Duran Kalkan, a member of the KCK Executive Council, spoke about the social and political consequences of the earthquake in North Kurdistan/South-East Turkey.

Kalkan said: "This is a real catastrophe for society. Whatever the reason, this has very heavy consequences. On the first day, our movement made a statement. It not only shared the pain of our people but also called for an attitude towards this tragedy and suggested how to fight against it. A mobilization on this basis has since taken place. On this basis, I would like to wish mercy to those who lost their lives and healing to the wounded. I share the pain of our peoples in Kurdistan, Turkey and Syria. I wish resilience to our people who have suffered from the earthquake. I would like to express that solidarity and sharing will keep us alive. Although we do not have detailed information, as far as we are able to follow the press, the consequences are really heavy. We also know the region. We are also children of those lands. We were born and raised there. We know large parts of it directly. The severe winter conditions have made the situation even worse. In the middle of the winter, such a tragedy happened. And the affected area is huge. About 20 million people live there."

Kalkan added: "A certain degree of solidarity has since been shown in our society. I would like to thank everyone who has shown solidarity. Solidarity has also come from abroad. But the Turkish state was always taken as the basis [for the solidarity efforts]. Yet, the Kurdish policy of this state is known. The AKP-MHP's approach to the Kurds is also known. Some circles could have tried to directly help the local community. As a matter of fact, there have been people who have openly said that there is discrimination against Kurds, Alevis and revolutionary democratic leftist circles. The AKP-MHP administration has used this earthquake to implement a total fascist attack, extermination and a terror administration. This is based on an attitude that tries to prevent social solidarity. Therefore, many circles could have taken this into consideration. I would like to once again express my deepest condolences to all our people. We will indeed turn this pain into consciousness, organization, solidarity and on this basis, into a democratic struggle and liberation."

Kalkan continued: "Scientists are now discussing a lot about the causes. Of course, as a force waging a political struggle, we also have a number of things to say about the issues that concern political questions. This area is an earthquake zone. It is located on a fault line. Although everybody knew about the fault line, so much destruction has taken place because none of those buildings had a license. They turned a blind eye to everything for the sake of profit. TV channels now show Tayyip Erdoğan's speeches from the past where he talks about how they solved the problems of Hatay, Malatya or Adıyaman. Now the earthquake has shown that all this was a lie. Nothing had been solved there. In other words, a lot of profit was made there. The earthquake is a natural disaster. Nature has its own laws. But not taking any earthquake precautions and not living accordingly has led to this disaster, to so many dead and injured people. Yes, we cannot prevent earthquakes. But the earthquake could have been expected and measures could have been taken to minimize the number of casualties. A life suitable for earthquakes could have been built. Now we can prevent and change all this."

Kalkan said: "This profit-seeking system, this exploitative system, this system that is desperate and destroys nature, does not minimize the damage that such an earthquake can cause, but maximizes it. We have seen this in the wake of the latest earthquake. What happened on the line stretching from Adıyaman to Maraş, Malatya, Diyarbakır, Antep, Hatay, Osmaniye and Adana has shown this clearly. Is there any settlement suitable for such an earthquake zone in the area? So it is not the earthquake that is to blame, but those who did not build their lives according to the earthquake. Of course, there is also a system that organizes life in this way. The system of state and power. And societies give way to state and power. They shouldn't. They should hold them responsible. The state is a force of profit, a force of exploitation. It thinks of nothing else. Now some are asking where the state is? In the aftermath of the earthquake, the capital factions are rubbing their hands, talking about how much they will build. Because they think that new possibilities of profit have emerged for them. Instead of saying where the state is, we should ask where is our control over our own lives? What is the Turkish power and state system like? What is its approach towards the Kurds? What is life like that is being built? Now, while we are trying to overcome the painful and heavy consequences of the earthquake, we must also take these realities into account, correct them and build the future correctly. Will we be able to overcome these consequences not by complaining, crying and whining, but by really thinking and pondering on the causes and consequences? That is, by analyzing the consequences well and finding the causes of them? Will we be able to eliminate the causes and make sure that something like this will not occur again? This is the important issue."

