Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Executive Council co-chair Besê Hozat spoke with Fırat News Agency about recent developments in Turkey and Syria, Turkish president Erdoğan’s comments on Abdullah Öcalan and the Islamic State attack against the Sina’a Prison in Haseke, Rojava.
Hozat believes that Erdoğan’s comments are an attempt to draw on the power and influence Öcalan wields, while any actual reconciliation with the Kurds would require opposition parties to change their approach.
The international community has not been carrying its share of the weight with regard to the continued ISIS threat and ISIS prisoners, she said, adding that an agreement between the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and Damascus would solve most issues in the country.
Turkish president Erdoğan has made several comments about Abdullah Öcalan in recent weeks. What do you think his angle is? What does he wish to do?
The comments Erdoğan makes about our leader Apo [Apo is a diminutive of Abdullah, here referring to Öcalan] showcase the bankruptcy of the system and politics of isolation. Erdoğan is trying to keep his failing government standing by leaning on the power and influence of our leader Apo. Erdoğan displays his shamelessness by making statements about him almost every day while continuing to keep him in absolute isolation.
The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) responded immediately. They said the gates of İmralı Prison should be opened so that everyone can hear for themselves what Öcalan thinks. The HDP and the Kurdish people are aware of what Erdoğan is trying to do. That is why Erdoğan’s calculations have failed right from the start.
When Erdoğan speaks about our leader, the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and Good Party (İYİP) embrace the ‘terror’ discourse. The nationalist/racist vein inside the CHP springs into action.
It is apparent that they have not abandoned the mentality of denial and annihilation. The Kurds see this, and ask how the CHP would be better than the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) or its partner the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
The CHP cannot engage in consistent politics without a right approach to the Kurdish issue, without taking into consideration the political leaders of the Kurds. The CHP cannot reconcile with the Kurds without accepting our leader Apo as the primary party to address. The CHP cannot keep calling the Kurdish people’s leader the ‘chief terrorist’ and still claim they will resolve the Kurdish issue. They cannot promise justice and the rule of law to Kurds or to Turks while they continue to believe the unlawful isolation in İmralı is legitimate. It would not be credible.
The fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) was a struggle for the whole of humanity. Many political powers and various peoples took part in it. But now, the responsibility for ISIS prisoners has been left entirely on the shoulders of Rojavans and the peoples of North and East Syria. What do you think about the international coalition against ISIS, that remained silent in the face of attacks on North and East Syria, and still takes no responsibility for ISIS now, in the wake of the Haseke attack?
The main force behind the planning and execution of the Haseke attack was Turkey. They have turned the parts of Rojava under their occupation into an ISIS headquarters. They organise all the gangs they can gather in the occupied lands and train them to fight against the Rojava Revolution. Afrin, Serekaniye (Ras al-Ayn) and Gire Spi (Tell Abyad) have all become settlements for ISIS and others like them. The United States knows this, Europe knows this. Russia, everybody else, they all know this. But they do not speak out. They want to hold the Rojava Revolution hostage, to use it as they see fit for their purposes, so they keep ISIS permanently hanging over the revolution like the sword of Democles. This is why they take no responsibility for ISIS members or al-Hol Camp, where ISIS families are held. If they wished, they could form an international court and resolve the matter quickly. But they don’t. Instead of taking ISIS on themselves, they leave the Rojava Revolution alone to face them.
The attack on the Sina’a Prison is part of an extensive series of attacks that means to occupy Haseke and all of Rojava. If the Turkish state had succeeded in this attack, they would have taken over Haseke from ISIS and sent their army of gangsters towards other cities. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the peoples of North and East Syria have foiled these dirty plans. A great victory was won, though at a heavy price.
Countries around the world are engaged in dirty calculations and acting with a great lack of responsibility. All the weight now falls on the peoples of North and East Syria. This is unacceptable. The alliance between Turkey and ISIS is dangerous not only for the Kurds and Syria, but for the whole world as well.
The path to a solution in Syria and to getting rid of ISIS is through reconciliation with the AANES. If Damascus would come to an agreement with the AANES over a democratic solution, neither Turkey nor ISIS would pose a threat any longer. Such an agreement would end all conspiracies against Syria, and void Turkey’s plans to divide the country by creating conflict between the Kurds and the Arabs. No foreign power would have any reason to remain in Syria any longer, and all occupied areas would be liberated.
If such a solution is reached the SDF would naturally be part of the Syrian army. The AANES is an expression of the identity of a democratic Syria. It is not a standalone state, nor is the SDF an armed force completely divorced from the Syrian army.
