KCK Executive Council Co-Chair Besê Hozat evaluated the behind-the-scenes of the invasion attacks carried out by Turkey on South Kurdistan, the AKP-KDP partnership, the wealth of the Barzani family and the course of the war, for the newspaper Yeni Özgür Politika.

The KDP and the Barzani family claim to act on behalf of the government of South Kurdistan while at the same time intensifying their relations with Ankara. The media recently reported in detail about existing gas and oil agreements and the KDP's trade relations. What kind of deals are being agreed upon here in the background?

Before answering your question, I would like to pay tribute to all the important revolutionary May-Şehits [martyrs]. Mehmet Karasungur and Ibrahim Bilgin fell on May 2, Deniz Gezmiş, Yusuf Aslan and Hüseyin İnan fell on May 6, and Haki Karer, `the Four` and İbrahim Kaypakkaya fell on May 18. They were all very important leaders of the revolutionary movement in Kurdistan and Turkey. I would like to commemorate these important revolutionaries and at the same time remember with respect, love and gratitude all the Şehits of the revolution and the struggle for freedom. They live on today in the form of our ongoing struggle.

May 6 is also the day when an assassination attempt was made against Önder Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] in 1996. This plot continues to this day in the form of the isolation [of Abdullah Öcalan on the Turkish prison island of Imrali] and the genocidal attacks. I would like to therefore condemn here in the strongest terms all the forces behind this plot.

At the same time, May 4 marked the 85th anniversary of the Dersim Genocide of 1938. I commemorate here Seyit Rıza and Besê, Alişêr and Zarife and Nuri Dersimi with respect and gratitude, and would like to remember all the people who resisted against the Dersim Genocide with dignity at that time and lost their lives in the process. The genocidal and colonialist Turkish state will be held accountable for its actions sooner or later. Because this genocidal policy still continues. Even today, attempts continue to bring the genocide to an end. The genocidal colonialism is currently trying to complete the genocide that has been going on for one hundred years in the course of the recently started occupation attacks on [the South Kurdish region of] Zap. However, the resistance of the guerrilla forces and the people will prevent this from happening and will usher in a phase in which the Turkish state will have to answer for the genocidal policy it has been pursuing for one hundred years.

To return to your initial question: It is an open secret today that the KDP [Kurdistan Democratic Party] has concluded very comprehensive agreements with Turkey. It can be clearly seen that these two forces are jointly planning to transfer South Kurdish oil and gas to Europe via Turkey and this is supported by the U.S. and Europe itself. A gas crisis is currently occurring in the wake of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Assessing the plans of the KDP and Turkey as part of these developments and as an attempt to mitigate the current gas crisis does not fully reveal the full scope of this issue. Because the KDP has been selling South Kurdistan's oil and gas to Turkey for years. The KDP itself has stated that it has concluded an agreement with Turkey in this regard that is valid for 50 years. This agreement also represents an important reason for the KDP's problems with Iraq and the PUK [Patriotic Union of Kurdistan].

With the help of this agreement, Turkey seeks to extend its political and military control in the region to Mosul and Kirkuk, thereby realizing its century-old dream of enforcing the Misak-ı Milli [national pact; awards Turkey large parts of Rojava/North Syria and South Kurdistan/North Iraq] borders. By occupying all of South Kurdistan and Rojava, the Turkish state ultimately wants to annex these areas completely as soon as the political conjuncture permits. This is definitely the strategic goal that Turkey wants to achieve through its occupation attacks. So it wants to enforce the borders set in the Misak-ı Milli. Because it perceives the PKK as a major obstacle to the realization of this goal, the Turkish state considers the destruction of the PKK as a matter of being or not being. This is because the PKK stands like an insurmountable wall in the way of the genocidal, occupation and annexation policies of the genocidal and colonialist Turkish state.

The KDP supports Turkey's plan to enforce the Misak-ı Milli borders. It has apparently reached an agreement with the Turkish state to make South Kurdistan a province of Turkey as part of this plan. This secret agreement can also explain why the KDP actively supports the Turkish occupation of South Kurdistan and Rojava and is trying hard to give it legitimacy. Turkey intends to occupy South Kurdistan, later annexing it completely and thus turning it into a province subordinate to Turkey. This plan also includes then appointing a representative of the Barzani family as provincial governor. It seems like the KDP and the Turkish state have agreed on this joint plan.

