The Prison Committee of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) issued a statement of condolence following the death of Abdulhalim Kırtay. The former political prisoner died on Friday morning in Amed (tr. Diyarbakir). Kırtay was in prison for thirty years and was released in March in a terminally ill condition. The PKK paid tribute to Abdulhalim Kırtay as a revolutionary comrade who resisted in the dungeons of the Turkish colonial state for three decades with great willpower, determination and a high level of consciousness.

"It is with great regret that we have learned that another comrade has passed away due to the policy of torture and massacres of the fascist Turkish state. Abdulhalim Kırtay was a patriotic resistance fighter who gave meaning to his life by resisting fascist attacks. In the thirty years of his imprisonment, he never bowed to the enemy. He did not allow himself to be brought to his knees and always participated in the front of the resistance. With his life and attitude, he was one of our comrades who lived up to their attachment to the struggle and to their people," said the statement released on Saturday.

The PKK Prison Committee expressed its condolences to the family and companions of Kırtay and the entire people of Kurdistan and vowed that the struggle of the martyrs will continue until victory. "On the occasion of the death of our precious comrade, we call for those who intend genocide against our people and cruel oppression and death for our friends in the dungeons to be brought to justice. The elections on 14 May are a historic opportunity to crush the fascist AKP/MHP government and end the policy of genocide," the PKK committee said.