Statement From The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK)

To The People Of Kurdistan, The Republic Of Turkey, And The
International Community

     May 31, 1999 is the day that the court case known as the
"trial of the century" will begin. The trial of our comrade
Abdullah Ocalan, President of our party and the leader of the
Kurdish people, will begin on that day. The trial has a specific
nature, in which centuries-old issues in the conflict will be
discussed and a resolution will be sought between the colonialist
dominance in Kurdistan - namely by the Republic of Turkey - and
our people. The outcome of this trial, which will be closely
monitored by both parties, will mark the start of a new process.
The relations between colonialism and the Kurdish people
throughout history will be discussed and questioned, and the
future directions our relations might take will be set in motion.
Therefore it is inevitable that the trial will be a turning point
for both parties.
     In the light of historical and contemporary realities, it is
obvious that the parties who set up the trial do not have the
right to initiate ordinary or unilateral action, but have to
address wider responsibilities. Our people, who have long been
divided and colonized, have been confronted with a tragically
agonizing life throughout their history and today. So many types
of oppression from massacres, exile, and plunder have been
imposed on them that it has become a way of life. When we look
back, it is impossible to see any humane picture: hundreds of
thousands dead, millions exiled from their lands, lives of dire
poverty, persecution, and torture. The basis of this policy is
the denial and destruction of a nation. On the other hand, the
governing nations who implemented the colonialist dominance, have
suffered severe damage also. We should say that they have
suffered losses in terms of lives and material standards. The
lack of progress in the governing nations is because of the
persistence of social relations based on colonialism. The
achieved outcome clearly indicates that neither the Kurdish
people nor the governing nations have benefitted from the
relations between the colonialist and the colonized; the parties
have lost their allies, regardless of less for one, more for the
other.
     In the current situation, the reality faced throughout the
war between the Kurdish people and the Turkish Republic is the
same reality: both parties to the war have incurred severe damage
on all levels. The fact is that both parties suffer damage,
regardless of what the internal or external factors might be. The
fact, which can be seen throughout the fifteen years of war, is
that the war induces heavy losses on both parties and also that a
solution based on equality and liberty should offer something
positive for the defeated party as well.
     Our comrade Abdullah Ocalan, President of our party, who is
preparing for the "trial of the century" on the island of Imrali,
has been carrying out his efforts in the name of the Kurdish
nation for the achievement of a democratic solution that will
bring an end to the war. In the trial that will commence on May
31, 1999, he will highlight the efforts made for a solution, a
process inaugurated some time ago through a unilateral ceasefire
declared by our party in March 1993. The consistent struggle for
a peaceful and a democratic solution, led by the President of our
party, is the policy of our party. This policy is unique in that
it would offer advantages to all parties. In that sense the
policy for peace and a democratic solution should receive a
positive response from the Turkish Republic. Abandoning of the
policies of national denial and destruction would be favorable
to the Turkish Republic more than any other parties. The
historical opportunity offered by our President's example must
receive a positive response.
     The Turkish Republic's persistence with the policy of
destruction - directed at the person of our President - and the
behavior of the chauvinist circles in a petty vengeful mentality
would provoke irreversibly damaging developments. The Kurdish
nation, whose experience in warfare has been strengthened, would
undoubtedly not hold back in their response to these destructive
and vengeful attitudes. This will mean a war between the peoples,
which will last for decades long and whose outcome cannot be
forecast. The potential losses would reach such a level that the
parties of the war would not be able to cope with it. At this
very moment, the parties should take steps towards revising the
policies that were followed to this date, and towards new
policies for peace and a democratic solution. If the Turkish
Republic makes a positive response to the project of peace and a
democratic solution, which is proposed by our comrade Abdullah
Ocalan, President of our party, the Kurdish question, which has
been allowed to remain unresolved since the beginning of this
century and which has caused intense suffering and losses
throughout the twentieth century, would find a resolution at the
end of the very last year of this century; both Turkey and our
people would then enjoy peace, serenity, and happiness.
     Our party calls upon all the offices of the Republic of
Turkey, the people of Kurdistan, the international community, and
all the concerned circles - especially the national and
international press and media - to redouble their efforts to
create a chance for peace and the democratic solution in the
"trial of the century" which is scheduled to begin on May 31,
1999.
     Our party stresses most strongly the importance of our
people's and friends' increased efforts to work for the achieving
of peace and a democratic solution during the trial, and hence
avoiding attitudes that might jeopardize this aim.

Presidential Council of the PKK
May 25, 1999