Kurdish youth movement Komalen Ciwan issued a written statement and said the hostility isn’t just against the gains the Kurdish people have made but “an outright attack against the gains peoples of Turkey have achieved”.

Komalen Ciwan said, “Fascism is no longer the problem of the peoples of Kurdistan anymore, it has become a problem for all the peoples of Turkey.”

The statement said the AKP regime confiscating the Amed, Mardin and Van municipalities on August 19 “showed how deep the animosity against Kurdish people goes”.

The statement continued: “The appointment of occupation governors who have no connection to Kurdistan is reminiscent of the Middle Ages. They want to uphold their central authority through these occupation governors, but the peoples of Kurdistan will not recognize them. The youth, the women and everybody must stand against these invasion attacks in the most radical way. We as the youth are not merely concerned with a few municipalities confiscated by fascism. Even if there were no municipalities, our people can continue their lives. They can govern themselves. But municipalities are a symbol for the people. They are the will of our peoples. The peoples’ will is manifest in these municipalities. We as the Kurdistan Youth Movement call on all to uphold the will of our peoples.”

“Silence against this coup that started in Kurdistan will mean approval,” said Komalen Ciwan and continued: “It means approval for coups to be implemented in Turkey. All youth organizations and women’s organizations should speak up against the coup wherever they are and turn everywhere they are into an action ground. Whatever political view they hold, youth organizations taking up a common stance against the fascist practices is a necessity of being socialists. It is a necessity of being antifascist. Not speaking up against fascism strengthens fascism. Fascism gets stronger as society’s reflexes weaken. Fascism attacks the most when there is silence. A blow against the AKP-MHP fascism can only be brought by the united organized youth.”

Komalen Ciwan said: “Our call is for all youth organizations. Before others are affected, we are calling on all to take responsibility against this fascist regime. The fascist AKP-MHP regime has become a bane for the peoples in Kurdistan and Turkey, and it is time to deliver the killing blow at this time when they are the weakest. It is time to strike the last representatives of fascism, the Erdogan-Bahceli-Perincek alliance, with the united action force of the youth. We as the youth of Kurdistan say we won’t allow fascism to take roots in these lands. So we say defending Amed, Mardin and Van is to defend Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir. To that end, we are calling on the youth to uninterrupted action. We call on the youth of Kurdistan and all youth groups to stand against the coups against municipalities.”