Cemil Bayik, co-chair of the KCK Executive Council spoke about the latest developments in the Middle East in the third part of this interview.

The first part of the interview can be read here

The second parte here

Important developments are also taking place in South Kurdistan and Iraq. There was the Kirkuk election. After the elections, there was a lot of discussion between the Turkish state and the Iraqi state. The Turkish state wants to draw Iraq into its politics. What are your observations on this situation?

Not only in Iraq, but wherever there is war, wherever there is confusion in the Middle East, AKP and Tayyip Erdoğan are behind it. Because their aim is to increase the war in the Middle East. They keep themselves alive through war and massacre. They know that if they do not do so, they will not stay in power for a single day. Turkey knows the situation of the Iraqi state. There are many problems; they are not easily solved, that is why they are weak. The Turkish state sees this as an opportunity for itself. And here it is using the KDP. It wants to influence Iraqi politics via the KDP and draw Iraq to its side like the KDP. Iraq must not fall into this trap and be deceived. It should be careful. It should solve its problems with the Kurds through dialog. If Iraq does this, it will become a leading power in the Middle East. But if they accept the policies of the Turkish state and the KDP, Iraq’s problems will grow even more. They cannot solve their problems in this way. The Turkish state is increasing its pressure on Iraq day by day. My call to Iraq is to be careful against the games played by the Turkish state through the KDP. They should not be hostile to the Kurdish people. If they do, they will suffer great damage.

Elections took place in Kirkuk, Şengal [Sinjar] and Iraq. The Turkish state, the KDP and the Turkmen Front wanted to gain results in Kirkuk. They worked for this. Against this, the alliance led by the PUK was successful. The plan of the Turkish state, the KDP and the Turkmen Front did not work. But this does not mean that they have given up on this plan. The Turkish state wants to seize Kirkuk. It wants to start a war in Kirkuk and take it from the Kurds. The alliance of the PUK prevented this plan from working. The success of the elections once again showed that results are achieved through alliance.

The Turkish state summoned Iraqi officials on the day of the elections. Because Turkey interfered in the elections. They saw that the alliance developed by the PUK frustrated their plans. They talked about “how to take Kirkuk from the Kurds, how to make our plans successful”. If there are serious problems in Kirkuk now, it is because of the KDP. The Turkish state is doing these things to achieve its goals, but the KDP is the pawn. Therefore, everyone should realize that the KDP is responsible for the problems in Kirkuk.

The KDP has put all the facilities in South Kurdistan at the service of the Barzani family. It is also postponing the elections. How do you evaluate these developments, and what is the situation in South Kurdistan right now?

There is a reason why the KDP did not win in Kirkuk and Şengal. The Kurdish people stood against the KDP’s betrayal. That is why the PUK’s alliance gained results. Because the KDP’s politics is causing great harm to the Kurds. People in Rojava, North and South Kurdistan see this now. Even the people under the control of the KDP see this. That is why the KDP could not gain results from the elections. In the past, it used to gain results in Şengal in the name of electoral work. They would only put up their own candidates for election. In reality, there was no election taking place. During the most recent elections held in Şengal, the alliance was also put forward as an alternative candidate, and the alliance was successful. The KDP lost. This showed that the KDP does not represent the will of the people. It was seen that the results it gained in the past under the name of elections was fake, that it gained results through pressure and bribes. They wanted to bribe people during these elections too. But now they have come to the end of this policy. That’s why the KDP is also stuck, and they are doing these things to get out of this situation. The democratic forces that have formed an alliance should strengthen this alliance. This way, they can prevent new games.

After the Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent Israeli attack on Gaza, a new process has begun in the Middle East. There are discussions that this war will spread to Lebanon, Syria, even Iran and the whole region. In such a process, a massacre took place on the anniversary of the assassination of Qasem Soleimani. In a statement you made regarding this massacre, you said that some forces want to expand the war and spread it to the region. Who are these forces and what do they want to do?

Before the anniversary of Qasem Soleimani’s death, Reisi wanted to go to Turkey. Shortly before he was about to go, this explosion happened. Although ISIS claimed responsibility, it was the Turkish MIT that carried out this explosion. When Iranian President Reisi was about to go to Turkey, the Turkish government wanted to have discussions with Reisi about implementing the decisions they had taken against us, against the Kurds. They aimed to develop politics via this explosion. In this way, they wanted to draw Iran into a war against the PKK and the Kurds. Reisi did not go to Turkey after the explosion. I don’t know why. But that explosion was carried out by the Turkish MIT, which wanted to achieve its goals.

The Turkish state wants to form an alliance, a front against the Kurdish people. It has made many such alliances in history. Therefore, it wants to draw Iran and Iraq onto this front. It is working for this. They are focusing especially on Iran. We cannot say whether these plans will come to fruition or not. Erdoğan wants to enlarge and expand the war in the Middle East. If he does not expand the war, he cannot stay in power. Erdoğan also developed the Hamas-Israel war. With this war, he aimed to prevent the planned energy route that started in India, passes through Israel and reaches Europe. Because they had left Turkey out. Erdoğan said, “We will not allow those who exclude us to get results”. Then there was the Hamas attack. The Turkish state wanted the energy route to pass through Turkey. The line developed by India-Israel was intended to pass through Rojava and reach the Mediterranean. Turkey intervened and prevented this. They say, “We prevented the line of terrorism”. They say this in a veiled way.

It is a great loss for them that the line does not pass through Turkey. The Turkish state no longer has the strategic and political role it used to have. In order to get out of this difficult situation, the Turkish state wants to develop a front against the Kurdish people, to draw Iraq into its politics and to ensure that the war in Gaza continues, in order to prevent the energy line. He wants the energy line to pass through Turkey and Iraq. Erdoğan’s whole aim is to prevent the energy route from passing through Kurdistan and to ensure that the Kurds do not benefit from it. Because he wants to destroy the Kurds. Now he aims to open a route through Azerbaijan and is working on it. But that route has not been opened either. Everyone now sees that Turkey wants to escalate the war in the Middle East for its own interests. It wants to draw Iraq and Iran into the Gaza war. It has already taken the KDP with it. This is how it wants to stay in power. The people of Turkey need to see this. Erdoğan may have won the elections, but he has put Turkey into a great disaster. If Turkey today is isolated, excluded, if the political, social and economic problems in Turkey have deepened and if these problems are growing day by day, it is because of Erdoğan’s politics.