The Executive Committee of the Workers’ Party of Kurdistan (PKK) has issued a written statement saying that the current political party of Turkey won’t bring a solution the needs of the country nor its democratization. The Committee emphasized the need for the organizations of radical democracy to form a bloc in order to democratize Turkey, avoid more coups and end with oppression and injustice.
In their declaration, the PKK committee paid homage to the people that lost their lives during the revolutions in Rojava and Suruç and pointed out that there was a political, social, economic and political system formed by the oligarchic structures of Turkey, which has allowed the several coups attempts that have taken place in recent history.
Turkey’s incapacity to consolidate democracy gave way to a coup d’état
The PKK poses the incapacity to resolve the Kurdish question as the main reason for the failure of democratization in Turkey, and remarked that the country’s incapacity to consolidate democracy is what gave way to a coup d’état.
“Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan has offered realistic proposals for the solution of the Kurdish question with the aim of democratizing the country. Öcalan’s warning regarding the fact that the ‘coup mechanism’ will be ready to spring into action for as long as the Kurdish question is unresolved, has been proven to be right”, the statement reads.
The PKK regards the government’s rejection of the Dolmabahçe Agreement and of the results of the June 7 elections as coupist actions against Turkey’s democratization, and said that the alliance of the AKP with ultra-nationalist forces of the MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) and the coupist network “Ergenekon” (Deep State) reactivated the “coup mechanism” in the country.
The PKK committee said that democratic forces fight for the liberation of the Kurdish people and have strengthened the anti-putschist movement in Turkish society, contributing to the resistance to the coup attempt last July 15.
The State of Emergency is not a measure against the coup
The Executive Committee of the PKK pointed out that democratization is necessary to avoid future coups, but warned that the fact that Erdogan declared a state of emergency is not a measure against the coup but an attempt to promote the destruction of the cities of Kurdistan, exacerbate the oppression of the Kurds and consolidate the monistic, hegemonic and authoritarian character of the government of the AKP in Turkey.
“Turkey was never a true democracy, and the ‘special war system’ in the country has been the attempt to carry out a genocide of the Kurdish people. Instead of taking measures towards democratization, the AKP government intends to consolidate its hegemonic domain and intensifying its genocide against the Kurdish people”, the statement read.
“There’s an urgent need to create a bloc of forces for radical democracy to achieve the democratization of the country, avoiding more coups and ending the oppression and injustice”.
The June 7 elections had increased the hopes for democratization, but the fascist and anti-Kurdish alliance in Turkey re-initiated the war on July 24, 2015, by implementing a policy of annihilation, that set the bases for the latest coup attempt of July 15, 2016. The current state of emergency means to deepen the crisis in Turkey, opposing the democratization and stability. Therefore, we invite the organizations of civil society, intellectuals, writers and artist that represent social segments that demanded democracy, to immediately form a bloc to avoid further coups.
All the democratic forces must struggle for true democracy
The Executive Committee of the PKK also pointed out the strong attacks endured by the Kurds last year, and asked them to increase solidarity and mobilization together with democratic forces in Turkey, to prevent future attacks.
The statement ends by stating that the Kurdish party will continue to resist coup attempts and also fight against the state of emergency and the oppressive policies of the government. They concluded by pointing out that the struggle of their leader, Öcallan, “makes him politically valuable for every people of Turkey, therefore the Kurdish people and the forces of democracy need to fight for Öcallan’s wellbeing and safety”.
