KCK Executive Council Co-Chair Cemil Bayık answered questions for a program on Medya Haber TV about the Yellow Vest protests in France and Erdoğan’s statement condemning police repression.

Cemil Bayık pointed out to the existence of democratic liberties and values ​​in France, despite the destruction brought about by capitalism in European societies and added: “The protests going on in Paris are no coincidence, because a great French revolution took place and influenced the world. What is happening is linked to the values ​​of democracy and freedom in history. In French society, this is strong. At the same time, they are the values ​​of the peoples of Europe, they are made of it. The action of the Yellow Vests is a bit like reclaiming this.”

Bayık added: “The problem which sparked the protest is not a 6-month problem. Macron and his government are implementing policies that mainly protect the rich but impoverish the whole of the society. If there were no laws to protect the rich, decisions would not have such a strong impact on society, they would not receive support and spread. These actions are in essence democratic actions. Which is why they have the support of the community.”

The KCK executive then underlined the hypocrisy of AKP General President and Turkish President Erdoğan. He pointed out how brutal the French police were and how democratic and humane they themselves were. Bayık continued: “This is the discourse of the fascists. Fascists never see what they do as ugly, on the contrary, they present themselves to the society as being the best. This is the character of fascism. Now, this is what Erdoğan does.”

Nothing new there, said Bayık. “He actually has been doing this since he came to power. I can easily say this; whatever Erdoğan says, the opposite is true. For instance, Erdoğan says that there is freedom of the press in Turkey. In the world there is no such a place with less freedom of the press as in Turkey. Jails are full of journalists. All opposition press has been closed down, all dissident voices have been silenced in the press and expelled from the press. The whole press has been turned into the voice of Erdoğan-Bahceli. That's the truth. Everyone sees this, everyone knows this.

Democracy has left Turkey. - added Bayık - Erdoğan says in Turkey there is democracy and law rule. No wonder, all the dictators and fascists in the world take Erdogan as their model.”

Turkish police acts are in front of everyone’s eyes on a daily basis. They execute savagery. The French police stand against protesters in the streets but Erdogan himself does not even stop raids and attacks on houses and party buildings. There are the Mothers of the disappeared people, the Saturday Mothers, the most valuable people in the world, reclaiming the values of humanity at any cost.nErdoğan doesn't even accept the Mothers’ gathering together. Can you show anything more violent than this? No matter how much Erdoğan shows himself as a democratic person, he is not. The Erdoğan-Bahceli reality is there for everyone to see. They can lie as much as they want, they can show things upside down as much as they want but they can no longer deceive anyone, they cannot cover the reality of fascism. For this reason, Erdoğan's discourses are of no value.”