our interviews

As a result of the fire in Amed (tr. Diyarbakir) and Merdin (tr. Mardin), fifteen people have lost their lives while dozens of people are injured. This incident once again painfully demonstrated the importance of self-organization, while highlighting the fascist Turkish state’s hostility against Kurds. What would you like to say about this tragic incident?

First and foremost, I hope for God’s mercy to those who perished in the fires in Amed and Merdin, as well as for the injured to recover quickly. As the KJK recently stated in a news release, this fire is a calamity that was deliberately orchestrated by the state.

When a fire breaks out in the Aegean or Mediterranean region, the state immediately dispatches helicopters, fire planes, UAVs, and other means. Despite the fact that interventions in these areas are frequently insufficient or delayed, fires in Kurdistan are rarely managed. The Turkish state does not act because it wants to deplete the Kurds and force them to abandon their homeland. That’s why the state is unwilling to combat the fires.

This fire resulted in many deaths and injuries, while the state tried to deflect the incident by calling it a litter bed fire as if this were the cause of fatalities. The state’s hasty claim that the fire was caused by leaf litter beds, without conducting any research or contacting any eyewitnesses, is the reflex of a criminal caught red-handed. To avoid the notion that the culprit was Dicle Electricity Distribution Inc. (DEDAS), and therefore the state, an attempt was undertaken to create the perception that the fire was caused by litter beds, exonerating DEDAS and so the state.

Eyewitnesses reported that the fire was caused by an electrical short circuit. Nevertheless, state officials, agencies, and government-affiliated TV channels are spreading the idea that the fire was caused by litter beds. Because of their fear of the government, even the opposition press reported in this way; they took official statements as a basis rather than eyewitness accounts. If the fire had broken out anywhere else in Turkey, the eyewitness reports would have been the basis of any reporting. It has been seen once again how the events in Kurdistan are distorted and how the press is used as a tool for this. Several eyewitnesses pointed out that there have been repeated complaints that the electrical poles and wires, which were already old and needed to be renewed, caused the incident. This is not said by one person, but by all the villagers in the affected area.

DEDAS has not only become a tool for the exploitation of Kurdistan, but also a tool for the oppression of the people. Like no other institution, DEDAS works with the gendarmerie in the region. The gendarmerie has become a kind of military force under the command of DEDAS: they have raided villages and houses over and over again. For years, the people have repeatedly stated that they are being oppressed by DEDAS. DEDAS has become a nuisance for the people. Nowhere in Turkey is there a similar institution. If there were, the people in the Aegean, Black Sea, and Mediterranean regions would revolt, and the gendarmerie could not act like a military institution owned by a company. When it comes to Kurdistan, the military and police see the Kurds as enemies. For this reason, it sees itself as entitled to all kinds of oppression against the Kurdish people.

The Turkish state uses all the resources of Kurdistan as a means of oppression and exploitation. At least 80 percent of the electricity and energy used in Turkey is produced in Kurdistan. There are dozens of dams built on the Euphrates and Tigris. For example, the Keban, Karakaya, Ataturk, and Birecik dams were built on the Euphrates. They produce the electricity that is currently consumed in Kurdistan, tenfold. Also, many other dams have been built on the Tigris. At the same time, most of the oil is also extracted in Kurdistan. However, the Kurdish people do not benefit from even a fraction of this energy. In fact, the energy they produce has become a means of exploiting the Kurds. It is being created in Kurdistan, but is not given to the Kurds. And if it is given, it is given at an exorbitant price. This is exploitation. This is neither moral nor just. If energy is produced on this land, the people of this land should benefit from it. Electricity, the basic need of the people, should be provided free of charge.

Rêber Apo¹ pointed out that energy and water should belong to society. In Turkey, even energy and water have been handed over to exploitative companies. Energy, water, soil, and air are related to human life. These cannot belong to anyone other than society. The Kurdish people must see how colonialist and genocidal the Turkish state is. The state uses every possibility of life as a means in its genocide of the Kurdish people. It has been producing in Turkey with cheap Kurdish labor, and using this has created opportunities for Kurdish genocide, especially in terms of weapons.

