The anniversary of the start of the PKK’s armed struggle is approaching. 40 years ago, the guerrilla actions shook the peace of the Turkish coup regime like a bombshell. In an interview with ANF, HPG Commander Fazıl Şevger spoke about the significance of this day.

What was the situation in Kurdistan before 15 August? What were weapons used for?

Before answering your question, I would like to salute Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan], the Kurdistan guerrilla and all our people on the 40th anniversary of the 15 August uprising. I remember with gratitude all the martyrs of 15 August and would like to mention Commander Egîd (Mahsum Korkmaz) here. I bow to their memory with the utmost respect. We repeat our promise once again: we will defeat the enemy no matter what.

To understand what happened on 15 August, one must know what was going on in Kurdistan at that time. If we look at the history of humanity in general, we will see that when there is a threat of extinction, there is no choice but to resist. The Kurdish people have been in a similar situation, especially in the last 100 years. They have been in a cycle of genocide and everyone has turned a blind eye to this situation.

Undoubtedly, the Kurdish people have always put up great resistance to these attacks, but due to the lack of national, philosophical and ideological awareness, no strategic leadership could emerge among the Kurds. There was great resistance, but unfortunately, the uprisings of the Kurdish people were unsuccessful. After so many uprisings, the Kurdish people had reached a stage where the enemy thought that they had buried the Kurdish people under the ground and covered them with concrete. During this period, Rêber Apo started the struggle. He created a development in terms of thought, philosophy and organization in the Kurdish people. He uncovered the lost history of the Kurdish people, the region and the world. This organization, which was founded by a group of young people, grew day by day, and became more and more effective. It aroused hope in the people. Faith in the organization grew. It became stronger and stronger. Therefore, the enemy saw a great danger in the organization. He had to stop it in order to be able to carry out his genocidal plan. The Turkish occupying state used all kinds of dirty methods against the Kurdish people and the Apoists. Then NATO and Gladio intervened and the fascist junta of 12 September 1980 staged a coup. There was only one way to counter this: armed struggle.

We are approaching the anniversary of the 15 August uprising. What made this day so important?

When the fascist junta staged the coup on 12 September 1980, Rêber Apo, with his foresight, recognized the significance of this attack and organized the retreat abroad. From there, the struggle continued. Dark clouds were gathering over Kurdistan again, and great plans and plots had been put into action. In such a situation, the struggle in Kurdistan was as laborious as digging a well with a needle. With the rule of the junta, many leading cadres of the freedom movement were arrested. Rêber Apo’s struggle from outside the country and the resistance in prisons thwarted the enemy’s plans and saved the movement and the Kurdish people from the clutches of genocide. The resistance that began in the Diyarbakır prison, led by comrades Mazlum, Ferhat, Kemal, Hayri, Akif and Ali Çiçek, hit the enemy hard. The enemy could not break the will of the prisoners despite the worst tortures.

This resistance gave the Kurdish people great hope and courage. We can say with certainty that this was the beginning of a new life for the movement and the Kurdish people. The resistance in the prisons strengthened the freedom movement, but it was necessary to lead the resistance from outside as well. Rêber Apo knew very well that we cannot protect our people and our movement from genocidal attacks if we do not have the strength to defend ourselves. The enemy used all kinds of vile means and weapons to destroy the Kurdish people and the movement. The 15 August uprising took place at a time when everyone believed that the PKK had been liquidated. Many people believed that the enemy would now resume genocide against the Kurdish people. They believed that after the PKK was liquidated, there would be no force that could stand in the way of this. The collaborators wanted to bring Rêber Apo and the movement under their control. Many people were demoralized.

A group of friends who were following Rêber Apo and his philosophy, however, prepared intensively for the actions on 15 August 1984 in Eruh (Dihê) and Şemzînan (Şemdinli) and proclaimed the founding of the HRK (Kurdistan Liberation Forces). This uprising, led by Heval Egîd, was a historic first. Although this attack was ostensibly directed against the enemy, in reality it hit the traitors and collaborators who had oppressed the Kurdish people for thousands of years and plunged them into poverty and misery. Faith and hope for a free life were reborn in the people. The Kurds buried under concrete came to the surface again on 15 August. This broke the chains of slavery. Therefore, this step is of great importance not only in terms of arms and military power, but also in terms of ideology, philosophy, culture and organization. It means a new beginning and a new life.

How did the Turkish state react?

The enemy was shocked by the action in Eruh. After overcoming the initial shock, it approached the PKK with the same attitude it had used to the previous uprisings, thinking that it would destroy it within 72 hours. All previous movements were wiped out by massacres. However, Rêber Apo had carefully analyzed the shortcomings revealed in history as well as the enemy. The Apoist movement was different from the other movements. The cooperative spirit of Haki Karer and Kemal Pir eliminated the racist ideas that turned people against each other. The enemy committed a cultural genocide against the Kurdish people, deprived them of their thinking and ideology, and created slaves and oppressed personalities. In order to fight for freedom, free people had to be created first.

For this reason, Rêber Apo developed the philosophy of the free individual. Through education and struggle, he lifted the Kurdish people from the ground to the skies. He saw the oppression of women and did not approach this issue with the classic ideas of socialism. He did not put the women’s question in the background, but developed the line of women’s liberation. The fascist regime was very afraid of this. For this reason, the occupiers launched an all-out offensive. The Turkish state resorted to brutal methods to break the political, social, etc. effects of the awakening. It began a vile war against the freedom movement and the Kurdish people. Thousands were arrested. The torture in Turkish prisons resembled the actions of the Nazis. Thousands of murders by “unknown perpetrators” were committed by the state. Thousands of villages were burned down. Hundreds of thousands of people were expelled into the diaspora. The Kurdish people were left with two options: either accept the village guards and become collaborators, or be massacred, exiled or arrested.

Of course, there were some who surrendered, but the hope that the freedom movement aroused in the hearts of the Kurdish people prevented the extinction of the Kurdish people. A new spirit grew in the people and gave them new life. Thousands fought for freedom. The freedom movement thwarted the attacks of the Turkish state and the hegemonic powers. Let me say this again: 15 August was a historic beginning for the Kurdish people in the face of so many defeats and attacks by the occupiers. The rebellion in the heart of Botan had started again. History would once again write the epic tale of the Kawas fighting against the cruel Dehaqs. The enemy gave the Kawas 72 hours to destroy them, but the movement grew day by day, and today marks the 40th anniversary of 15 August.