Kurdish politician Selma Irmak, a former MP of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and former co-chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), spoke to ANF about the isolation regime imposed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, the closure case against the HDP and the increasing crackdown on the Kurdish politics.

Irmak said: “The aggravated isolation is imposed on the people who see Mr. Öcalan as their will, on the lasting and honourable peace between peoples, on social justice, and on a democratic and political solution.”

Irmak remarked that the ongoing closure case against the HDP is not legal but based on political motives. According to Irmak, the closure case is a judicial operation of the AKP/MHP government seeking to consolidate the nationalist conservative votes and to curb the HDP's power to determine the direction and outcome of the upcoming elections and politics.

THE STATE REGARDS ORGANIZED KURDS AS A DANGER

Irmak emphasized that the AKP/MHP government is trying to complete the regime change and the principles of maintenance of the state have now changed. She continued: “Of course, it would be insufficient to link the HDP closure case only to the upcoming elections. In fact, it would be more realistic to say that it is a deep-rooted, historical and extremely strategic state policy carried out against the growing organized power of the Kurdish people who do not surrender despite all forms of unlawfulness, tyranny and systematic violence, and against all the resisting and dissident segments of the society. As the organized struggle of the Kurds grows and becomes institutionalized and moves up to an influential and decisive position in the country's politics, the state regards the Kurds as a danger to its survival. Reactionary and religious movements and conservatism are no longer considered dangerous for the survival of the state. The organized struggle of the Kurds is perceived as a danger.”

THEY WANT TO BREAK PEOPLE'S ORGANIZED POWER

Irmak stated that the closure case against the HDP should be viewed with the historical background of the state. She stressed that the early republic excluded the Kurds from the political sphere, keeping them in a spiral of violence. “The closure case will once again exclude the Kurds from the political sphere. Decisions such as cutting treasury grants to the HDP, and imposition of political bans are just the first steps of this strategy which is very likely to be implemented. But I think that the most important intervention will be to break or at least to limit the organized popular power.”

HDP CLOSURE CASE IS NULL

Irmak underlined that the operation to shut down the HDP would not be successful, just as the operations against the Kurdish political movements in the past failed. She said: “There is a reality that the Turkish state and the power elites have not understood. We are not talking about a popular movement organized by parties. There are parties that the people recreate with their own power. You can shut down parties, but you can't shut down people. You can never eliminate a people who do not give in. This case is null. It is political. It is a covert propaganda which will be frustrated by the people again.”

THE STATE SHOULD RETURN TO THE NEGOTIATIONS LAUNCHED BY ÖCALAN

The Kurdish politician recalled that Öcalan had proposed negotiation talks in 1993 so that the Kurdish question could be resolved permanently through an honourable peace. She said that the state had no other option but to return to the negotiations initiated by Öcalan. Irmak continued: “As the public opinion knows only too well, Öcalan wanted to initiate negotiations along with multiple calls for a ceasefire. However, the negotiation processes failed each time as a result of the state's insistence on military methods and hawkish policies. In conflict regions all over the world, problems have not been handled through military methods and hawkish policies. Resolution of conflicts has always been possible through negotiations. The Kurdish question is now in the negotiation phase. The state should realize that this problem cannot be resolved through violence, lawlessness, massacres, defamation and murders.”

ISOLATION OF ÖCALAN IS AN INTERNATIONAL POLICY

Irmak said: “Just as an international conspiracy handed over Mr. Öcalan to Turkey, the isolation of Mr. Öcalan is an international policy. It is noteworthy to see that even a civil institution like the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) does not fulfil its duty of monitoring torture and ill-treatment, asking permission from Turkey.”

ISOLATION IMPOSED ON THE KURDISH PEOPLE

Referring to the Asrin Law Office statement that the CPT did not meet Öcalan during its visit to the Imrali prison, Irmak said: “It is obvious that this information needs to be confirmed. The CPT’s visit aroused concern and suspicion among the Kurdish public. The CPT and similar institutions should know that this isolation is not legal and has nothing to do with the practice of ordinary disciplinary punishments as state officials have declared. This aggravated isolation is imposed on the people who see Mr. Öcalan as their will, on the lasting and honourable peace between peoples, on social justice, and on a democratic and political solution. And, of course, it is a political decision. The rightful backlash and protest of the Kurdish people against the isolation of Mr. Öcalan all over the world is also a resistance against the state's deadlock and hawkish policies, and against the subjugation of the Kurds.”