Kalkan ended his remarks by saying: "It seems that they will increase the violence and oppression even more. In other words, they will make huge profits by building many new buildings. They will create many areas of exploitation. For this to happen, they will continue the political pressure, military pressure and terror. They have declared a state of emergency for three months and took up postponing the elections based on this. They cheat, use repression and the state of emergency to then claim that they have won the elections. Can there be an election in this environment, under the state of emergency? It is very clear that there won´t be any elections. We have always said that the AKP has not yet decided on the elections. Now it is trying to use the earthquake as an excuse to prevent them. They might very well increase the pressure, terror and impose war as a part of this policy. Tayyip Erdoğan, with the guidance of Devlet Bahçeli, will thus aggravate his own guilt. He will try to turn the earthquake into a blessing for himself and extend his stay in power. This must not be allowed to happen. The results of the earthquake have revealed the reality of AKP-MHP fascism. No one can make anyone believe otherwise. Neither in Turkey itself nor abroad. Some put on a smiling face in order to gain profit, to get a share from the exploitation, but nobody should assume that they like Tayyip Erdoğan very much and that they will always support him. The AKP's profit-seeking policies and settlement policies are responsible for this outcome. For 20 years it has built these kinds of buildings and the latest developments are a result of this. The AKP-MHP government is responsible and will be held accountable. In that sense, no matter what it does, it cannot save itself. The earthquake will destroy this government even more severely. If it is wise and reduces violence, maybe it will find a place for itself. If not, it may lead to a situation that will have much more severe consequences for them. Let us state this as a warning.

The situation of the other political forces is important. Of course, they should be more active in this context. They are partly, but they should be even more active. They are a government themselves, they have come together with every party. Alliances have been formed. These alliances should play a role. They have the power to govern. They should be able to develop better work to reduce the effects of the earthquake. But this has not been seen so far. It is very weak. The Alliance for Labor and Freedom has made certain efforts. They have realized the seriousness of the situation. This is good. But their efforts are being obstructed. Neither the opposition, nor the Alliance for Labor and Freedom or various associations, institutions, charity organizations should adhere to the obstruction of AKP-MHP fascism. The attitude of associations, civil society organizations, parties and various social groups is important, the attitude of society as a whole is important. In the face of such a situation, always expecting something from the state, always complaining and demanding, will not allow them to achieve anything. On the contrary, all these institutions, associations, non-governmental organizations, trade unions and parties should approach society without any obstacles. They should share the pain of society and heal its wounds. There must be a complete mobilization, a process of solidarity. The organization of society must increase.

The great importance of social solidarity and sharing has once more become clear. It has become clear how important it is to be a democratic society, to be a democratic nation, to develop a system of Democratic Confederalism instead of a state. In this sense, let us draw rich lessons from these developments. Let us educate ourselves. It is clear that there is a lack of education. We are also responsible for this. Everyone is responsible. Society must have the right consciousness. Those who have accumulated so much in the cities can go to the villages. To the villages, not to the places where the AKP-MHP wants people to go. The people living in their village communities should definitely not leave their homes. Some families have said that they will not leave their land. This is very true, they should not. They can build a life in which disasters like earthquakes will not kill them. They can build community life in a better way based on solidarity. In other words, all those polished things of capitalism are not life. We should not seek these kinds of things. Our society must be resilient. We therefore call on all revolutionary democratic forces and democratic political circles to take the lead in this matter, to raise awareness in society, and to make a strong effort to heal the wounds of society without adhering to any of the obstacles or bans put in place by the AKP-MHP. Once again, I would like to express that we share the pain of our people. But I think that if we approach the issue at hand in this way, we will overcome the pain faster."