Duran Kalkan, a member of the KCK Executive Council, spoke about the recent decision to stop all attacks by the Kurdistan freedom guerrillas.

Kalkan said: "The center of the earthquake and the areas hit by it are the areas where the PKK was founded. It is a geography that the PKK knows very well. In other words, 70 percent of the people exposed to the earthquake are Kurds. They are the most patriotic segments of Kurdish society. We therefore feel a lot of pain. In light of all this, our movement decided that it was not right to continue the war in an environment where so much pain was experienced and instead took the decision to create a common opportunity, a possibility. As a consequence, our movement recently made a call on everyone. This was a humanitarian decision, a conscientious decision, a decision required by the democratic politics we pursue. Of course, this call has several targets and interlocutors. How well it was received and embraced is important. One interlocutor was the government [of Turkey]. We are at war with the current government and state system. Did the earthquake touch the conscience of AKP-MHP fascism like it touched ours? It did not. Yes, we have taken a unilateral decision not to carry out any attacks. Our forces will not carry out offensive actions unless there is an attack on them. But they continue to be attacked. The attacks have never stopped. You can follow this daily in the press. The HPG-BIM [press center of the People´s Defense Forces] publishes this daily. Therefore, we can see the following: The AKP-MHP government has not given the necessary response [to the call]. It has not stopped its attacks completely. Maybe it is doing less. This could also be because of the winter conditions, but the important thing is that it continues its attacks. Everyone needs to acknowledge this and follow these developments carefully. This is the attitude of the current AKP-MHP government. It has not given the necessary response."

Kalkan added: "Of course, we did not make this call only to the government. Our addressee is  society. Has there been enough response from all political circles, democratic political forces and other political forces in Turkey and the world? There were many reports in the international media. There were some positive evaluations, but was there anything that turned into politics? Have political circles shown the same sensitivity as the press? We cannot say that yet. They should be able to show this sensitivity. They should be more involved in the Kurdish problem. Other political circles, opposition circles were not very sensitive. Only the HDP and the Labor and Freedom Alliance reacted to a certain extent. But the CHP and other parties in the National Alliance could also have taken a stance. Instead of mobilizing the army to save citizens after the earthquake, the government mobilized it for the war. It keeps the soldiers on the battlefield. They could have criticized this. But this was weak. The Labor and Freedom Alliance and the HDP voiced these issues a little bit. This was not emphasized very strongly. However, this should have been emphasized. The government is the addressee, but not only the government, all political circles, social circles, trade unions, associations, women's and youth organizations, non-governmental organizations and parties are the addressees of our political decision. Everyone should be able to take a stand. They should take a stance and put pressure on the AKP-MHP government, which has ignored this decision."

Kalkan continued: "AKP-MHP fascism benefits from this to continue its attacks and broaden its monopoly. In this respect, we have so far not been able to see an effective stance of certain circles. We will continue our approach on the basis of our own understanding. As I mentioned, this decision was taken because of the effects of the earthquake. No one should misunderstand this or develop any different approaches. If they want to make better use of this, then all political circles need to reveal their attitude. Both from within Turkey and from abroad in terms of everyone who is interested in Turkish politics. If they don't, we are not the ones to blame. For now, we cannot say where this will lead. This is not a situation that only depends on us. In a sense, we have done what we could. All democratic circles, revolutionaries and popular forces have expressed their appreciation for this. The rest is up to the interlocutors. Their attitude will determine things. We will look at their attitude."