The Headquarters Command of the People's Defense Forces has published a statement on the Turkish state's attacks on South Kurdistan. The statement emphasized that the Turkish state is aiming at the expulsion of the population and the destruction of its freedom movement, leading to a widespread war of high intensity.

The statement said: "In this war, which is being conducted as a genocidal policy, the fascist Turkish occupation state was unable to achieve any successes against Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla. The Turkish state is using state-of-the-art weapon systems at a high economic price in order to save itself from defeat.

The Turkish colonial state has suffered heavy losses, especially in the extensive actions of our forces on 9 and 10 November. The Turkish state is now intensely resorting to airstrikes and striking civilian settlements without any discrimination, manifesting its enmity towards the Kurdish population and trying to take revenge on the people."

"The Turkish state is attacking civilians"

The statement further said: "On October 30, the mosque and a house in the village of Bêbadê were targeted by aerial attacks. On the 9th of November, the heavily civilized touristic area of Mark Water located in the Balinda Valley in Amadiya-Sheladize was targeted by the Turkish army with continuous artillery attacks in coordination with reconnaissance aircraft. Fortunately, no one was harmed by these attacks, but the mosque and a house were destroyed and property damage was done to the shops in the touristic area. The attacks were apparently aimed at harming the landscape of Kurdistan.

"Three civilians were deliberately murdered"

Most recently, on 14 November, the Turkish military killed three civilians who were on their way to the countryside of Eredna village in Amadiya to check their honey bees. The targeted and deliberate murder of our three people is intended to intimidate and oppress the people of southern Kurdistan. We wish a rest in peace for Remezan Ehmed, Dilovan Salih abd İsmail Hisên and offer our condolences to their families and relatives.

"The goal is to intimidate South Kurdistan's people and government"

All this shows once again that the colonial, murderous Turkish state considers the people of all parts of Kurdistan an enemy and on this basis practices a policy of intimidation and oppression. This murderous attitude, which only deems the Kurds worthy of death, cites Kurdistan's freedom guerrilla as the reason for the attacks. In the Turkish state media, the civilians killed in the attacks, unarmed people, are shamelessly presented as guerrilla fighters who were attacking the Turkish state and were killed.

But those who are familiar with the territory and above all the people of the region know very well that there are no guerrillas in the areas mentioned and that they do not move there. It is obvious that the Turkish state also knew very well that the people were civilians who were in a recreation area for a picnic or worked on their vineyards and gardens. Still, if they know this, why are they attacking such areas? Why are they constantly bombarding villages, devastating gardens and vineyards and even targeting the civilian population? The Turkish state proceeds with the logic to intimidate the people and government of South Kurdistan through their tyranny. It is perfectly clear that these attacks are a deliberate and well-planned policy.

"It is a main task to hold the Turkish army accountable"

All this clearly shows that the Turkish colonial system deliberately and systematically attacks our people and tries to hide its chauvinist, racist and genocidal practices with lies. As 14 people have been killed by the Turkish military in the same region in the past three years, the main task of all patriotic forces is to hold the Turkish military accountable, take revenge and retaliate for these massacres. As the People’s Defense Forces of Kurdistan, we assure without any hesitation to defend our people and to demand accountability for these cruelly murdered people of ours.

On this basis, we again extend our sincere condolences to the families of Remezan Mihemed, Îsmaîl Hesen and Dilovan Seleh and the people of Southern Kurdistan. We repeat our promise to keep the memory of the martyrs alive by enhancing the struggle."