The KCK issued a written statement to mark the 82nd anniversary of the execution of Pir Seyid Rıza, his son and many tribal leaders in Dersim. 

"We commemorate Pir Seyit Rıza and the Dersim tribal leader, and reiterate our promise that we will realize their aspirations for a free life in the respect of every one's own identity, culture and belief."

The statement added: "The only wish of Seyit Rıza and all the people of Dersim, executed on 15 November 1937, was to live free on their land with their own identities, languages ​​and beliefs.

However the Turkish Republic wanted to destroy the Kurdish identity of Dersim and assimilate it. Dersim and the whole Kurdistan were intended to become the sphere of expansion of the Turkish nationalization. Because the Dersim people did not accept these impositions, the Turkish state carried out a genocide attack.

Ten thousand of people were killed, tens of thousands were banished to the provinces. The rest were subjected to white genocide, that is, cultural genocide."

The KCK recalled that Dersim, "having experienced the most human, social, natural and democratic characteristics of the Middle East and Kurdistan in terms of culture and belief, was subjected to genocide."