In the past, in Turkey, services such as electricity and water were completely owned by municipalities. The municipalities ruled that these facilities were not for exploitation but to provide and develop services. Now they have been handed over to companies and turned into an instrument of exploitation. Such situations have once again shown that in order for electricity not to be an instrument of exploitation, it must be operated by the municipalities that exist to serve the community.

The Kurdish people should not expect anything from the state. They should not ask the state for anything. Everything the state does and will do is to genocide the Kurds. Kurds must meet their needs by making themselves an organized society and creating social power. To ask for something from the state that wants to commit genocide against you is to ask for something from your executioner.

In the fire of Amed and Merdin, the people suffered great losses. The Kurdish people must heal these wounds with their unity and solidarity. The people should not be dependent on this genocidal state. Times like these are precisely the times when it is necessary to show patriotism.

The isolation of Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Ocalan continues. As a result of the struggle against this isolation, it is evident that a lot of pressure is being put on international institutions. How do you evaluate the struggle to break the silence of international institutions?

Before answering this question, I would like to send my respectful and loving greetings to the esteemed scientist, philosopher, and professor Noam Chomsky, wishing him a speedy recovery. Chomsky has made great contributions to the enlightenment of humanity and the development of democratic thought. As a true scientist, he has always been on the side of the truth and the peoples. He has always stood by the Kurdish people’s struggle for freedom and democracy and has always tried to do his part as a dear friend of the Kurdish people. He has taken part in every action towards the liberation of the Kurdish people and Rêber Apo. He played a very important role in the recognition of the Kurdish people’s struggle for freedom and democracy in the world. Because of this friendship, the Kurdish people take a close interest in his health, and every positive news about his health brings joy to the Kurdish people. The Kurdish people will never forget their friends and will value them accordingly.

The lifting of the isolation of Rêber Apo and his return to health, safety, and free working conditions are among Chomsky’s priorities and efforts. Today, if the struggle for Rêber Apo’s freedom has gained an important dimension, Chomsky’s attitude and stance, for decades, has played an important role in this. He was not only a friend who defended the freedom of the Kurdish people and Rêber Apo; he was also a great thinker who valued Rêber Apo’s paradigm and made efforts to promote it.

Undoubtedly, the struggle against the international conspiracy² and isolation has been a great struggle waged by the Kurdish people at a heavy price. The struggle that has entered its 26th year has never stopped; it has continued uninterruptedly until today. In addition to the struggle of our people, the role of the international friends of the Kurdish people, democratic forces, and women around the world in opposing the conspiracy and embracing Rêber Apo has played a great role. Especially as Rêber Apo’s ideas were recognized by intellectuals and democratic circles around the world, the struggle against the conspiracy grew. Rêber Apo’s freedom was embraced more strongly. Today, if the international institutions responsible for Imrali, especially the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), are struggling and unable to defend the isolation, the attitude and struggle of intellectuals, democratic forces, and women around the world have had an impact on this.

The worldwide campaign for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo and the democratic solution to the Kurdish question had a significant impact on this. The ‘Reading Days’ on which the prison writings of Rêber Apo were read and discussed, brought the campaign to a new level. Now ‘Dialogue with Ocalan Days’ are being organized, which is again a great step. In this way, Rêber Apo is better understood. It is clear that this will further strengthen the struggle for Rêber Apo’s freedom. The more people learn about Rêber Apo, the more they get to know him, the stronger the campaign will grow and eventually become unstoppable.

The uninterrupted continuation and expansion of the worldwide campaign for the freedom of Rêber Apo through creative ways and methods will bring us closer to his freedom.

We are approaching the anniversary of the historic action of the Zeynep Kınacı (Zilan)³ against the conspiracy against the people’s leader Abdullah Ocalan in 1996⁴. When we look at the freedom struggle carried out since then, can we say that Martyr Zîlan, with her historic action, revealed the initiative to protect and correctly embrace the Kurdish People’s Leader?

I commemorate with love, respect and gratitude all the martyrs of the month of June, particularly comrade Zilan, Sema⁵, Gulan⁶, Hanim Yaverkaya⁷, Raperin Amed⁸, Berivan Zilan⁹, Ali Piling¹⁰, and Fazil Botan¹¹.