With the help of the KDP, Turkey has already occupied a significant part of South Kurdistan. It has tripled the number of its military bases in recent years. From these military bases, the Turkish army regularly conducts operations in Southern Kurdistan. The KDP provides the Turkish state with the opportunity to carry out attacks from South Kurdish soil. From [the South Kurdish city of] Şeladizê, the occupying army advances against [the area of] Kurojahro, while Turkish military helicopters leave for their missions from Turkish bases in South Kurdistan. The KDP provides extensive intelligence and logistical support to the occupying army while guaranteeing its security, providing housing for Turkish soldiers, and providing supply routes. In this way, the KDP is directly participating in this war. It has also been recently reported that Turkish soldiers in Peshmerga uniforms have conducted operations in some critical locations. So it is clear that the KDP is actively involved in the plan to crush the PKK.

Mesrur Barzani recently visited England and held talks there. In the course of these talks, he spoke of the possibility of turning Iraq into a confederation and undertook an initiative to that effect. The Barzani family has repeatedly been accused of wanting to destroy the Kurdistan Freedom Movement and give up the independence of South Kurdistan. Against this background, how do you assess this latest initiative?

It is remarkable that Mesrur Barzani traveled to England for talks immediately after his meeting with Erdoğan. This clearly shows that he concluded certain agreements with Erdoğan and now wants to gain the support of England and Europe for this. At the same time, this also highlights England's role in this war. Mesrur's statement that Iraq can be shaped into a confederation must be seen as an attempt to conceal the KDP's dirty deals with the Turkish state and its direct involvement in Turkey's genocidal attacks.

The KDP is actively participating in the Turkish state's occupation attacks. Mesrur Barzani recently held talks with Erdoğan to plan these attacks together. This is a fact. At the same time, Mesrur is trying to disguise this truth and create a different impression by talking about Iraq being able to be divided into different states and organized as a federation. His aim is to cover up the KDP's dirty deals with the Turkish state and to deceive the Kurds. We must also understand his recent statements as an attempt to completely split off South Kurdistan from Iraq and officially make it a province of Turkey.

So the KDP is working together with the Turkish state to turn South Kurdistan into a Turkish province. When Mesrur Barzani speaks of a confederation, he means that Iraq will be divided into small states, these will take on a new political form in the form of a confederation, and the small South Kurdish state will be annexed to Turkey. Barzani is not thinking of South Kurdistan remaining a part of Iraq. Rather, he is expressing his vision of a South Kurdistan that is completely split off from Iraq and made a part of Turkey. Current developments are aimed precisely at this. Already in its current state, South Kurdistan resembles a province of Turkey. Turkey now has very extensive control in South Kurdistan in political, economic, cultural and military matters.

The KDP does not pursue any goals in the interests of the Kurdish people. The KDP's only goal is to sell all of Kurdistan's resources to the genocidal and colonialist Turkish state in order to further increase its already existing wealth. This has now reached such proportions that the Barzani family can compete with the richest in the world because of all its possessions in the USA, Europe, Turkey and the Gulf States.

It has been repeatedly reported recently that the KDP has stationed sometimes smaller, sometimes larger contingents of its own troops in many places in the Medya Defense Zones. KDP forces have also reportedly attempted to advance into the Kurojahro and Metîna areas on several occasions. As the KCK, you have repeatedly called on them to refrain from such undertakings. Against this background, how do you assess these attempts by the KDP?

Wherever the Turkish state itself does not succeed in advancing, the KDP stations its own special forces, i.e., the Zêrevan units, Gulan units and the Roj gangs. It surrounds the guerrilla areas, blocks the guerrillas' way, and provides intelligence to the Turkish state, which it uses to attack guerrilla units. The mountain tops are held by the occupying army, while the KDP tries to control and hold the slopes, valleys and roads. Through its joint attacks with the Turkish army on the guerrilla forces, the KDP is making itself the mainstay of the occupation of South Kurdistan. Since the KDP is directly involved in this war, it is quite natural that it does not respond positively to our numerous calls. Today, it is a part of the plan to crush the PKK. So it is a fact that the KDP plays an active role in the occupation attacks on Kurdistan.

