The People's Defense Centre (HSM) Headquarters Command released a written statement to mark the anniversary of the 14 July Great Death Fast Resistance. “As we are about to mark the 41st anniversary of the 14 July Great Death Fast Resistance, we commemorate all our martyrs with respect and gratitude in the persons of Mehmet Hayri Durmuş, Kemal Pir, Akif Yılmaz and Ali Çiçek comrades, who created the line of resistance of our party, the PKK. We praise the standpoint that has given shape to the struggle of our party by leaving mark over its last 40 years, the line of resistance and the stance of free humanity that Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan has been promoting within the Imrali Torture System for 24 years. We reiterate our promise to march to victory by promoting and keeping this stance, spirit and line of resistance in the right way, everywhere, especially in the mountains of Kurdistan and at all times,” the statement on Wednesday said.

The HSM Command's statement continued as follows:

“The 14 July Great Death Fast Resistance has become a milestone in our history of struggle. This decision, stance, resistance of the leading cadres of our party, the PKK, have shaped our struggle and determined its character. The 14 July resistance not only created a spirit of resistance, but also revealed the standard, style and sense of responsibility for proper participation in the Apoist struggle. It has also proven how capable a revolutionary will, faith and determination focusing on victory could be in an environment where there were very limited resources, indescribable torture executed by the most vicious enemy. The pure belief in the Apoist line and that it will definitely win, the spirit of victory, and the understanding of an effective struggle spread all over Kurdistan from the Amed Prison. The understanding of a correct and effective struggle has turned into a great movement, into an armed struggle, uprisings and the emergence of a people fighting and marching to victory.

The hegemonic powers which are hostile to the Kurdish people's struggle for existence and freedom, fascist nation-states in the region and their local collaborators are still subjecting the Kurdish people to the same oppression, bare force, denial and destruction. The Kurdistan Freedom Movement is also fighting them back with the same understanding of struggle, resistance and belief in victory. The resistance and self-sacrificing warfare currently put up by the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla in Zap, Avaşîn, Metina and throughout Kurdistan has been the ultimate proof of the victorious the 14 July Spirit. In this regard, the 14 July Spirit has turned into a tradition of struggle and has been embodied by the guerrillas under the motto "the greatest warfare technology is man himself". It has been proven that victory is possible if we fight with this understanding and spirit, no matter how strong enemy forces are, no matter how advanced their warfare technology is, no matter how many inhuman attacks they carry out. This fact has been proven once again in the persons of the leading martyrs of the recent period, Rohat, Şevîn, Eylem, Viyan, Mizgîn, Şaristan, Nalîn, Hêzil, Siyabend, Binevş, Bager, Avzem, Özgür, Zemani, Dîdar and all our martyrs.

We reiterate our promise to realize the goals and dreams of our martyrs of the July 14 Resistance who went down in history as a great stance of humanity and dignity by crowning our struggle for existence and freedom with victory in their footsteps. We, as the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrillas, state that we are firmly dedicated to crowning the flag of resistance that we have taken over from the martyrs with the victory of the Kurdistan Freedom Revolution, and we praise all our patriotic people who resist with a belief in victory.”