The Executive Council Co-Presidency of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) made a written statement regarding the arrest of DTK Co-chair Leyla Güven who was sentenced to over 22 years in prison because of her political activities.

Full text of the KCK statement reads as follows:

“Parliamentarians, mayors, hundreds of HDP administrators and thousands of democratic politicians are in prison. The hostility towards the democratic forces and the Kurdish people is expressed in the imprisonment of these people. So many politicians would be imprisoned only during coups and under fascist regimes. It is the first time in Turkey's history that so many politically active people have been thrown into the dungeons. Turkey has broken every record in the ratio of the number of political prisoners to the total population. This also reveals the fascist and genocidal nature of the current Turkish regime.

"Talk of reforms is intended to deceive the public"

Talk of reforms is intended to deceive society and the world public, while at the same time arrests for political reasons are on the rise. The imprisonment of Leyla Güven, former HDP deputy and co-chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), has once again shown the reality of fascism in all clarity. Of course, they will try again now to cover up the fascist repression. They will say that they have carried out a judicial reform in which five prisoners out of a hundred have been released. Turkey is the world leader in injustice. The regime fears that this injustice will come to a bad end. Therefore, every now and then, talk of reform is circulated.

“Leyla Güven was arrested for insisting on democratic politics”

The AKP government is waging a special war against everyone. It is giving society the dubious choice of either giving it legitimacy or putting up with even more repression. The repression against the HDP, against democratic politicians, is being expanded in order to force them to give up. Since they do not accept this, the pressure and arrests increase.

Leyla Güven was imprisoned because of her free spirit and her persistence in democratic political work. Anyone who opposes the anti-democratic and anti-Kurdish policies of the AKP is targeted by the government. Leyla Güven is wanted to be punished because of the hunger strike she initiated in 2018 and for her determination. It is a matter of revenge. Already when she was released from prison, arrangements were made to imprison her again at the appropriate time. The revocation of her parliamentary mandate was done precisely for this reason. Even though there is some time in between, the decision to arrest her was already made at that time. The arrest of Leyla Güven because of her attachment to Abdullah Öcalan and her commitment to his freedom represents a threat to Kurdish women and society who feel equally attached to their representative.

The norms of the Turkish judiciary do not meet social or international standards. People are arrested and sentenced according to Tayyip Erdoğan's desire for revenge and Devlet Bahçeli's wish. It is known how Selahattin Demirtaş and Osman Kavala are kept in dungeon. When the European Court of Human Rights demanded the release of Selahattin Dermirtaş, Erdoğan openly said, ‘we oppose this, we keep him in prison’. This is the history of political imprisonment in Turkey. Erdoğan has thus openly admitted that no universal rights, no constitution and no laws apply to him.

The Turkish government has signaled the following to Leyla Güven: If she continues to oppose the isolation on Imrali and stands up for Öcalan, the same will happen to her as to Öcalan himself. In this regard, all democratic forces, especially women and the Kurdish people, must stand up for Leyla Güven. They must adopt her fighting spirit and smash the isolation on Imrali. The political annihilation policy cannot be stopped without fighting the isolation on Imrali. Leyla Güven's arrest must become an occasion to expand the struggle against isolation.

The struggle against fascism and isolation must be expanded

Without breaking the fascism in Turkey and the isolation, neither the freedom of the Kurdish people nor the freedom of the prisoners can be achieved. Now is the time to expand the struggle in all areas. It is about establishing freedom and democracy throughout Turkey. The democratization of Turkey and the solution to the Kurdish question lies in the crushing of AKP/MHP fascism. Without an overthrow of this government, no problem in Turkey can be solved. Even the slightest expectation of reform is self-deception. Therefore, we once again call on all democratic forces in Turkey, the youth and women, and especially the Kurdish people to expand resistance and put an end to fascism and isolation."