In view of the increasing racist attacks on Kurds and other population groups in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan, the Civil Defense Units YPS (Yekîneyên Parastina Sivîl) call for the organisation of self-defence, saying, "Do not remain silent, return the attacks. Giving in to racism and fascism brings even greater suffering."

“Fascism inculcated in the Turkish people”

The statement of the YPS Coordination reads as follows:

"While nationality, gender, religion and science are social realities to begin with, they are acted out in a form that makes them the basis of fascism, ideological and physical aggression - namely as nationalism, sexism, fundamentalism and scientism. The Turkish state has inculcated fascism in the Turkish people as a basic state policy. This policy began with the Unity and Progress Committee [Ittihad ve Terakki, the driving force behind the Armenian genocide] and aims to pit social groups against each other. These efforts have been successful in a certain segment of society.

"Incitement will increase"

The fascist and racist attacks are not only directed against Kurds, but also against Armenians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Greeks, Alevis and Yazidis, and thus against people of different religious or ethnic identities. They are an expression of a targeted state policy and the incitement by the state will only increase. With its monist policy, in which there can only be one language, one religion and one state, and which it preaches in all its public institutions, schools, the media and even in the arts, the Turkish state is directly targeting 'the other', which does not correspond to its monist identity. It has made it clear in its story that those who are not Turks and do not say 'Happy is he who calls himself a Turk' are not entitled to a free life. For non-Turks, it also makes no sense to simply say 'I am a Turk' and then no longer be oppressed or respected, because Turkish fascism contains biologistic racism.

Countless racist attacks

Recently, Esat Atabay, a Kurd who was a seasonal agricultural worker in Sakarya, was attacked by racists for demanding the right to his wages. Esat Atabay was forced to make up with the attacker, Selim Çabuk, at the police station where he went to file a complaint. The village chief said, 'Don't give this incident to the press, otherwise no one will want to work here anymore', and the attacker, before it was even clear what had happened, was patted on the back, praised and released through the back door of the police station. This situation is in no way surprising. In view of this praise Selim Çabuk has received, he will be ready to attack another Kurd tomorrow.

In the last two years alone, we have seen many examples of such acts: On 22 July 2021, Hakim Dal was murdered in Konya-Meram because he was a Kurd. Another fascist massacred a family of seven eight days later. Seven Kurds were injured in Afyon-Sultandağı, a Kurdish family of five in Ankara-Elmadağı, a Kurdish family in Çorum, a family in Antalya-Elmalı, workers in Düzce-Akçakoca, a Kurdish youth in Bursa, three students at Akdeniz University in Antalya. These are only some of the racist attacks that have become known, and all of them cannot even be enumerated. Our people are humiliated, expelled, marginalised, subjected to verbal and physical violence and murdered because they speak Kurdish, listen to Kurdish music, sing Kurdish songs and profess their identity. Just as the Turkish state, in order to create a fascist Turkish society, has shown the way to the murderers of Sivas, Maraş and Çorum in recent history, today it has vowed to break the Kurds it has driven into the cities of Turkey.

"Don't look for an answer from the state - self-defence is necessary"

Those who submit to fascism and racism will suffer even more. Our people must not remain silent in the face of this state-directed fascism and must not hesitate in their self-defence. Expecting rights, law and justice from the state is self-deception. It is the state itself that organises these attacks. When we become aware of this, we must transform our anger against fascism into awareness and organisation and take this as a basis to retaliate against any form of fascism. We call on the Kurdish youth and people to take action on the basis of self-defence under the slogan of breaking fascism and guaranteeing freedom in order to smash the racist AKP/MHP state and destroy colonialism."