The Turkish state has deployed a large military force in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) and continues to do so. Erdoğan has repeatedly announced that they will step up their operations this summer. There is already widespread military mobilisation in northern Kurdistan, with reports of clashes in many regions. Attacks on Rojava are also continuing in various forms. Rojava is threatened on the pretext of the planned local elections. The Turkish state keeps vowing that they will take the whole of Rojava under their control at a depth of 30 kilometres. In short, all of Kurdistan is under open attack and the war has spread.

Erdoğan and Bahceli have spent all of Turkey's resources on this war and occupation. The economy is in a very bad state. The purchasing power of the population is gradually falling. The CHP wants an increase in the minimum wage and pensions. It is making statements and organising rallies for this. But the area where economic resources are being channelled, apart from corruption and looting, is the war against the Kurds. This war is poisoning the democratic atmosphere in Turkey. It is also leading to the introduction of a double legal standard in the country. There is no trusteeship system in the West, but there is in the Kurdish regions. Almost all municipalities governed by pro-Kurdish parties have been confiscated in the past two election periods. Now these usurpations are continuing.

The AKP and MHP do not want to discuss Turkey's real problems. The Kurdish question has not just been a problem since today. It is a historical issue and affects all population groups in Turkey. If there is a war, democracy is put on ice and the law will is undermined. Racist and nationalist propaganda increases and people's minds are clouded. The political atmosphere becomes tense and opposition is suppressed. In short, it is the Kurds, the poor and the labourers who are paying the bill for the war. The children of those in power are not going to war. They are not destitute and threatened by unemployment. They ride the crest of the country.

According to media reports, new troops have been deployed to southern Kurdistan. There is talk of more than ten thousand new soldiers and hundreds of tanks. The troop reinforcements continue. There are increased air attacks on the areas of resistance. Attacks on combat positions with chemical and banned weapons have increased sharply. The KDP media report on many topics. However, they ignore these attacks and the expansion of the occupation, which will determine the fate of southern Kurdistan. The Kurdish intellectuals and parties have somehow accepted the situation as a given. There is no serious reaction or discussion. The KDP is jeopardising the whole of Kurdistan for its own interests and power calculations. Allegedly, the Turkish state will expel the PKK and the guerrillas from the South and leave the region to the KDP. Anyone who believes this still does not know the Turkish state. Only the guerrillas are still showing the courage to resist and fight against the Turkish army. The KDP will not have the strength and the will to eliminate Turkey after the guerrillas have been eliminated. That is not possible. All the achievements of the South will be destroyed.

The Turkish state even declares war on Rojava over local elections. Inside Turkey, it usurps Kurdish municipalities that were won according to its own laws. Why should it leave South Kurdistan and withdraw when it has already invaded some areas and settled there? Will it recognise the Kurds and Kurdistan for the sake of the KDP? Are there any Kurds who are that naive? No. Therefore, the people, intellectuals and parties in Kurdistan must discuss the KDP’s actions without further delay and determine a stand.

The democratic forces in Turkey and the CHP cannot pretend that the problem does not exist. The CHP is trying to make the debate on minimum wages and pension increase its agenda. But it remains silent on the Kurdish question and the war, the country's biggest and most important problem. Fascism cannot be pushed back and democratisation cannot be developed by looking away, remaining silent and evading. If the CHP and other opposition forces are concerned about democracy and economic recovery, they should first stand against the war and occupation. What is the cost of this war to the economy? Does anyone know, talk about it or ask about it? No. Calculations are made about a burden on the economy through currency-hedged deposits, but the cost of the war is not even mentioned. Erdoğan and Bahçeli want to castrate the opposition, so to speak, and make it "domestic and national". They are trying to soften up the opposition and bring it into their line in order to gain time and remain in power. CHP leader Özgür Özel says that early elections are imminent. But if the war escalates and Erdoğan declares mobilisation, there will be no elections. If Turkey is to become democratic, all forces that are not in favour of war and fascism must take a stand and move.

Source: Yeni Özgür Politika