Defining the current clashes in the Zap, Avashin and Metina regions in northern Iraq as the “resistance of the guerilla”, PAJK coordinatior member Raperin Munzur commemorated the Kurdish fighters who lost their lives in clashes with the Turkish armed forces, who launched a military campaign against the region on April 23.
Saluting the People’s Defence Forces (HPG) and Free Women’s Units (YJA-STAR), Munzur said, “We must clearly state that the purpose of the current attacks is the occupation of South Kurdistan. The only force resisting against these attacks is the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and the guerilla. Basically, the force standing against the occupation and genocide and resisting in South and North [Kurdistan] is the PKK.”
She went on: “We are aware of the goals of the Turkish state with regards to occupation and expansion. They could achieve this goal if it was not for the PKK. Since the PKK stands in their way, they show such an aggression. They have mobilised ISIS/DAESH, they have given all kinds of support to ISIS/DAESH, but they were not able to defeat the PKK. That is why they attack, they use all kinds of war techniques, yet they still cannot annihilate the PKK.”
Commenting on the Kurdish fighters Munzur said: “The guerilla defend Kurdistan, defend freedom and fight against occupation and fascism. These are the values everybody should embrace. This is a people’s resistance. Our people do not play a supportive role, they are the active members of this war. They own the resistance, they are the basic power of this resistance.”