In a written statement released on behalf of PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and PAJK (Party of Free Women in Kurdistan) prisoners, Deniz Kaya drew attention to the escalating brutality against prisoners in Turkey. Since the beginning of the year, many prisoners have died, and between 14 and 18 August, three prisoners were deliberately murdered in prison, said the statement by Deniz Kaya which includes the following:

"The Kurdish people, who have had a leading role in the construction of material and spiritual culture in the history of humanity, are today playing the same role in the preservation and development of human ideals. Because of their love for truthfulness and their commitment to a free life, they have always been the target of the states of etatist-civilisation powers, the enemies of society and social life, seeking to colonise and exterminate the Kurdish people. The certainty of their inherent reality has always moved the Kurdish people to fight for a free existence. They have been resisting the forces of etatist civilisation for centuries, knowing that this is the only guarantee for their free existence. Today, they are fighting against the colonialism of the Turkish Republic and making history through the legendary struggle of the PKK and PAJK. The militant existence of the PKK and PAJK, which Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] built as if he was digging a well with a needle, is what resisted fascism with an iron will in the jails, in the mountains, in towns and villages and all social areas, and always acted with the awareness that life is only meaningful through resistance.

RESISTANCE IS LIFE

The prison resistance of 1982 was a struggle to protect the dignity and humanity of the Kurdish people from the shame and subjugation that the colonialist occupiers of the Republic of Turkey wanted to impose on them. The slogans "Resistance is life", "Surrender leads to submission, resistance to victory", "We love life so much that we are already willing to die for it" and "PKK has taught us resistance, not surrender" echoed in the dungeons and formed the foundations of the PKK's resistance as well as the essential spirit of the guerrilla struggle. The guerrilla struggle is as important as the resistance in the prisons. Both represent the resisting human ideals.

The resistance of Rêber Apo in Imrali, the relentless struggle of the guerrillas in Zap, Avaşîn and Metîna and the prisoners rising up in the dungeons are compelling the AKP/MHP gang in Kurdistan acting on behalf of the fascist organisation NATO. In order to save itself from collapse, the cornered regime becomes even more aggressive and attacks the Kurdish people and the peoples of the region. The AKP/MHP regime aims to complete the physical and cultural genocide of the Kurds. With this aim, it has destroyed everything from children to young people, from women to old people, from nature to culture, denying all human values. The isolation torture against RêberApo, the denial of lawyer consultations and family visits, the use of chemical warfare agents and tactical nuclear weapons against the guerrillas, the brutality used at funerals and against graves of martyrs, the attempt, the torture and isolation to break the prisoners in the jails and to force them to surrender, and the looting of the nature of Kurdistan have once again revealed the true face of the AKP/MHP gangs that have collapsed. The analysis of the historical and the present reality of the state power, which Rêber Apo analysed in his defence writings as well as in his lectures and writings, has also shown the character of the AKP and MHP gang structure.

THE DEATH SENTENCES OF THE LEGAL MEDICAL INSTITUTES

The AKP/MHP government, which has been defeated culturally, socially, politically and militarily, is implementing brutal policies both in prisons and in all aspects of life because it cannot digest its defeat. All kinds of means and methods are used. For this reason, the Ministry of Justice, which has no trace of justice in it, installs prison administrations composed of fascist, racist forces and attacks the revolutionary prisoners through these administrations. The scale of the attack is not only limited to the inside of the prison. Hospitals also become an instrument of this special war that prevents the revolutionary prisoners from receiving the medical treatment they deserve. The Institutes of Forensic Medicine (ATK) also participate in this cruel practice by certifying seriously ill prisoners, who have been certified as unfit to be detained by other authorities, according to the instructions of the palace, thus pronouncing a death sentence for these prisoners.

WITHIN FIVE DAYS, THREE COMRADES WERE MURDERED IN A PLANNED MANNER

During the year 2022, many of our comrades have fallen in prisons as a result of the brutal practices of the AKP/MHP government. Most recently, our comrades Ibrahim Yıldırım was murdered in Elazig on 14 August, Mehmet Candemir in Giresun on 15 August and Bazo Yılmaz in Urfa on 18 August. Within five days, three of our comrades were murdered deliberately and planned by the government. We know that these deaths in prisons are premeditated and planned. The main responsibility lies with the government, the Ministry of Justice as well as the Forensic Medicine Institutes, but the Council of Europe and the Council of Europe Committee for the Prevention of Torture are also partly responsible for these massacres.

THE PERPETRATORS AND THOSE RESPONSIBLE MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE

We call on all revolutionary, democratic and socialist forces in Kurdistan and Turkey, and especially on the families of the prisoners, not to remain silent in the face of this cruelty, to fulfil their historical responsibility and to hold those responsible accountable for these killings on the basis of the People's Revolutionary War. A comprehensive resistance will not only give the final blow to the fascist AKP/MHP government and bring about its collapse, but will also be the most important step to supporting the comrades fighting in the prisons. The system of isolation torture was first introduced in Imralı and then extended to the whole society. Based on this fact, we call on our people and all revolutionary, socialist and democratic forces and institutions to raise their voices and fight at all levels against the brutal torture and isolation in the prisons and to end the total isolation of Rêber Apo.

THEY RESISTED HONOURABLY, THEY DID NOT SURRENDER

Our comrades Ibrahim Yıldırım, Mehmet Candemir and Bazo Yılmaz resisted harsh torture and isolation practices despite their physical ailments and did not surrender. We offer our condolences to their families and to our people. We renew our pledge to continue the honourable struggle on the path taken by our martyrs, and we remember all the martyrs of the freedom struggle in the person of our esteemed companions Ibrahim, Mehmet and Bazo with respect and gratitude."