Kalkan: The guerrilla resistance in 2021 represents a high point of our revolutionary life

2021 was a year of very intense resistance and war in Kurdistan. PKK Executive Committee member Duran Kalkan has published an analysis on the PKK website.

Kalkan writes: “The guerrilla resistance in the year 2021 represents the high point of our revolutionary life so far. This was expressed by the struggle of the past year through its spirit, its organized attitude and its cooperative nature. If we look at it, then in this resistance, the coordinated, organized approach, the collective attitude and coexistence have shown itself in the best way.

“Ideological struggle manifested itself in the success of military practice”

What is the meaning of communal life and collective work, what are the underlying principles? What do we call communal life and collective work? What are our ideological standards and how do they manifest themselves in practice? The most concrete examples of answering these questions were created in the areas of resistance of the guerrillas. While on the one hand, the form of resistance is developing, there are always new peaks of courage and willingness to make sacrifices. Through ideological struggle, further development, cooperative features and organized action, the current resistance allows us to overcome every problem and every mistake and contributes to a perfectly militant attitude, a party attitude. This resistance shows us how it should be. If it had not been so, it would not have been possible to put up this resistance and fight such a struggle.

If we follow the words of the comrades who are resisting there, then the focus is on practice. Yes, we hear their words, and they don’t say ‘We’re going to do something’. Instead, they tell us about what they have done. So we cannot say that they are just making a claim, or that what they say is unfeasible. They have actually already implemented it, they lived what they said. Their words were turned into reality. They show what had to be done in concrete terms. We can learn a lot from them. It is possible to say that a solution has been created. It is our task to properly understand and internalize the solutions proposed by the revolutionary resistance and to preserve and disseminate them.

“The resistance has set standards”

It is very important to fully understand this resistance. We need to see the importance of the people who are waging this war and their outstanding attitude. We have to see what results they achieved, how they resisted enemy attacks and the use of so much technology, including chemical weapons. They didn’t move from their position, not even an inch.

What kind of resistance was that? Men and women created this resistance together. How did they form such a unit? Where did they get this strength from? What do they rely on? We can see here the power of people who have analyzed themselves. On this basis, the guerrilla resistance must be properly understood and internalized. Everyone has to make this resistance their own. That’s the line, the line of resistance. That is the standard for understanding. It is imperative to understand this, learn from it, and gain deep awareness. It is a matter of promoting and discussing this line in all of our evaluations as well as in the criticism and self-criticism of our practice. It is necessary not to give up and to embrace the magnitude of this resistance, to talk about it and to spread it.

“Bringing truth into society”

The properties and peculiarities of this resistance should be perceived. Yes, we’ve been fighting for 40 years, that’s right. But there is war. Each war has its own features and meaning. It is now our duty and responsibility to properly understand, stand up for, and tell the truth about the resistance in the Medya Defense Areas. We have to bring this truth to society, to the public. In order to do that, we need to understand it properly ourselves. We will exercise our duties and responsibilities, discuss them properly and put them on the agenda. We are responsible for educating people because we are the comrades of the guerrillas involved in the resistance. That is the party and the line. This represents the PKK, this represents the PAJK. Nobody should look for any other standard. There may be parties everywhere, but the place that follows the line of the resistance is here. (…)

“The spirit of the 14 July hunger strike”

The spirit behind this resistance, the integrity and the cooperative spirit, must be understood. If this spirit and will of resistance had not matched that of the great Hunger Strike Resistance of 14 July, this result would not have happened.

The resistance of 14 July, from Sûr and in the tunnels of Metîna and Avaşîn took place in different places and under different conditions, but they are similar in nature and importance. Just as 14 July represented the PKK’s line of willingness to make sacrifices, the same applies to the other resistances. We should apply such a standard. We’re not just going to say it’s resistance and move on. Yes, it is resistance, but how did it take place? It wasn’t an easy situation. Dozens of times the guerrillas could have withdrawn if they wanted to. The enemy did not come suddenly and blocked the entrances. The guerrillas were outside, they held their positions and continued the fight from there. For months the guerrillas in Werxelê did not back off a millimetre and even attacked dozens of times. Without hesitation, convinced that they would defeat the enemy here, they resisted. (…)

“The biggest blow to the policy of informers”

We can all see what has become of the KDP. That needs to be thought about. If we look back and look at the state of society, at Kurdish history, then we will understand that Barzani was never so clearly exposed in his essence. Today, everyone recognizes the KDP as collaborative and treacherous. The resistance was also a blow to individualism. Here people fought in groups, but there was no disagreement between them. They were all bound by a determination to achieve unity. They did not retreat and overran the enemy. They brought forth this strength and courage. (…)

“The resistance has the quality of a revolution”

This resistance has the quality of a revolution. It is not just a revolution in which fascism is defeated militarily. It is also an ideological, philosophical and mental revolution. It is a revolution of the apoist party becoming, which is directed against any kind of opportunist approach. That has become clear. If we continue on this path, we will see that it is not difficult to solve the problems. There is no shortage of fighting strength. Of course, fighting is not an easy task. Organization is necessary, awareness is necessary, effort, leadership, risk-taking and militancy are necessary. Nothing happens by itself.”