The KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council Co-Presidency released a statement about the wildfires raging across Turkey and denied allegations of Kurdish involvement.

The statement published on Wednesday includes the following:

“Forest fires have recently broken out in many places in Turkey, especially in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions. They have resulted in the loss of many lives and great material destruction. The forest fires are still continuing. Forests represent a fundamental part of the ecological balance and are also the lungs of all life on this earth. They are the central area of natural life. For this reason, the current forest fires are a catastrophe not only for the countries directly affected, but for all humanity and all other living beings. As a people that experience this pain the most, we wish the peoples of Turkey that the current situation will be overcome soon. We share their pain and sorrow.

After the outbreak of the forest fires in Turkey, there was strong criticism that it took far too long to intervene. In the meantime, the opinion has spread among the public that the fires were set for profit. At the same time, certain enemies of the Kurdish people and certain circles that want to stir up conflicts between the peoples have spread provocative statements and claimed that the forest fires were set by Kurds. They even claimed that the PKK was responsible for the fires. Thus, they incite communities in the country which are poisoned by chauvinism to attack Kurds. This has already led to hunting down Kurds in some places to lynch and kill them.

Such news that blame Kurds and PKK for the forest fires are spread by forces that are responsible for the special war against the Kurdish people and the democratic forces. On their instructions, these news are spread in order to provoke attacks on Kurds in Turkey. The lynch attacks and massacres that have recently been perpetrated against Kurds have the same goal as the current attacks: to brake the willpower of the Kurds in order to make them give up their Kurdish identity and make it impossible for them to fight for freedom and democracy.

Today, the true face of the AKP-MHP government has been completely exposed and its support within society has sunk to a new low. In particular, the government's social polarization and its hostility to freedom and democracy have increased the people's discontent. The outbreak of the forest fires and the late start of the firefighting efforts have led to an explosion of anger among the population. In order to divert this popular anger from the real target, the fascist AKP and MHP and their special war institutions are now trying to blame the Kurdsand the PKK for the forest fires. Thus, the AKP-MHP government is trying to save itself from the people's anger. This is an extremely immoral and dirty policy. But our people and the general public do not believe this propaganda. Nevertheless, the special warfare institutions continue their attempts to blame the Kurds and the PKK for the forest fires and to provoke the country's communities which are poisoned by chauvinism to attack.

The Turkish government has bought dozens of airplanes and helicopters for the president and the government, had a palace with 1001 rooms built and also owns hundreds of fighter planes. But it cannot find the money for fire-fighting aircrafts. Therefore, as always, it sees the only chance to maintain its power in the polarization of society, hostility toward the Kurds and war. Such disasters are the result of government policy. But the government tries to hide this truth by spreading news
that are not true. All the attacks on Kurds result from the racist-fascist policy. But there is an attempt to present them as ordinary social disputes and thus normalize and legitimize the attacks. The murdered Kurdish family in Konya, had already been attacked in May and had in part been seriously injured. At the time, the attackers described themselves as nationalists and threatened to wipe out the family. Despite such statements, the attackers were not arrested and thus the necessary precautions were not taken.

Reports that the forest fires were set by Kurds and the PKK are a complete lie and are an invention in the context of the special warfare. With the help of these lies, an attempt is being made to conceal the government's unecological measures and the crimes associated with this policy. At the same time, the AKP-MHP government wants to prevent the peoples of Turkey and the Kurdish people's struggle for democracy and freedom from coming together. The AKP-MHP government sees its own end in the connection of the Kurdish people and the peoples of Turkey. That is why today, with the help of various provocations, it is attempting to try out the events of September 6 and 7, 1955, in an updated form on the Kurds. At that time, non-Muslims in Turkey were dispossessed and later expelled from the country.

Even the current forest fires are being used as a means of attack against the Kurdish people and the democratic forces. This shows that the current government has become a great burden for the peoples of Turkey. The partners and supporters of this fascist government have become a community of culprits towards the peoples of Turkey. We warn the fascist circles that try to make the Kurds and the PKK responsible for the forest fires that broke out in Turkey or that were deliberately set for profit purposes, and thereby turn the peoples of Turkey against the Kurds. We understand it as a serious crime to turn the fascist gangs on our people and we will not let this happen unpunished. It is a serious crime to set the peoples of Turkey against each other. Those responsible for these crimes will definitely not go unpunished.

Our people and our Freedom Movement understand the earth on which we live as the common homeland of us all. We wish for a friendly, free and democratic life in this common homeland. All those who do not consider Turkey and Kurdistan as a common homeland and commit crimes against it and its peoples will definitely be punished by our people.

We call on all the peoples of Turkey and the democratic forces to fight shoulder to shoulder with the Kurdish people against the fascist forces and aggressors who consider the Kurds as their enemies and declare them as targets. We also call on them to put an end to the AKP-MHP government and build a democratic Turkey and a free Kurdistan."