The decisive reason for the occupation is the genocidal policy supported by the collaborators and traitors. The collaboration and the betrayal of the KDP in South Kurdistan hinder and endanger national unity. The KDP continuously tries to prevent the democratization of South Kurdistan and thwarts all efforts in this regard. It imitates Turkey's ruling class, spreads Turkish culture - an indispensable part of its oppressive and tyrannical rule - in South Kurdistan and thus transforms Kurdistan into an area where the Turkish nation can spread. This anti-democratic attitude of the KDP prevents the PUK, Goran and the other South Kurdish parties from taking steps towards the democratization of South Kurdistan. The KDP forces all these parties to follow its anti-democratic policies. It is one of the greatest weaknesses of these parties that they are not able to defend democratic values against the pressure of the KDP and to help democratic politics to break through. If the PUK and all opposition parties were to wage a determined struggle for democracy, the collaborationist policies of the KDP would have no influence. Then neither South Kurdistan would be occupied by the Turkish state, nor would the South Kurdish society have to suffer from the lack of freedom, democracy, justice and from poverty.

While the Turkish state and the KDP are making common cause regarding the occupation of South Kurdistan, the PUK and other South Kurdish forces have issued statements against the occupation. How does the KCK view the previous statements of the South Kurdish forces regarding the struggle against the occupation?

The people of South Kurdistan are angry about the occupation attacks of the Turkish state, which are taking place with the active participation of the KDP. The anger of the population is enormous. This also applies to the people's anger towards the KDP, which plays an active role in this genocidal war through its collaboration and betrayal. In addition to the people of South Kurdistan, numerous parties, politicians, artists, intellectuals and civil society institutions have protested against the occupation. Led by a left-wing coalition, a protest also took place in Hewlêr [Erbil]. The people of Suleymaniye, Raperin, Çemçemal and Xaneqîn clearly expressed their anger at the occupation and collaboration in the streets. In addition to the PUK, Goran and Tevgera Azadî, numerous South Kurdish parties have publicly condemned the occupation and collaboration. All of this is very significant.

Undoubtedly, the occupation will not be prevented by protest actions and declarations. Our people, who are filled with a great anger against the occupation and collaboration, must stand up against the occupation everywhere. The political parties, institutions and initiatives must take a leadership role in this for the people. If every party that is against the occupation and collaboration makes the social circles it addresses move and stand up, all our South Kurdish people - young and old - will become active. Then all those who have not yet been able to express their protest against the tyranny and oppression of the KDP will also join the resistance. The PUK, Goran, the communist party, the `Zahmetkeşan` party and the Islamic parties must live up to this historical responsibility. Each party has influence on an important part of the people. Therefore, they must take a clear stance for the freedom of the Kurdish people against the genocidal and colonialist Turkish state and the collaborating KDP and thereby lead the people`s resistance. All of them face this historical responsibility today.

The KDP has established a dictatorial regime in South Kurdistan. Numerous journalists from the Behdinan region are still in prison. Many of them are also on hunger strike. The population of South Kurdistan suffers from poverty and corruption. Due to the war resulting from the suppression and collaboration of the KDP with Turkey, many people are now also unable to go to their villages. How do you assess the current situation in South Kurdistan?

Without the collaboration and betrayal of the KDP, the genocidal and colonialist Turkish state could not carry out occupation attacks against South Kurdistan. Thus, the current attacks are taking place at the demand and with the participation of the KDP. The KDP participates in these genocidal and occupation attacks out of its own will. Hundreds of villages have already been depopulated because of these attacks. The people there lived in almost paradisiacal conditions. Now they have to abandon their villages to the occupiers and are forced to live a miserable life. The KDP has abandoned all rural areas of Kurdistan to the fascist genocidal Turkish state. It has destroyed the rural areas, plundered the nature in the region, allowed the clearing of forests and the poisoning of all the living beings there with chemical weapons. With the approval of the KDP and based on the intelligence it provides, dozens of airstrikes are carried out every day. Through these attacks, the mountains, rocks, trees, plains and waters of our paradisiacal land of Kurdistan are being turned into a desert. The KDP is responsible for this destruction of Kurdistan. Through its collaboration and betrayal, it is allowing the genocidal fascist Turkish state - the enemy of the Kurds - to attack the Kurdish people and their nature. For its own family kingdom, the KDP is destroying the free future of the Kurds.

