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Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) Executive Board member Murat Karayılan shared his views on the 21 March Newroz celebrations, the increasing pressure on pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democartic Party (HDP) and the discussions regarding the intra-Kurdish dialogue in an exclusive interview with Denge Welat radio.
Referring to Turkey’s recent cross-border operation on Gare Mountains in Iraq, Karayılan said, “The defeat of Turkey is similar to their defeat in Zap in 2018, which also strengthened the hand of Kurdish politics.”
“There is a third world war going on in the Middle East,” Karayılan said, “this war aims at changing the system of the 20th century and change it with the system that is more applicable to the 21st century.”
‘Kurds cannot act without a solid strategy’
Amid such circumstances, Karayılan noted, that Kurdish people need their “national unity” more than ever.
“Kurdish political parties do not have the luxury to take a back seat. Kurds cannot act without a solid strategy. We have to develop a joint strategy for the Kurdish people. Passing through such a historical period, we will all lose moving seperately. There are great games being played on Kurdistan’s territories,” Karayılan said.
The PKK executive called on all Kurdish parties to support national unity talks. “Let us all together consider the very delicate and fragile process we are passing through. Let us all embrace our responsibilities to improve dialogue for national unity,” he said.
‘Historical attitude against the oppression’
Karayılan also shared his comments on the 21 March 2021 Newroz celebrations, all around the Middle East and around the different countries of the world by peoples who embrace Newroz as part of their cultural celebration.
“The women who raised the flag of freedom on 8 March walked with the same spirit to 21 March. I salute all those women. I also salute all those democrats who chanted the slogan, ‘Long live leader Apo,’ at the Newroz festival,” he said.
Referring to the Newroz celebrations in Turkey, Karayılan said, “Amid the conditions of violence, torture and cruelty fed by the fascist and authoritarian system in Turkey, the stance at the Newroz celebrations, especially in Bakur (North) and throughout Kurdistan reflected the historical attitude against oppression.”
‘Closing the HDP is part of a systematic project’
Finally commenting on the recent speculations in Turkey on the pro-Kurdish HDP, Karayılan shared his view that the Turkish goverment tries to ban the HDP as part of a broader plan.
“Fascism in Turkey wants not only to ban the HDP, but also to end democracy in the country as a whole. Closing the HDP is actually part of a systematic project. The attitude of fascism in Turkey against the HDP shows their same attitude towards the democratic opposition in Turkey,” the PKK Executive said.
In response to the speculation on the HDP, Karayılan said, “Well, there have been dialogues, which were led by the ruling AKP. The state sent the HDP members over here to talk with us and this was how we met with the HDP members. They are now using the photographs as grounds of accusation against the HDP members that were taken when the delegation of HDP visited us during the negotiation process. I find this very hypocritical.”
