The Co-Presidency of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council released a statement about Sunday’s deadly bomb attack that killed 6 people and injured 81 others in Taksim, Istanbul.

While Turkish officials were quick to blame the Kurdish freedom movement for the deadly attack, claiming that the attacker had come from northern Syria, the Headquarters Command of the People’s Defense Center (HSM), the armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), denied involvement in the incident, making it clear that they were against attacks directed at civilians.

The General Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazlum Abdi said, “Our forces have nothing to do with the Istanbul attack and deny the allegations that blame our forces.”

The People’s Defense Units (YPG) also refuted the Turkish state’s allegations, saying, ““We strongly reject these groundless allegations. We have no connection to the terrorist Ehlam El-Beşîr who carried out the attack. The whole world knows that the principle of our forces is based on the protection of human rights and counter-terrorism. We condemn any form of attack directed at civilians. Our forces struggle within the context of democracy, human and women’s rights, and the fight against terror and dictatorship.”

The statement released by the KCK Executive Council Co-Presidency on Tuesday includes the following:

“On November 13, 2022, many people were killed and injured in an explosion on Istiklal Street in Istanbul. We are deeply saddened by the loss of life and injuries as a result of this attack. As the Kurdish Freedom Movement and on behalf of our people, we would like to express that we share their sorrow and express our condolences. We extend our condolences to the people of Turkey and the families of those who lost their lives and wish a speedy recovery to those who were injured. We strongly condemn this attack, which was clearly organized under a dark guise and targeted the democratic future of the peoples of Turkey. Although the HPG Central Command [Hêzen Parastina Gel – People´s Defense Forces] announced that they have no relation with this attack and that it is out of the question for them to carry out attacks targeting civilians, the fascist AKP-MHP state and its supporters are persistently trying to blame this attack on our movement. We would therefore like to state once again that the Kurdish Freedom Movement has nothing to do with this attack. The fascist AKP-MHP state insistently wants to blame this attack on our movement in order to hide the truth and to create the necessary conditions for them to carry out their malicious plans. We therefore call on everyone, especially the democratic public and media, to make all efforts necessary to expose this attack. The statements and slanders of the fascist AKP-MHP state accusing our movement do absolutely not reflect the truth. To the contrary, they only serve to conceal the truth of the incident. Even based on a preliminary evaluation, it is not difficult to understand that this constitutes a plot by the AKP-MHP. That is why we strongly urge Turkey’s intellectuals, democrats, democratic press and political forces that seek the democratization of Turkey, to disregard the statements of the fascist AKP-MHP state aimed at concealing the truth and to make efforts to reveal the truth of this incident.

The fascist AKP-MHP alliance pursues a policy that is based on enmity towards the Kurdish people. It has vowed to realize Kurdish genocide and to destroy the Kurdish Freedom Movement, which struggles for the freedom of the oppressed, exploited and denied people of Kurdistan. The fascist AKP-MHP alliance spends all of Turkey’s wealth and all the values of society on the annihilation of the Kurds. No means have been left unused, all kinds of inhumane methods have been applied and massacres and occupations have been carried out. The AKP-MHP alliance, which knows no bounds in enmity towards the Kurds, has resorted to the most despicable and inhumane weapons of mass destruction when it could not achieve its goals despite having used all kinds of dirty and ugly war methods. The AKP-MHP has not only wasted the values of the people for the anti-Kurdish war, but has also committed crimes against humanity by using chemical weapons and has thus put the whole society of Turkey under suspicion. However, despite all inhumane practices, including the use of chemical weapons, the fascist AKP-MHP alliance has not been able to achieve its malicious goals. On the contrary, due to the revelation of the use of chemical weapons, its true face has been revealed even more. This has caused it to experience serious problems and has made its plans fail. No matter what methods the fascist AKP-MHP alliance resorts to, it cannot succeed against the resistance of the guerrilla and the struggle of the peoples, women and democratic forces, especially the Kurdish people. Today, everybody knows that the AKP-MHP alliance aims to eliminate democracy by destroying the Kurdish Freedom Movement and the Kurds and to establish a religious, nationalist, authoritarian and fascist order in Turkey. However, as a result of the resistance and struggle, the AKP-MHP has realized that they cannot not realize this goal. They now know that they have lost the support of society and that they will lose their power in the case of elections. The AKP-MHP alliance has not only failed to realize its fascist and genocidal plans, but has been exposed, blocked and ended up in a helpless situation due to its crimes against humanity.

