The Kurdish umbrella organisation Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) has claimed that Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) / Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) coalition is replicating the ideology of the country’s post-1980 military regime. In a statement issued on Sunday to commemorate the Kurdish “14 July resistance” against said regime, the KCK accused the Turkish government of aiming to annihilate Kurds in the current incursion into the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
Sunday represents the 42nd anniversary of the “14 July resistance”, a date the Kurdish community in Turkey remembers for the Kurdish prisoners’ defiance of the torture and oppressive regime in post-coup Turkish prisons under military watch. The KCK has issued a statement commemorating the event and calling for renewed efforts in the struggle for Kurdish freedom. The day marks the start in 1982 of a death fast by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) inmates of Diyarbakır (Amed) prison, launched in protest at the inhumane treatment they endured following the Turkey’s 1980 military coup.
The KCK statement honours the martyrs of this resistance, particularly Kemal Pir, Mehmet Hayri Durmuş, Akif Yilmaz and Ali Çiçek, who died as a result of the death fast. “We honour the martyrs of the freedom revolution and renew the promise we made to them,” it stated.
Turkey’s coup d’état of 12 September 1980 was a pivotal moment in the country’s history, leading to widespread repression. The coup aimed to suppress opposition, resulting in the incarceration and torture of thousands, particularly in Diyarbakır prison, notorious for its brutal methods. The death fast initiated on 14 July 1982 is remembered as a significant act of resistance against this backdrop of persecution.
The KCK highlighted the enduring importance of the 14 July resistance for the Kurdish people, describing it as a foundational event for subsequent victories and the continued struggle for freedom. They called for unity against current threats, drawing parallels with past events. “The current AKP-MHP regime replicates the 12 September [the date of the 1980 military coup] ideology … the most recent invasion attacks against southern Kurdistan are aimed at annihilating the Kurds,” the statement read.
The KCK urged the Kurdish people to stand together with democratic and socialist forces against these threats, carrying the spirit of the 14 July resistance. “If we all join in our struggle, the murderous imperialist enemy will undoubtedly be defeated and the people’s resistance will prevail,” they stated.