I also commemorate with gratitude and respect Sheikh Sait¹² and his friends who were executed on June 29, 1925. Their memory lives and is kept alive in our struggle.

It is clear that Martyr Zilan’s action is a turning point in terms of embracing Rêber Apo. It is the peak of devotion to Rêber Apo. Martyr Zilan called on the entire PKK and the Kurdish people to understand and embrace Rêber Apo correctly. She showed everyone that Rêber Apo and the Kurdish people’s struggle for freedom are inseparable. That is why Rêber Apo emphasized that Martyr Zilan’s action was a manifesto. She did not only make a big sacrifice; she put forward an ideological, political, organizational, and operational line. Undoubtedly, there was a sacrificial line in the PKK before; there were great acts of devotion to Rêber Apo. But Martyr Zîlan deepened this line with her action. She added new dimensions to this line of self-sacrifice. To embrace Rêber Apo means understanding and living the women’s liberation line in depth.

Martyr Zilan also determined the attitude of the movement against the conspiracy. The actions that were taken under the ‘you cannot darken our sun’ campaign, which developed after the international conspiracy in 1999, were the outcome of the line that Zilan had drawn. Martyr Zilan’s action has depth and an important dimension in terms of Kurdish history. She was born and raised in Malatya, west of the Euphrates, where the so-called Eastern Reform Plan, basically a plan of cultural genocide, was implemented. The genocide practiced there created great anger among the people, which created a great will and power of resistance. In this respect, Martyr Zilan’s action is also a response to genocide. She was deeply aware that the attack against Rêber Apo was a genocidal one and carried out her action with the deep awareness that turning against Rêber Apo is turning against everything belonging to the Kurds. Today, we express that the priority and main target of the genocide policy and attack is Imrali. Comrade Zilan already acted with this awareness thirty years ago.

Martyr Zilan, as a comrade who understood Rêber Apo deeply, embraced him by carrying out that great self-sacrificing action. As our women comrades stated, we should embrace Rêber Apo as deeply as Zilan did. We will definitely liberate Rêber Apo and ensure a democratic solution to the Kurdish question by embracing him in every field and dimension of the struggle like Zilan did.

The freedom fighters continue their resistance against all kinds of attacks by the fascist Turkish state with the spirit of Martyr Zilan. The occupying forces, which are experiencing difficulties, have recently intensified the use of internationally banned chemical weapons again. Do you see a weakening in the struggle against the silence of international powers, especially the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and if so, how should this situation be overcome?

A dirty war has been waged in Kurdistan for decades. If this war was conducted in any other part of the world, international powers and many states would take a stand against the perpetrators of this dirty war and impose sanctions. However, when it comes to the Kurds, all international law, morality, and conscience are put aside. When it comes to Kurdistan and the Kurds, everybody only considers their own interests. After the First World War, the West, led by Britain and France, was mainly responsible for the system established in the Middle East. The Kurds were the victims of their political new order. They established an order that approved the genocide of Kurds. In exchange for the cession of Mosul and Kirkuk to Britain and Syria to French sovereignty, the Turkish Republic’s genocide of the Kurds was approved. This political order is still continuing today.

Already before, poisonous gases, chemical and banned weapons were used against the guerrillas. However, in the invasion attack they have been carrying out for three consecutive years now in the Medya Defense Zones¹³, these weapons are being used daily. Ihsan Sabri Caglayangil, Turkey’s longest serving foreign minister, confessed how they poisoned the civilian population who took refuge in caves in Dersim (tr. Tunceli) “like rats” in 1937-1938. The Turkish Republic has such a tradition of dirty war. Even then, the West, which calls itself civilized and democratic, remained silent.

