The People's Defence Center (HSM) Headquarters Command released a statement to commemorate the May Martyrs, saying the following:

“We commemorate the noble and brave son of the Black Sea people, a leading cadre of our struggle, the hidden soul of leader Abdullah Öcalan and the great international revolutionary Comrade Haki Karer on the 46th anniversary of his martyrdom. We commemorate all the martyrs of our freedom struggle with deep devotion and gratitude in the persons of comrade Haki Karer and the May Martyrs, and we vow that we will crown the holy struggle of our martyrs with victory.

The martyrdoms of the great leaders of the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle and the Turkish Revolutionary Struggle took place in the month of May, every day of which became meaningful with the heroic march of irreplaceable revolutionaries to martyrdom. For our party and our people, May 18 became the " Day of Martyrs" and May became the "Month of Martyrs". The Kurdish people welcomed each May with great meaning and spirituality, taking it as an opportunity to keep the martyrs’ memories alive and achieve their goals.

Following the martyrdom of comrade Haki Karer, Leader Öcalan made the decision to establish the PKK, saying, "Blood has been shed, there is no going back." Our party, the PKK, is based on loyalty to comradeship and martyrdom, and loyalty to the martyrs became the main character of the PKK. Tens of thousands who joined the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle and fell as martyrs became the driving force, inspiration, morale, determination and commitment of our party in our half-century-old history. Öcalan attributed  great meaning to every martyrdom, fought relentlessly to protect the values created by the martyrs, turned every martyrdom into a major breakthrough, and our movement has gradually grown on the basis of this dialectic. The enemies who planned to weaken and eliminate our party by martyring the self-sacrificing soldiers of the freedom struggle, have been defeated by the dialectic of martyrs created by Öcalan.

Öcalan's half-century-old struggle, based on his determined stance under the Imrali torture system, his historic resistance and loyalty to the martyrs, continues breathlessly. The patriotic people of Kurdistan embrace their martyrs with great honour and glory and continue their struggle for freedom with the strength and inspiration they take from their martyrs. Following in the footsteps of the martyrs, the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrillas are resisting the most brutal conditions, the most terrifying genocidal machines created by the forces of capitalist modernity and its advanced warfare and chemical weapons.

The PKK's Army of Immortal Martyrs is growing constantly through our uninterrupted freedom struggle, as every martyrdom and the Apoist self-sacrificing stand lead us to victory. In the 47th Month of Martyrs, we are witnessing the heroic marches of our comrades who resist bravely all over Kurdistan and represent the legacy of martyrs with their stances and battles. As long as the Kurdish people have such self-sacrificing sons and daughters fighting fearlessly, the cause of freedom will never lose, and we will definitely win.

As the Kurdistan People's Defence Forces fighting under the leadership of the Party of Martyrs, the PKK, we declare our determination to always follow in the footsteps of our martyrs and keep their memory alive and crown it with victory by expanding our march for Free Leadership and Free Kurdistan every day. On this basis, we once again commemorate our martyrs with respect and gratitude and reiterate our promise that we will fight without compromising on a life worthy of their memory.”