Cemil Bayik, KCK Executive Council co-chair spoke about the latest developments in Kurdistan, the Middle East and the world, the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan as an attempt to prevent his voice from reaching the world, the need for international pressure on France to prevent a cover-up of the recent Paris massacre, the end of the internal and external support for the AKP-MHP government, the heavy social consequences of Turkey´s war in Kurdistan and the possibility for Syria to solve its problems with the Kurds:

Total isolation of Abdullah Öcalan to prevent his voice from reaching the world

Since the occupying fascist Turkish state pursues a policy of genocide against the Kurdish people in the person of Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan], our friend Veysi Taş took a stance against this dirty policy, refused to accept it and thus proudly marched to martyrdom. On this occasion, I would like to respectfully commemorate our friend Veysi. He spent time in the Diyarbakır prison where he was tortured after September 12 [military coup in 1980]. In recent years, he has been imprisoned again. Only 6 months ago he was released from prison. However, the patriotism of Kurdistan, especially the patriotism of Mardin, was deeply rooted in the personality of this friend. Without this, he would not have supported Leader Apo, the people of Kurdistan and humanity this much. There is a video he left behind in which he explains the purpose of his action. I invite every patriot to watch this video, because Veysi Taş did not fall martyr for himself. He fell martyr for the Kurdish people. Our friend Veysi was martyred for opposing the annihilation policy against Leader Apo and the Kurdish people. With his action, he called on everyone to take a stance against this policy. It is true that people have taken a stance against it and that this has had a certain effect. But it is not enough. Everybody must oppose the policy of isolation and genocide at the highest level. Otherwise there is a real danger. Our friend Veysi wanted to draw everybody´s attention to that danger. Therefore, everyone needs to fulfill their responsibility according to this call.

Today, a genocide policy is being pursued against Leader Apo and the Kurdish people. Because Leader Apo represents the Kurdish people. He is the leader of them. Whatever the Kurdish people have achieved so far, they have achieved with Leader Apo. This is the reason why the Turkish state pursues a policy of genocide against Leader Apo. They are taking revenge on him. The Kurdish people and humanity are aware of the role of Leader Apo and the Turkish state is well aware, too. Obviously, the Turkish state does not want to change its policy of genocide but instead insists on it. It is clear where this policy is taking Turkey. Everyone can see this. But they cannot achieve any results with this policy.

There was Gramsci, the leader of the Communist Party of Italy. The Italian capitalists decided that Gramsci should not be allowed to make use of his intellect for 20 years, so that he would not be able to think and solve Italy’s problems. They were very afraid of Gramsci and his thoughts. Today, the Turkish state is conducting the same policy against Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan]. They are conducting this heavy isolation policy so that Rêber Apo does not think, does not produce, does not fulfill his duty for the Kurdish people, for humanity, so that his voice does not reach society. It is the Kurdish people and their international friends who will change and break this isolation policy. Because the enemy [Turkish state] insists on this policy. When it recognizes that such a great struggle is being waged, the Turkish state will be forced to change its isolation policy.

There is also the attitude of the Council of Europe and the CPT. The Turkish state has deliberately spread many rumors about Leader Apo. The rumors they spread do not match each other. Therefore, one does not understand what the truth is. This causes a lot of concerns. That is why Leader Apo’s lawyers made a statement. They said that even though the CPT said it had gone to İmralı, there had been no meeting. We want the CPT to make a statement. Our people and our international friends have reacted to this situation, but the CPT has still not made a statement. This has increased everybody´s concerns. The Council of Europe must also make a statement. The duty of the CPT is to prevent torture. But calls for the prevention of torture go unanswered. The role they play is very bad. What does this mean? It means that Europe, the CPT and the Turkish state are pursuing this policy of isolation together. This policy amounts to more than isolation. Because they call it absolute isolation. In other words, they have cut off all relations of Leader Apo with the world.

The Kurdish people and their friends are waging a great struggle. And they will continue to do so. Both in Turkey, Europe and the Middle East. Many lawyers in many countries have collected signatures, made statements and have said clearly: “We are against this policy. We want to go to İmralı and see Leader Apo.” But the Turkish state has not yet responded. The work of all of them is very meaningful. For this reason, I would like to greet all lawyers and offer my respect. The Union of Turkish Bar Associations has taken steps recently as well. It has thus fulfilled its duty. It applied to the Turkish Ministry of Justice. However, the Ministry of Justice has not yet responded. The Hakkari Bar Association has also filed an application. These efforts are the right thing to do, but they should not be limited to applications. They can put pressure on the Turkish state. People in Europe can go in front of the CPT and protest against it. If European lawyers take this step, I believe this will have an important impact. In other words, our people and our international friends need to increase their protests against isolation. The steps taken so far are very important but not enough. These efforts need to be increased even more. Leader Apo was given a 3 months disciplinary penalty again recently. These kinds of penalties are not legal but purely political. Thus, they want to break the will of Rêber Apo and the Kurdish people and achieve their genocidal goals.