The current fascist government of the AKP-MHP has been declaring for nine years that it will end the Kurdish freedom movement. And now, the resistance of the guerrilla and the Kurdish people has led the AKP-MHP government to its own collapse. In the face of the resistance of the guerrilla and the people, which led to the collapse of their power, it has increased its dirty war, particularly in the last three years. Perhaps hundreds of times more bombs were dropped on Kurdistan than were dropped on Vietnam. There are no valleys or hills that have not been bombed. In order to break the resistance of the guerrilla, poisonous gas, chemical weapons, and thermobaric bombs are being used to destroy the living environment of the guerrilla. Since they cannot fight against the guerrilla, they poison the air the guerrilla breathes and the water they drink, making the guerrilla areas completely uninhabitable for living beings. Thus, they kill everything alive. This is being done by a NATO army. The West and NATO are waging this dirty war against the guerrilla. The answer to the question of why international powers and institutions remain silent must be sought there. It is because they also have a hand in this dirty war.

Undoubtedly, we are still not able to fully explain this dirty war to the world, nor are we putting up enough struggle against this dirty war and its methods. The struggles do not go beyond the level of protest. They do not go beyond the reactions to a negative practice in any democratic country. However, there is an attack on the existence of Kurds. It is in this awareness that we must struggle, so that the OPCW cannot remain silent, it must be forced to take action. Otherwise, no results can be achieved. Both the Kurdish people and the guerrilla are engaged in a life-and-death struggle. Therefore, whatever kind of struggle is necessary to live, must be fought. Otherwise, we will end up in the situation of the Laz who said “let this be a lesson to us” on his way to execution. In short, there is an existential attack on the Kurds. It is necessary to take these attacks more seriously and develop the struggle with more effective ways and methods.

You express at every opportunity that the AKP-MHP fascism is in an all-out attack on the Kurdish people in order to realize the Kurdish genocide. One of the dimensions of these attacks is the trustee policy. How do you evaluate the people’s resistance that developed after the appointment of a trustee in Colemerg (tr. Hakkari)?

The trustee policy is the Kurdish-denial policy of the AKP-MHP alliance. It should be known that Kurdish denial continues in Turkey. This is the state policy. Whoever says there is no Kurdish denial is lying to hide the Kurdish genocide policy being pursued. Calling Kurds brothers and sisters, broadcasting TRT Kurdish to prevent Kurdish politicization, and allowing some cultural institutions to broadcast in Kurdish is solely to cover up and legitimize the genocide policy. In today’s world, where communication and information technology are so advanced, without education in the mother tongue, such policies are nothing but a cover-up of this genocide. In short, the Kurdish genocide is being carried out in a planned manner. If the Turkish government has its way, this policy will not stop until the Kurds are Turkified as a majority. This is the current state policy.

Regarding the question of why trustees are appointed, this is about the denial of Kurdish existence. The policy applied against the Kurds is not because of their political views. It doesn’t matter whether they are right-wing, left-wing, religious, or nationalist; this policy is carried out against whoever is actively objecting to and struggling against the policy of Kurdish denial at the time. Other Kurdish political forces that were weak at the time are also used against those who are actively fighting against genocide. If municipalities express themselves through Kurdish identity, if they work on Kurdish identity and culture and keep Kurdish identity alive, they are blocked from running municipalities because they are also against the policy of genocide. All laws in Turkey are based on Kurdish denial. No rights can be claimed in the name of Kurdishness in Turkey. This is the plain reality.

In its early years, the AKP needed the support of the democratic forces and the Kurds in order to stay in power, so it used a soft rhetoric. However, since it did not have a democratic mentality, it embraced Kurdish hostility against the Kurdish people’s demand and struggle for freedom and democracy in order to stay in power. For this, they have formed an alliance with the MHP for nine years. It is clear that the policies of a political party that has allied with the MHP for nine years will always be characterized by Kurdish hostility. All its practices have pointed in this direction.

The genocide policies of the Turkish state cannot be compared to any other colonialist or genocidal policies in the world. In South Africa, different policies were applied to black people. For example, there was a threat to their existence but the South African people eventually won their rights.

Kurds have been resisting this policy of genocide for a hundred years. Again, the democratic forces, especially socialists, are struggling for the democratization of Turkey. The struggle for democracy is also a struggle against the Kurdish genocide policy.

