The Co-Presidency of the KCK Executive Council issued a statement to pay tribute to the martyrs of the massacres carried out in Maras in 1978, in prisons in 2000 and in Paris in 2022.

The statement said: "As the Kurdish Freedom Movement, we respectfully commemorate all those martyrs who have lost their lives in the massacre of Mereş (Kahramanmaraş) 1978, as well as in the prison massacre of December 19, 2000 and our comrades that martyred in the massacre of Paris on December 23 last year. By commemorating these martyrs, we want to commemorate all the martyrs of the revolution and of democracy. We bow with respect in front of their memories and we reiterate once again the promise that we gave them.

We once again strongly condemn these massacres and the colonialist Turkish state that carried them out. The history of the Turkish state is a history of massacre and genocide. The systematic massacres carried out systematically against different peoples, faith groups, socialists and democratic forces, especially against the Kurdish people, clearly show the real face of the Turkish state."

The statement added: "One of the events that most clearly reveals the massacring and genocidal reality of the Turkish state is the massacre of Mereş, which took place from December 19 to 24, 1978. It was carried out as part of the so called ‘Eastern Reform Plan’ and the Kurdish genocide policy. With the Mereş Massacre, the region in the west of Kurdistan, known as the west of the Euphrates, was cleared of Kurdish-Alevi people. The Kurdish genocide was aimed to extend into the interior of Kurdistan. This massacre, which aims to expel the Kurdish-Alevi people from the west of Kurdistan through massacres and displacement, has not ended, and continues to this day. On the other hand, the Mereş Massacre was also carried out to prevent the Kurdish Freedom Movement from connecting with the Turkish society and the revolutionary movement from the west of Kurdistan.

One of the massacres committed by the Turkish state against the Kurds took place in Paris on December 23, 2022. This massacre was defined by our people as the Second Paris Massacre. Our great revolutionary and executive council member Evin Goyi, artist Mir Perwer, and the patriot Abdürrahman Kızıl were martyred. Just like the First Paris Massacre, this massacre was not an isolated act of the Turkish state. For more than a hundred years, the Turkish state has carried out the genocide of Kurds and all the massacres it has carried out for this purpose with the support of NATO.

The attacks in Europe were also carried out with the support of NATO and its Gladio structure. This reality is very obvious and is known by our people and everyone. The French state continues to be under reproach for not illuminating these massacres in Paris. The French state must stop hiding the reality and reveal the truth and illuminate these massacres. As long as European states, especially France, do not illuminate the Paris massacres, they cannot come out from under the guilt. Our people are absolutely determined to fight against massacres and to reveal these massacres. This needs to be known by everyone."

The statement continued: "On December 19, 2000, dozens of prisoners were massacred and martyred in brutal and dastardly attacks against prisoners. The attacks against the prisoners once again revealed the fact that the Turkish state is cruel, savage, and has not a shred of humanity. Today, the AKP-MHP government represents and continues this massacring reality.

Prisons, especially the absolute isolation of Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] on İmralı, are under pressure, isolation and torture. Prisoners are in a state of resistance and action against this. The actions of the prisoners in the form of alternating hunger strikes should be well understood by those outside. The action of the prisoners is a support to the international campaign for the physical liberation of Rêber Apo and the development of a democratic political solution to the Kurdish problem.

In this respect, the right response to the prisoners’ action is to participate more strongly in the campaign. Only in this way can we be in solidarity with the prisoners. Everyone should see this situation correctly and express their attitude by participating more strongly in the campaign. We consider it necessary to make this call in order to take the right attitude."