PKK Executive Committee Member Duran Kalkan spoke about the 14 July resistance. 

Kalkan said: "I commemorate the heroes of this resistance, comrades Hayri Durmus, Kemal Pir, Akif Yilmaz and Ali Cicek, with deep respect, love and gratitude. For 42 years, we have struggled as a movement and as a people according to their decisions and tenets. All the gains of Kurdish freedom were achieved on this basis. Everything we have done is a fruit of the great dungeon resistance of 1982. Every victory is the product of the resistance of Mazlum, Ferhat, and the July 14 Great Death Fast resistance. On its 42nd anniversary, this fact is now seen much better. It is understood much better.

So, what was it? What did this resistance mean? When you ask a question like this, the reality is better envisioned. What would have happened without such resistance? I mean, we should all be able to ask this question, even if we are afraid, even if it is frightening. Yes, if the August 15 resistance took place, if the guerrilla made preparations abroad, if Rêber Apo was successful in his work abroad, if the guerrilla returned to the country, if the August 15 breakthrough was achieved, if there is a great guerrilla resistance, if the people entered serhildans, if the revolution of national resurrection was achieved, if the women’s liberation revolution is now globally pioneering, and if we have affected many revolutionary movements, if all of these things developed; it is because of the July 14 resistance. Without it, none of this would have developed. The decision of success was given right there."

Kalkan added: "Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] understood this correctly, he analyzed it well. He worked tirelessly day and night according to the tenets created in the dungeons. He expended great mental and physical strength. And through his labor, he created these developments. But in doing so, he certainly drew his strength from the prison resistance, from the July 14th Great Death Fast resistance. This is a clear fact. So, the decision was made then and there. For a free life, for a life with dignity, for a life of freedom, against all kinds of collaborationism, against dehumanization, the dungeon resistance created the basis. It was Mazlum, Ferhat, Hayri, Kemal, Ali and Akif who created this life. They laid the foundations for the development of all national liberationist consciousness. Therefore, they actually changed the course of history, the unfortunate history of the Kurdish people.

In other words, we are at the beginning of re-writing our history, writing our existence and our demands for freedom. The July 14 and generally the prison resistance have brought us to where we stand today.

They saved our honor, they saved the honor of the nation. That is why Rêber Apo called it “National Honor Day”. The PKK and the people accepted this as such. On this basis, I congratulate the National Honor Day of the comrades, especially Rêber Apo, and our people. We have adhered to the July 14th Honor Resistance until now, and we have made progress. It is certain that we will achieve victory by adhering to it from now on. I can easily express this."

Kalkan continued: "In this respect, it is necessary to see this in the reality of the struggle. July 14 is a line of resistance. In other words, it is an ideological, political, organizational and operational line. A line of sacrifice. Rêber Apo described this as “an action sufficient in every respect to implement the line of the party”. An action that can represent the whole nation, and the party. An action that started the Apoist sacrifice line. Then we saw this line win further with the resistance of the guerrillas and the spirit of Zilan. It was definitely the reality of July 14th that started this, that made this decision.

What should we say about the conditions we are in now? I mean, by evaluating it like this, by attributing meaning to it, by seeing its greatness, we gain depth of meaning. But this is not enough. We should always question our own situation during such anniversaries. This is absolutely necessary. Therefore, we must question ourselves according to the tenets created by the July 14 Great Death Fast Resistance. How correctly do we understand and successfully fulfill our revolutionary duties, our patriotic duties, our women’s liberationist duties? We should reveal this by weighing up our personalities on the scales of the July 14 resistance.

In this respect, there might be those who complain, through various excuses, about not being able to develop more effective and successful actions. When we weigh all these on the scales of July 14, it becomes clear that they have no meaning or value. In those harsh conditions of the dungeon, one action led to the ideological defeat of the colonialist, genocidal mentality and system despite the brutality of the fascist military regime. Then, how do we define what is unachievable?

Those revolutionaries found a way to exist and succeed despite the bleakness of those dungeons, they found a way to resist. They thought about it and did what was right. They integrated their beings with the cause of Kurdish existence and freedom because they were determined. So, we will also be successful once we have reached such a stage of determination. All other excuses have little meaning."

Kalkan said: "July 14 must be understood correctly and, on this basis, we must wage a revolutionary patriotic struggle that always runs from success to success. As Rêber Apo said, one can only achieve this by merging with the party as if one was a candle. This is the right line of resistance. Then we ought to understand and correct our line of action. Such struggles for freedom are not just handed over on a silver platter, they are fought for and won.

What did Mehmet Hayri Durmus say upon deciding on his action? He said, “Let it be inscribed on my gravestone that I am still indebted to my people.” Even though he carried out such a great action which continues to create new successes, he saw himself as indebted. That is the standard for the level of self-criticism. So let us overcome this individualism, this self-relativistic materialism. Let’s be in a more accurate, deeper, self-critical questioning that expresses the July 14 line of resistance, let’s renew ourselves. Let’s renew and reshape our spirit, our emotions, our thinking, our behavior, our working style, our organization. Then we will see that we are making progress.

We always win when we fight according to this line. Anyone who walks on this line, embodies it, and fights on that basis will definitely win. On this anniversary, I call on all comrades, our people and our friends to understand the July 14 Apoist sacrifice line correctly and to develop a successful practice on this basis, that is, to renew themselves by correctly evaluating the line of action and the line of self-criticism and to develop a practice that wins victory after victory. I believe this is possible and I wish success."