In Wan (tr. Van), the struggle of the Kurdish people and democratic forces against the appointment of trustees, which is an implementation of the genocide policy, has yielded important results. There is also an important struggle against the trustee policy in Colemerg. The people of Colemerg have made it clear that they do not accept trustees. The trustee policy no longer has as much legitimacy as the colonial governor. There is still a struggle against this. However, the desired result cannot be achieved with piecemeal struggle. In this respect, it is important that all Kurdish cities, especially Amed, Elih (tr. Batman), and Wan, rise up. The mobilization of these cities will mobilize the entire Kurdish people, which will make the struggle on the Turkish front more effective.

Right now, the struggle in Kurdistan and Turkey is important. It was shown that the trustee policy was not accepted. If not for this resistance, they would have appointed new trustees after Colemerg. If the government thought that it will not face a bigger struggle, it would have already appointed more trustees. Tayyip Erdogan has already openly expressed this.

The support of the socialist, revolutionary and democratic forces of Turkey in the struggle against the appointment of trustees in Wan and Colemerg gave the Kurdish people a significant strength. How will this situation accelerate the joint struggle of the Kurdish people and the democratic forces of Turkey?

It is clear that the struggle for freedom and democracy of the Kurdish people and the struggle for democracy of the peoples of Turkey must be united. Because the freedom of the Kurds and the development of democracy are intertwined. Democratization in Turkey depends on a democratic solution to the Kurdish question. The reason for the raging hostility toward democracy in Turkey is the fascist approach that if democracy develops, Kurds will benefit from it. In order to be free, Kurds must struggle to defeat this anti-Kurdish mentality and politics. In short, these two struggles must be united, not only because of ideological affinity but also because of political necessity. Whoever thinks that Turkey will democratize without the struggle for a democratic solution to the Kurdish question is deeply mistaken.

The struggle of the Kurdish people is also a struggle to democratize Turkey. It is a struggle to keep the democratic forces alive. If the Kurdish people had not waged a struggle, especially since the military coup of September 12, 1980, the democratic forces would have been further crushed and neutralized. Although there is oppression, force, and fascism in Turkey today, it is clear that there is also a strong resistance against it. In fact, fifty years of Turkish political history have clearly demonstrated that the Kurdish and democratic forces must wage a joint struggle. If the democratic forces of Turkey and the Kurds do not see this reality, they do not understand the reality of Turkey.

In Wan, it was seen how effective and fruitful the unity of the resistance of the Kurdish people and all democratic forces in Turkey was. The joint struggle against the appointed trustee in Colemerg also has a significant political impact. Especially in a period when the AKP-MHP fascist government is in decline, it is very important that radical democratic or revolutionary democratic forces in Turkey come together in a common struggle. Both the democratic forces in Turkey and the Kurdish people will profit from such a struggle. Those who want to profit will organize and carry out this struggle; those who want to lose or who only stick to their own small reality will stay away from this struggle. Or they stay away from this joint struggle, saying that if they waged a joint struggle with the Kurds, they would attract the enemies of the state. It must be said that these are the ones who have no interest in struggling and winning.

On June 29, the joint rally of all democratic forces against the trusteeship and all forms of oppression and exploitation in Kartal, Istanbul, is very important. It is necessary to further develop such collaborations. The common goal should be to oust fascism from power. When the revolutionary democratic forces develop a common struggle and defeat AKP-MHP fascism, their political influence in Turkey increases, which will bring about a process that will ensure the democratization of Turkey and the solution of the Kurdish question. The Kartal rally should not be seen as just a rally, but as an important step in the joint struggle platform to be developed. Kurdish people should flow to Kartal from all over Istanbul, from near and far. After the June 29th rally, the march to Colemerg from all over Kurdistan and Turkey is also important. The stronger this march is, the shorter the life of the trustee will be.

The AKP-MHP, while insisting on war, continues to discuss ‘normalization‘ in the environment of severe destruction in Turkey. In recent days, there have been discussions that there are some problems internally, within the AKP-MHP fascist alliance. How do you handle these discussions?