Need for international pressure on France to prevent the cover-up of the recent Paris massacre

“A massacre was carried out by the Turkish state in Paris 10 years ago. Our friend Sara [Sakine Cansiz] and her friends were martyred as a result. 10 years later, they have now carried out a second massacre in the center of Paris. Both in the first massacre and in the second, those leading our Freedom Movement, our people and the women’s movement were targeted. This is not a new policy. Many occupying, genocidal states have used these tactics to defeat socialist and people´s movements and the oppressed. Today, this tactic is also being applied against our movement. The women’s movement has a strong impact not only in Kurdistan but all over the world. They don´t target women without a reason. As much as the AKP-MHP government and the Turkish state are enemies of the peoples, socialists and democrats, they are also enemies of women. They are ideologically against women. Who are the women that are being targeted the most? Those who have fought against IS and Al-Nusra, those who have done a great service to humanity, those who have saved humanity from a great disaster. IS committed three massacres against the French people in France. Now, they have carried out a massacre against the Kurdish Freedom Movement there. All this does not happen without a reason. Those who lead the Kurdish people and the Freedom Movement are targeted because they fight against IS and Al-Nusra. They have protected France against IS, against the massacres of IS. They are taking revenge for this on Kurdish women and their pioneers. That is why our friends Sara and Evin [Emine Kara] were targeted.

The Turkish state is not a normal state. It is a state built on special, psychological warfare. It is completely based on this. If this state does not wage war for just a single day, it cannot survive. In the history of the Turkish state there has always been enmity against peoples with different identities and beliefs. They want to establish a state based on the Turkish nation and the Turkish religion. In other words, they want to establish a nation state. In order to achieve this, they seek to eliminate all those who stand in their way. This is the reason why they carry out massacres from Afrin to Sulaymaniyah, from Turkey to Europe. They are not only targeting PKK militants, but also many patriots and Kurdish people. This is how they want to scare everyone by carrying out these massacres. This is why they are doing this in Europe, e.g. in the center of France. They are not doing this because they are very powerful. If they were, they would maybe do such things inside Turkey but not outside of the country. It is not easy to assassinate people outside Turkey. Because there are international laws. They are in trouble, weak and afraid. They feel the danger for themselves. That’s why they commit such massacres. They are desperate and stuck. That’s why they are in a great rage which they show with these kinds of massacres.

So how has the AKP-MHP government become so desperate? Who has brought them to this point? Of course, the struggle carried out by the PKK and the Kurdish people has brought them to such a desperate point. This struggle has revealed the truth. The more they want to destroy the PKK and complete the Kurdish genocide, the weaker they get, the more desperate they become, and they don’t know what to do anymore. Their end is clearly coming.”

The guerrillas and Leader Apo have been fighting for a long time. But recently,  women’s struggle has also had a great impact. That’s why the people of France, the French state and some French state institutions took a stance against the recent massacre by saying: “These people have fought against IS and have protected us. The fact that the Turkish MIT has killed them means we ourselves have been killed”. That’s why they took a stance in support of our martyred friends, the movement and the Kurdish people. They called on everyone to stand against this massacre. Kurdish women clearly deserve this. Because they have waged a great struggle for years and have paid a great price for this. Therefore, it is absolutely right to stand up for Kurdish women, for the Kurds and the Freedom Movement. I would like to thank the people of France for this and pay my respects. Our people really stood heroically and strongly together against these massacres. I would therefore like to congratulate and greet everyone.

The approach of some of France´s state institutions and the people working there has been appropriate. But some in the French state wanted to cover up the massacre. They are still trying to do that. In order for them not to succeed, both the people of France, our people and our international friends need to put a lot of pressure on them. Covering up the massacre is a great shame for France. France cannot get rid of this shame. It is a state of law, therefore it must obey the law. Just like in the case of the first massacre, it is very clear that the MİT carried out the second one as well. The MIT cannot carry out an assassination without Erdoğan’s approval. This is 100 percent clear. Everyone knows this. With regards to the first massacre, everything has been revealed. It is also clear who is behind the second one. Someone who had been released from prison 12 days before took a gun, targeted our friend Evîn at the Ahmet Kaya Kurdish Cultural Center and fired bullets at her until she was martyred. This is not a coincidence. On the day of the massacre, a meeting was to be held at the Ahmet Kaya Center. It is clear that the aim was to commit an even bigger massacre. That is why no one can cover up this massacre. My demand is for a committee to be formed for the massacres in Paris. The Kurdish people, their international friends and the people of France need to work together to ensure that this massacre will not be covered up, that the massacre will be brought to light and the truth will be revealed.