The Co-Presidency of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council released a statement about the devastating fire that broke out yesterday evening in a rural area between Mardin and Amed and resulted in casualties.

The KCK statement calling for solidarity with those affected includes the following:

“A massive fire, caused by a short in an electrical circuit in Merdin (tr. Mardin), has resulted in a major disaster after spreading to Amed (tr. Diyarbakir) too. It spread to tens of villages, has claimed the lives of many people, the exact number of whom remains still unknown. Dozens of people were also injured and are in serious condition. We are profoundly pained by the tragedy that our people are facing. First of all, we wish god’s mercy to the people who lost their lives and our condolences to their families and the people of Shemrekh (tr. Mazidagi) and Cinar. We also wish a speedy recovery to the wounded and hope that they regain their health and that our losses do not increase. For this, patriotic physicians, health professionals and democratic health institutions must mobilize and make an intensive effort to utilize all medical facilities.

Also democratic institutions have mobilized their means. This attitude of our people is a very patriotic and meaningful example of social solidarity that should be appreciated. We congratulate our people for this meaningful solidarity and express our greetings, respect and gratitude. Neither the state, nor the government is in any way concerned about the Kurdish people, their needs, their problems and their suffering. On the contrary, they are the cause of these disasters and sufferings. Our people must and will hold the state and the government to account for causing these disasters.

Our people have shown that they will heal their own wounds through solidarity. The fascist, massacring AKP-MHP government is in no condition to function for society. It has completely turned into an enemy of the people, an enemy of Kurds. Our people must naturally organize their own lives democratically. They must resolve their own problems with their organized will and become a power of solution by themselves. As seen in this example, the consciousness of solidarity and organized will of the society is very strong and has the power to solve all kinds of problems. Our people must do whatever needs to be done without waiting for anything from the state. In the hands of the Kurdish hostile AKP-MHP government, the state functions as an instrument to massacre Kurds. Its planes and helicopters are there to slaughter Kurds, not to extinguish fires killing the Kurds. Knowing this fact, we must further develop our attitude of solidarity, heal our wounds by sharing our means, and sustain our lives by organizing more.

Dicle Electricity Distribution Inc (DEDAS), the cause of this fire, is part of the Kurdish genocide policies. DEDAS is a massacring, plundering institution that functions as a tool of genocide. Like other genocidal structures, it works for the exploitation, plunder, and dehumanization of Kurdistan. It exploits the nature and resources of Kurdistan and turns these and the labor of the people into a means of profit. It uses the resources of Kurdistan for the exploitation of the people of Kurdistan. The fascist AKP-MHP government not only massacres the Kurdish people, it also massacres the nature of Kurdistan. It wants to complete the Kurdish genocide by plundering the geography of Kurdistan, slaughtering its nature, and making Kurdistan an uninhabitable place. All the destruction of nature in Kurdistan, including this fire disaster, is the result of this policy. This fire was definitely set deliberately. The aim is to destroy the nature of Kurdistan, to massacre the Kurdish people, to make them suffer losses, to make them flee and migrate. Knowing this fact, our people must protect their country, nature, culture, identity and dignity, develop their self-organization and self-defense, meet their needs, and solve their problems by themselves.

We strongly condemn the massacring, racist, fascist, genocidal, and colonialist AKP-MHP government and its structures, which once again inflicted suffering on our people through this fire. Our people must both struggle against this genocidal colonialist order, hold it to account, and continue to develop their solidarity even more. The situation is very serious. In addition to the loss of life and wounded, hundreds of our people’s houses, fields and gardens have been burned, their animals have perished and they have suffered great damage. Therefore, all the people of Kurdistan should be in solidarity with the people of Shemrekh and Cinar and support them by sharing their means.

We once again express our condolences to all our people, especially the people of Shemrekh and Cinar, and call on everyone to stand in solidarity with them.”