The Co-Presidency of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council issued a statement to pay tribute to the victims of the Gazi and Qamishlo massacres.

The statement said: "12 March marks the anniversary of two massacres committed against the Kurdish people; one perpetrated by the Turkish state in Istanbul’s Gazi neighborhood (1995), and the other, by the Syrian regime, in 2004, in Qamişlo football stadium. We respectfully and gratefully remember those who lost their lives in both atrocities, denouncing both massacres once again. In their person, we honor all the martyrs who have sacrificed their lives for revolution and democracy.

The massacre committed at Gazi was an extension of the Turkish state’s policy of genocidal colonialism against socialists, Kurds, and Alevis. In Gazi, as in the numerous massacres carried out both before and after, the initial target was the peoples and their collective resistance."

The statement continued: "The 1990s marks a period in which the Kurdish struggle and the socialist and democratic fight in Turkey began to unite. Since then, in particular, the Turkish state has carried out a series of massacres, brutally attacking society. First indirectly through the establishment of paramilitary organizations and later directly through the official police and gendarmerie forces, they spared no opportunity to shed blood. The government felt that the revolutionary atmosphere of the time was a danger to its colonialist, fascist practices. Still, this policy of the Turkish state has not changed, rather, it is being continued by the AKP-MHP."

The statement added: "The AKP-MHP-led fascist government is still carrying out atrocities and attacks along with a special warfare scheme aiming to prevent the Kurdish people, along with all the peoples of Turkey, and women and the democratic forces in particular, from uniting. Today, as in the past, the best response to these ongoing massacres is to strengthen the democratic alliances and unity of the peoples.

Following a soccer match in Qamishlo, Kurds were brutally massacred by nationalist racist forces. They intended to ignite conflict and division between the peoples by using this to set people against one another. Given the state of affairs in Syria, it is clearer now what was intended back then. The Qamishlo massacre in 2004 was planned to be a trigger for the civil war that later broke out in 2011. However, the Kurdish movement and people’s correct approach and strategy at the time averted this. The Syrian civil war would have begun at that point if the Kurds had not followed the right course. Syria as a whole would have collapsed in a civil war that started with the destruction of Rojava. Only because of Rojava’s resistance has Syria managed to avoid falling into the hands of fascist, genocidal, reactionary, and violent forces after 2011."

The statement said: "However, the Syrian state continued its policy of rapprochement with both the Tayyip Erdoğan administration and the homicidal colonialist Turkish state, failing to draw the necessary conclusions from the Qamişlo slaughter. This policy gave way to the current state of affairs in Syria, being at the brink of destruction. Syria is unable to escape its current predicament created by the Turkish government and Tayyip Erdoğan. This is the purpose of the Turkish state’s invasion attempts against Rojava and Syria, as with the ongoing assaults by ISIS and other gangs, among the many attacks and killings in Rojava.

Nevertheless, all attempts will be thwarted by the unified struggle and resistance of the Syrian peoples against the neo-ottomanist policies of the fascist Tayyip Erdoğan regime and the homicidal colonialist Turkish state. Additionally, the Turkish state’s expansionist and occupying activities will only be neutralized through the Syrian state’s proactive fight against it and its acceptance of a democratic solution with the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria. Syria can achieve democratization, dialogue, and negotiation in order to resolve all of its issues, including the Kurdish issue. We endorse and hold this to be true. Considering the Qamishlo massacre, it is evident that the best measure to be taken against massacres, passes through the democratization of the country so as to solve its issues while building a community based on equality and solidarity.

In Şeladizê, South Kurdistan, the murderous colonialist Turkish state carried out yet another massacre a few days ago. Two villagers, Seîd Mubarek and Aras Ferec, were killed in this attack. Regarding this massacre, statements were released by our foreign relations committee and the ‘People’s Defense Headquarter’ (HSM). We would like to emphasize, again, that the actual motive behind the Turkish state’s attacks on South Kurdistan is made clear with this massacre. The Turkish government seeks to occupy South Kurdistan and conduct the Kurdish genocide there, just as it is attempting to do in North Kurdistan. In the meantime, the Turkish government and the ‘Kurdistan Democratic Party’ (KDP) are working together to carry out the genocide. These attacks are all being carried out with assistance and collaboration. The KDP is assisting and cooperating with the Turkish state in all of these attacks. As a result, both the Turkish government and the KDP share culpability for this murder."