PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) Central Committee Member, Kasım Engin, talked to ANF about the Turkish state's occupation of Bashûrê (Southern) Kurdistan and the resistance of the guerrillas against the fascist Turkish army.

Engin said that the Union and Progress Committee, a continuation of the Ottoman Empire, a hundred years ago, built its existence on the destruction of the people who lived in this land. Engin, drawing attention to the massacre of one and a half million Armenians in 1915, reminded that Syriac people were also massacred.

“In fact, fascism and genocide are a culture of the Union and Progress (İttihat Terakki) Committee. Maybe it is a culture that they have transferred to the world. The German fascist Hitler killed 6 million Jews. Hitler based its genocide against Jews on the Union and Progress. Hitler not only took example from the Union and Progress but also called Atatürk 'my teacher'. The fascism that developed in these lands has actually been a model for the world”.

Turkey wants to play with the demography of Kurdistan

Engin noted that it is not hard to make sense of the occupation campaign initiated in Bashûrê Kurdistan today, and that in the last two or three years the practice of black, green and green fascism can be easily seen and that it is necessary to look at Sur, Cizre, Nusaybin and Afrin to understand it.

Engin said: “The people slaughtered in Sur and Cizre were covered with fuel to be destroyed. They attack the Kurdish geography by emptying those places and play with demography. Attacks were also carried out against the referendum in Bashûrê Kurdistan in 2017.Turkish fascism is actually the main actor behind the scenes in Iraq as well”.

Recalling that the Turkish fascism defines itself as Ottomanism and that it aims at regaining the Ottoman occupied territory, Engin said: “Although it seems to be a very big target, its main target is to return to the old borders of the Ottoman Empire. The AKP-MHP fascism does not mention Mosul, Batum, Thessaloniki and Kirkuk in vain”.

Turkey aims at invading all Kurdistan

Engin said that the aim of the invasion attacks carried out since last winter against Bashûrê Kurdistan is to actually get rid of the achievements made in Bashur.

He underlined that under attack in fact is not just Bradost, or the guerrillas, but the entire Bashûrê Kurdistan.

Engin said that the people of Kurdistan should be prepared against the occupation attacks, especially the people of South Kurdistan. He noted that fascism does not only concern a military control of Bashûrê Kurdistan but also a political, social and society control.

Reminding that HPG and YJA-STAR guerrillas are an all-Kurdistan's defense force, Engin underlined the guerrilla resistance against the colonialist Turkish state in Bakûré (Northern) Kurdistan and Bashûrê Kurdistan. “The guerrilla resistance is an attempt to stop any kind of fascism, and the guerrilla develops its war and resistance with consciousness. The most concrete example of this is Bradost”.

Engin added: “The AKP-MHP wants to escalate the war in order to keep the power of fascism alive. On this basis nationalist-chauvinist tendencies are being developed. AKP-MHP fascist power has brought Turkey to the brink of bankruptcy and disaster. Society is experiencing a psychological collapse”.

In fact, said Engin “the state collapsed and there is nothing called state apparatus. It's just a fascist building”. Engin added that it is important to not limit resistance only to guerrillas. “The society should stand up and resist. - he said -The best answer to be given on the political arena will be with the 24 June elections”.

Engin reiterated that the PKK will continue its resistance against invasion and exploitation attacks as it has done for the past 40 years.

International silence

Engin stated that the silence of the international powers meant approving the occupation attacks. Afrin, he said, is the most concrete example of this.

Likewise, Engin reminded of the silence of Barzani and the KDP in front of the Turkish state and its occupation attacks against Başûrê Kurdistan.

The PKK member said there should be a clear stance against the occupation attacks. Noting that the four parts are under the threat of the occupation of Kurdistan, Ening added that a Kurdish national unity needs to be established as soon as possible.