KCK Executive Council co-chair Besê Hozat spoke about the attacks on the Kurdish language as well as the attacks on women by the Iranian regime. 

The first part of this interview can be read here, while the second can be read here. 

The Kurdish freedom struggle is not a cause that only concerns the Turkish state. It has spread through the region and has become an international reality. The Kurds have become a fundamental element of political balance in world politics, even in the conditions of the Third World War. No one can deny this reality anymore; no one can do politics by denying it. This is a fact.

There are a thousand and one forms of struggle. My friends have important evaluations and calls in this regard. In the face of these attacks on our language, our people should speak Kurdish everywhere. They should speak Kurdish at home, Kurdish on the street, Kurdish when shopping, and Kurdish at work. They should write in Kurdish. Kurdish writers, illustrators, and distinctions should base their work on Kurdish literature. The development of Kurdish literature is of great importance. This is the most meaningful response to such attacks. Kurdish culture, folklore, art, theater, and dengbej, all branches of Kurdish culture need to develop. Also, for example, in Kurdish cinema, high-quality Kurdish cinema and theater should develop as well. Art and culture must develop tremendously. This is the most meaningful answer to these special warfare methods that have been developed within their genocidal concept. They are trying to proceed with a cultural genocide and are therefore, for example, organizing festivals in many parts of Kurdistan. A serious struggle must be waged against them. If there are going to be festivals, Kurds should organize these festivals themselves. It is inevitable to wage a very strong struggle against such assimilation policies of cultural destruction.

At the same time, there is ecological destruction. There is a systematic policy of destruction of nature in Kurdistan. Forests are being set on fire everywhere. It’s almost as if there are no more valleys, hills and mountains where they haven’t opened mines. Everywhere, they are building mines, sand quarries, dams, and hydroelectric power plants. There is a massacre of nature, a genocide of nature, and an ecocide. This is being developed consciously in Kurdistan as part of and continuation of their genocide policy. Of course, there is plunder and ecocide in Turkey too. But in Kurdistan, they are systematically carrying it out as a part and continuation of the genocide policy. They want to dehumanize and depopulate Kurdistan. If possible, they want to turn the country into a desert. As our people say, the government is hostile to animals, plants, water, and soil. All hell must break loose against this. This is the most natural and legitimate defense. Our people are on their feet everywhere against this ecocide, against this cultural genocide. After all, the two are interrelated. A culture develops based on the geography in which it resides. Can there be a culture that is detached from its environment? In this respect, all hell must break loose. For example, now the enemy especially focuses on Shirnek and Colemerg (tr. Hakkari). It wants to completely de-Kurdify that region. It wants to turn it into a military outpost and a source of energy. It is destroying its mountains and every part of the region with mines and oil wells. The people of Shirnek, Colemerg, and Botan should raise hell. Regardless of age, people should be in serhildan everywhere. There are the examples of a mine project in Colemerg and similar developments that are taking place in Pasur (tr. Kulp). There is social resistance against the mines in Pasur, but it is still insufficient. It is the same in Dersim (tr. Tunceli). They are building a lot of dams on the Munzur River and many mines on Munzur Mountain, mines where they search for gold by using cyanide. Munzur is what makes Dersim. If there is no Munzur anymore, then there will be no people of Dersim anymore. All hell must break loose. This is the most insidious form of genocide and one of its most serious forms because it is directed against culture and ecology. There needs to be a strong resistance against this.

The Iranian state recently sentenced the journalist Pakhshan Azizi and the women’s rights activist Sharifeh Mohammadi to death. There were also other death sentences recently in Iran. How should this be assessed?

This policy of execution is the most brutal practice of our time after isolation. Iran has been practicing this for years. The decisions it has taken recently are decisions against Kurds, journalists, and political activists. I strongly condemn this approach. This practice in Iran does not benefit neither Iranian society nor the Iranian state. It causes and creates decay in society. I mean, gradually, for example, some people watch it as if it is normal. This is a very brutal practice and needs to stop. Such practices create a strong reflex in society. We saw this in the “Jin Jiyan Azadi” uprising. There is a tremendous social reflex. Iranian women and Iranian society want freedom, democracy, and equality. They want to put an end to such practices and these execution. They want the laws to be changed and abolished. Iran needs to change, and the state and government need to democratize. Just recently, elections took place, and a more liberal, reformist candidate was elected. The public, Iranian society, and even the Kurds have developed an optimistic approach and expectation. Some steps can be taken, and some democratic and reformist developments can take place. The people are watching to see what kind of changes will take place. Of course, one of the most fundamental things that needs to change is the abolition of the death penalty. Pakhshan Azizi’s stance is extremely valuable and honorable, as is the stance of Sharifeh Mohammadi. They put forward an honorable resistance. Again, Werishe Muradi did not appear in court in response to the death penalty. She boycotted the court in protest. That stance is also extremely important, but there needs to be much stronger support from society. Iran must put an end to such practices. It cannot achieve anything with these oppressive policies. The reflexes of society are intensifying. This regime needs to see and appeal to the demands of the people, particularly the demands of women, for freedom and democracy. Otherwise, it will face much more severe processes. That is what all developments and trends are pointing to.