Turkey’s ability to sustain its war against the Kurds has been significantly bolstered by support from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), according to the Kurdistan Communities Union’s (KCK) Cemil Bayık in a detailed interview with Stêrk TV on Friday. He also cautioned the Iraqi government against falling for the manipulative tactics of both the KDP and Turkey.
Cemil Bayık, co-chair of the KCK’s Executive Council, outlined a multi-layered call to action for the Kurdish people, their allies, and the global community. Bayık stressed the critical need for international backing for the release of Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and a political resolution to the Kurdish issue.
Bayık underscored the increasing global support for the freedom of Abdullah Öcalan. He cited meaningful contributions from trade unions in the UK and solidarity events across various European countries. “Our main task is to ensure the physical freedom of Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] and to establish a status for the Kurdish people,” Bayık declared. He called on Kurds and their allies to actively engage in this campaign, which has already attracted worldwide attention.
The co-chair also touched on Turkey’s recent military actions against North and East Syria, a predominantly Kurdish region. He stated that Turkey had premeditated these attacks and used an incident in Ankara as mere pretext. Bayık accused NATO and the United States of enabling Turkey’s actions, asserting, “Turkey alone does not have the power to carry out these brutal attacks against Rojava [North and East Syria].”
Bayık criticised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for his contradictory stance of claiming to support Gaza while simultaneously launching attacks on the Kurds. He asserted that lasting peace in the Middle East could only be achieved by addressing both the Kurdish and Palestinian issues.
Discussing the ongoing conflict between the PKK guerrillas and the Turkish military, Bayık lauded the resilience of the Kurdish fighters despite facing technologically advanced weaponry from Turkey and NATO. He accused the KDP of aiding Turkey in its war against the Kurds, stating, “If it weren’t for the KDP, the Turkish state would have lost this war.”
Bayık issued a warning to Iraq against succumbing to the manipulations of the KDP and the Turkish state. He alleged that the KDP is actively supporting Turkey’s policy of genocide against the Kurds and urged Iraq to advocate for a democratic solution to the Kurdish issue.
In his concluding remarks, Bayık made a special appeal to young people, urging them to join “the revolutionary fight against genocide and special warfare” tactics which include the dissemination of drug use, prostitution, and snitching for Turkish intelligence among the Kurdish youth. He warned against these perilous policies pursued by the Turkish state, particularly targeting the youth, and called for intensified resistance against these policies.