The KDP has signed an oil and gas agreement with the Turkish state that is valid for 50 years. It sells the gas and oil of South Kurdistan to Turkey in order to use the money to buy property in Turkey, the USA and many other countries for billions of dollars. The KDP has stored enormous wealth on its accounts at the biggest banks in the world. At the same time, the population is in great need. Agriculture has collapsed and production has been destroyed. Civil servants have not been paid for years. Even the students live in poverty. Unemployment, poverty and hunger have reached enormous proportions. Violence against women has reached alarming levels. The population of South Kurdistan has been put in the miserable position of having to live off Turkey's waste products. South Kurdistan has been turned into a market for cheap Turkish products, that is, into Turkey's garbage dump. While people cannot bring food home, teachers have not been paid for years and youth are leaving South Kurdistan because of their hopelessness, the KDP elite is busy filling their own pockets and buying pompous palaces.

Many intellectuals, politicians and journalists who informed society about these facts are now in prison. In order to hide the dirty truth from the people, the KDP is silencing all opposition voices. Just like AKP-MHP fascism in Turkey throws all critics in prison. And all those whom the KDP considers a serious threat are simply put out of the way.

Another remarkable development is the Iranian missile attacks on Hewlêr [Erbil]. Why does Iran attack the city? In March, missiles were fired at Hewlêr from Tabriz. Shortly after, this attack was described in the Iranian press as a message to Turkey. What is your assessment of this issue?

Turkey is pursuing a neo-Ottoman policy in the Middle East and is trying to increase its influence in the historical area of the Ottoman Empire. In this context, it has made it a basic strategy to enforce the Misak-ı Milli borders and thus bring Mosul and Kirkuk under its control. With the help of KDP's support and collaboration, Turkey aims to achieve these goals. Of course, this strategy and policy of Turkey causes discomfort on the part of Iran, as it is itself involved in the struggle for hegemony over the Middle East. This is because, historically, Iran and Turkey have long been in a struggle for regional hegemony. The NATO member Turkey is trying to expand in the region with the help of the collaborating KDP. Against the background of its own interests, Iran, of course, cannot consider this acceptable. 

It seems that Iran is also dissatisfied with the KDP's policy in Baghdad and considers this policy harmful to its own interests. For years, the KDP, with the help of the U.S. and Turkey, has pursued a policy of dividing the Shiites in Iraq. By dividing them, the KDP is trying to position them against Iran. Parallel to this policy in Baghdad, the KDP is making the U.S. and Turkey the dominant forces in South Kurdistan. It is common knowledge that the U.S., at the urging of the KDP, has deployed its forces that it withdrew from Iraq in South Kurdistan. The U.S. has enormously increased its military presence in South Kurdistan. In the same way, the KDP has turned the fascist Turkish state - a NATO member - into an influential force in South Kurdistan. Currently, Turkey has almost 50 military stations in South Kurdistan. These are also NATO military stations. The MIT [Turkish intelligence], CIA and MOSSAD are active everywhere and cooperate with the Parastin [KDP intelligence]. It may well be that Iran sees all these developments as detrimental to itself. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the missile attacks on Hewlêr are directly related to these developments.

It is obvious that Iran considers it a threat to its interests that the U.S., Turkey and Israel are gaining more and more influence in Iraq with the help of the KDP. It is a fact that the U.S. strongly prefers it for its own interests and for Israel's security if Iran is weakened, Iran's Islamic regime is replaced and Iran is integrated into the system of international capital. We all know that the U.S. has been pursuing a political and economic embargo against Iran for years in order to achieve the previously mentioned goals. The assassination of Kasim Suleymani in Baghdad was a clear message to show what the U.S. and Israel can do to Iran. In this context, the missile attacks on Hewlêr can be understood as a message from Iran to the U.S., Israel, Turkey and the KDP.