs, the deaths of Gulçiya Gabar and Pelşîn Newroz were announced, and more recently those of Dilxwaz Gabar, Sozda Botan and Ciwana Oremar. The PKK commemorated the martyrs and called on the women and youth in Kurdistan, especially in Mardin and Botan, to embrace them.

Paying tribute to Gulçiya Gabar, who was a member of the HPG Central Headquarters Command, the YJA Star Command Council and the PAJK Party Council, PKK said: "Gulçiya Gabar was a rebellious daughter of Mardin and fought passionately for freedom. She gave her entire life and strength to the Kurdish and women's liberation struggle. She was a freedom fighter in all parts of Kurdistan and never separated from the guerrillas since the moment she joined. She was firmly convinced of the victory of the Apoist freedom line and never deviated from it. Thus, she gave great strength to the party and the guerrillas. She had the consciousness and the will to produce solutions in all conditions, showing that true Apoist militancy is not based on omniscience, but on a passionate desire for freedom.

Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin Inan were the revolutionary leaders of the 68 Movement in Turkey and were executed in Ankara on 6 May 1972. The PKK stated in their memory that their struggle was instrumental in the formation of the PKK and that they started the march towards a free Kurdistan and a democratic Turkey. "The memory of these heroic martyrs lives on today in our united revolutionary struggle against AKP/MHP fascism. This struggle collapses the fascist mentality and genocidal politics in Turkey. In the elections on 14 May, a final blow will be dealt to fascism and the road will be opened to victory in the democratic revolutionary struggle started by these martyrs fifty years ago," the PKK said.

In the statement, the PKK also commemorated Şîrîn Elemhûlî, Ferzad Kemanger, Ali Haydariyan, Ferhat Wekilî and Mehdi İslamî, who were executed in Iran on 9 May 2010, Ulaş Bayraktaroğlu, who died fighting ISIS in Raqqa on 9 May 2017, and Hozan Mizgîn, who died in the liberation struggle in Tatvan on 11 May 1992.

"The practice of the past fifty years has shown that a liberal and democratic consciousness and organising and practice always develop under the leadership of the martyrs and are their work. Our martyrs are a torch that illuminates our way forward. They are our past, present and future and always and everywhere our main source of strength," stated the PKK.