It is obvious that the AKP-MHP alliance plans to resort to new and malicious methods in order to change this situation and to get out of its crisis. The attack in Istanbul constitutes the first step of this plan. Once again, we would like to stress that this is a new and malicious plan. We call on everyone to be vigilant in this regard and to make efforts to reveal the truth by not relying on the statements made by the AKP-MHP state. With this attack, the AKP-MHP alliance aims to create an environment that resembles the situation after the massacre on October 10, 2015 [in front of Ankara's main train station]. It is important for everybody to realize that this is a malicious and despicable plan targeting the future of Turkey and the efforts of the Kurdish and Turkish peoples to live together. Everyone in favor of democracy and coexistence must take the right and necessary attitude and thus defeat this malicious plan, just as the previous plans of the fascist AKP-MHP alliance have been defeated.

The fascist AKP-MHP state’s attempt to blame this attack on our movement and to claim that it was carried out from Rojava constitutes a highly deliberate manipulation. Everyone knows that one of the most important parts of the fascist AKP-MHP alliance’s Kurdish genocide is the occupation of Rojava. It is very obvious that the AKP-MHP aims to create the necessary environment for an invasion by targeting Rojava with this plot. The timing of this attack is also very telling. It was carried out at a time when it has been revealed that the AKP-MHP uses chemical weapons and burns soldiers’ bodies, when Turkish society is struggling with serious economic problems, when the war against the Kurds and the religious, gangster, mafia-oriented order are being questioned and demands for democracy are being voiced more and more loudly, and when the AKP-MHP is losing the support of society. It is clear that this is a diversion of the political agenda and that it aims to initiate malicious developments again. Whenever malicious developments are wanted, massacres are organized and Kurds are blamed. The latest attack in Istanbul also has such a purpose. Everybody must therefore be sensitive and vigilant. This is a deliberate effort to portray the perpetrator of the attack as being from Rojava or Syria. By doing so, they want to create a certain environment. Regardless of who carried out the attack, Kurdish or not, this attack and the individuals mentioned have nothing to do with our movement or the Rojava revolutionary forces. The Rojava forces have already declared that they have nothing to do with this attack. Everyone should be aware of this fact and should not become a tool for the AKP-MHP’s plan that involves malicious ambitions. Our movement can never be linked to attacks targeting civilians. We would never plan and carry out such attacks. We are a movement that resists the genocidal attacks of the fascist AKP-MHP alliance, seeks a democratic solution to the Kurdish question and struggles for the democratization of Turkey. Everyone in Turkey knows this. It is very clear that any attitude that is not based on such an approach will support the AKP-MHP alliance and serve their malicious plans.

The fascist AKP-MHP alliance has reached a stage of collapse as a result of the resistance and struggle of the Kurds, the peoples, women and all democratic forces. It now has difficulties carrying out its genocidal fascist plans and surviving. The use of chemical weapons has also been exposed, which has caused even more difficulties for the AKP-MHP. Turkey’s future, well-being and democratization depend on the destruction of this fascist alliance that aims to darken the future by organizing malicious plans and that commit crimes against humanity. Due to this malicious plan, it is now necessary for everyone to see the reality of the AKP-MHP alliance and its horrible and malicious goals even better and to fight against it. The AKP-MHP alliance even burns soldiers’ corpses in order to hide what they are doing and to prevent anyone from knowing what is going on. This is the reality of the AKP-MHP. Everyone who claims not to be fascist, to care about Turkey, to not be an enemy of the Kurds, to be human, in short, to not be an AKP-MHP member, needs to acknowledge this reality, make an effort to make this reality known to the public and stand against the AKP-MHP’s plan to make the facts invisible by silencing the press with the help of the disinformation law. Being human, democratic, steadfast and moral requires this.

We would like to once again condemn this attack, which has deeply saddened our people and the people of Turkey. We share the sorrow for the loss of lives and the injured. As the Kurdish Freedom Movement, we reiterate our promise to our people and the peoples of Turkey to realize the goal of democracy and freedom, and once again promise to continue the struggle for this. We state clearly once again that our movement has nothing to do with this attack. The attempt to blame this attack on our movement shows that the AKP-MHP are pursuing new malicious plans. Therefore, we call on everyone to be sensitive, careful, vigilant and make all necessary efforts to understand the truth.