After the municipality elections, the CHP called for ‘normalization’ and the AKP called for ‘softening’. Indeed, an unprecedented polarization has been created in Turkey. At the hands of the AKP-MHP government, politics in Turkey has been turned into a political civil war. The AKP-MHP alliance aimed to complete the Kurdish genocide and create a Turkey that they thought was theirs. For years, the MHP defined this as the Turkish-Islamic synthesis. Already in the 1970s, the MHP, with the support of NATO’s gladio and foreign powers, declared war on the democratic forces in Turkey, especially socialists and Kurdish revolutionaries. In order to complete the Kurdish genocide and crush the leftist forces, a military fascist coup was carried out. As a matter of fact, Alpaslan Turkes summed this coup up as follows: “We may be imprisoned, but our idea is ruling government”. This is the AKP-MHP alliance in Turkey. In order to crush the struggle for freedom, fascism was built to prevent the Kurdish people from breathing. For this, not even the smallest democratic right was left. Every sector and everyone who struggles for democracy was declared separatist. The AKP-MHP alliance sees everyone who is not with them as traitors and enemies and goes after them. Marginalization and polarization have become a daily policy as a method of war against democratic forces. Kurds and Kurdish political power were not only targeted as traitors and separatists every day; everyone who was not hostile to Kurds was also marginalized and excluded, creating a sharp polarization. The Kurds felt this the most. From this point of view, we are the most vocal about these polarizing and marginalizing policies of AKP-MHP fascism. We have expressed at every opportunity that it is a government of evil. There is no torture, persecution, or evil that this government has not inflicted on the Kurdish people and democratic forces. It has already repeatedly revealed their character by saying, “These are your good days; what more will you see?”.

The AKP-MHP government even accused the CHP of treason in order to fully build its fascist dictatorship. They also see the CHP as a threat to their survival. Such a polarizing, marginalizing, and abnormal power has emerged, which is an enemy of humanity and democracy, unprecedented in the world political arena. It has attacked without considering itself bound by any moral, conscientious, social, or legal values that have been formed throughout human history. Undoubtedly, this immoral, unscrupulous, and unjust political understanding must disappear. Every person wants a normal, democratic political life. They want the polarization in Turkey to end. For years, the Kurdish people and the democratic forces in Turkey have been struggling for the end of inhumane practices. As a result, the AKP-MHP government lost. The people made the CHP the first party because it opposed the policies of the AKP-MHP government.

Of course, politics and life must be democratized and normalized. But how this will happen is important. It is equally important that this crucial question is answered correctly. The MHP leader, Devlet Bahceli, has said that no one can soften them or make them abandon their policies. He has repeatedly emphasized that he will insist on the old policies. It was because of these policies that he formed an alliance with the AKP and supported it for years. Even without the so-called People’s Alliance, he said he would support the AKP’s policies. Tayyip Erdogan repeated what the MHP said in his own way. “We will not compromise on our tenets”, he said. His red lines are those stated by the MHP.

Trusteeship is one of the most fundamental policies of the AKP-MHP government. They appointed a trustee in Colemerg and legitimized it with the demagogy that they were just applying the law. Erdogan made an unprecedented statement, portraying that which is legal as illegal. In fact, in this way, he admitted that all Turkish laws may not be legal. Can normalization be expected from such a political understanding?

If anyone should soften, it is the AKP-MHP government. In order to do so, it must abandon its past discourses and practices of marginalizing, polarizing, accusing, antagonizing and many other similar discourses and practices. Are the AKP and MHP ready for such a step? Can there be normalization just because Ozgur has changed his vocabulary? They have not stopped using the judiciary as an instrument of politics, thousands of politicians are imprisoned, dozens are arrested every day, but they expect people to believe that there will be normalization because they released a few known people from prison?! While enmity against the Kurdish people and the forces of democracy continue, how will there be normalization! Those who do not accept a ‘normalization’ of such, cannot be portrayed as anti-normalization. At the moment, those who do not accept this form of normalization, are the ones who are most persecuted by the AKP-MHP government: those who struggle for the democratization and normalization of Turkey.

AKP spokesperson Omer Celik gave a speech after the Erdogan-Ozel meeting, in which he spoke about the methods of “softening”. They are the ones who should soften and give up their evil deeds. If there is polarization, if there is marginalization, if there are the harshest attacks on society, it is the AKP-MHP government that needs to soften. But they expect others to soften. If the AKP-MHP government would stop all the evil it has done, that is, if it would give up the policy it has been pursuing for the last nine years, then a process of normalization and softening would automatically begin.

The AKP government, more precisely Tayyip Erdogan, thinks that he has been weakened by his alliance with the MHP, therefore, he wants to show that he thinks differently from the MHP on some issues. In order to do this, he wants to create perceptions of changes without actually abandoning the policies he has been carrying out together with the MHP for nine years. That is why he jumped on Ozgur Ozel’s normalization discourse. He saw this as a legitimate guise to cover-up that the AKP is being controlled by the MHP. Erdogan wants to buy time by using this rhetoric, without making any changes in basic policies. The MHP has expressed some discomfort on this issue as it has locked itself in the Kurdish genocide and does not want the slightest change in its policies.

Indeed, when both Devlet Bahceli and Erdogan say that their alliance will continue, that it is very important for them, it can be understood that even though some changes will be tolerated it terms of methods, they will continue to conduct their fascist policies. Even though there are differences between AKP and MHP as a result of the election results and the political environment, it seems that they will continue to pursue common policies on the basis of accepting these differences. In short, they should not be expected to give up their common policies because of the existing differences. However, it is clear that these differences will grow if the struggle against them continues. In fact, Tayyip Erdogan is seeking new alliances with the external support of the MHP. If he succeeds in this, he will prefer to maintain his power through new alliances in which he will receive the support of the MHP in a different way. However, no one should expect Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP to give up its anti-Kurdish and anti-democracy policies.

What attitude should the Kurdish people and democratic forces take in the face of such discussions?

The Kurdish people and democratic forces should not expect that the CHP’s softening policy will lead to a democratic political environment in Turkey. These approaches serve the continuation of these fascist policies with some formal changes. These approaches will only strengthen the policies that polarize Turkey, marginalize others, make enemies of ‘others’, and shape Turkey according to this mentality. Fascism is the result of this mentality. This mentality and the policies based on it can only be regressed through struggle. In this respect, the policy pursued by the CHP is naive to say the least. Either what they have been saying about the AKP government for years is wrong; or what they are saying today. They cannot both be right. If the previous statements are true, what normalization can be expected from this fascist government and dictator? Or what is the normalization the CHP refers to? Is it the democratization of politics as a whole, or is it only the softening of the discourse against the CHP? If it is the latter, it means to soften the CHP. It would result in the CHP not struggling against AKP-MHP fascism, but compromising with their policies.

Those who vote for the CHP are those who have suffered greatly from the AKP-MHP policies. They voted for the CHP as the first party to stand against this government and fight for democratization. Undoubtedly, it is understandable that the CHP wants to appeal to the AKP base. This is not wrong by itself. However, this should not mean that the CHP becomes a part of AKP policies.

In short, the Kurdish people and the democratic forces must see that these normalization debates do not mean anything for democratization, on the contrary, they create a situation that normalizes undemocratic policies. From this point of view, they should not get caught up in this policy, but should see the danger of this and raise the struggle against the AKP-MHP policies. The people of Turkey have also strengthened the grounds for struggle against the AKP-MHP government. They should develop the struggle for democracy and freedom without giving the CHP the opportunity to eliminate this ground. It should not see any attempt by the AKP government to retouch its image as a normalization and softening. Having lost the elections, Tayyip Erdogan is now waging a special war against the peoples of Turkey who stand and struggle against him. None of his statements is a step towards democracy in the real sense. 23 years of Erdogan’s rule and politics have revealed this reality. This man has only one concern; that is to stay in power and benefit his cronies. Now he sees the way to do this by leading the way in Kurdish hostility.

The Kurdish people and democratic forces must make good use of the political environment that has emerged after the elections and develop organization and joint struggle. The forces of democracy have such a historic responsibility ahead of them. They must focus on organization and struggle. By overthrowing this fascist government, the way must be paved for the democratization of Turkey and the democratic solution of the Kurdish question.

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