KURDISH RESISTANCE

KCK Bayik: An alternative to the Turkish government is possible with a right approach to the Kurdish question

The Kurdish question is Turkey’s biggest challenge. "If solved, it will give Turkey great momentum, but if it is not, it will turn into an even bigger burden for the country," said Cemil Bayik.


ANF
BEHDINAN
Friday, 3 January 2025

In the fourth part of this interview with ANF, Cemil Bayik, co-chair of the KCK Executive Council, said that the Kurdish question is Turkey’s biggest challenge. "If solved, - he added - it will give Turkey great momentum, but if it is not, it will turn into an even bigger burden for the country."

The first part of this interview can be read here, the second here, and the third here.

While, on the one hand, the genocidal policies against the Kurds are continued with full intensity, on the other hand, there are statements by Devlet Bahceli on the Kurdish question. What point has politics in Turkey reached with regard to the Kurdish question? Is there any change in the approach to the issue on the part of the ruling parties and the opposition, especially the CHP?

The Kurdish question is Turkey’s biggest problem. If it is solved, it will give Turkey a great momentum, but if it is not, it will turn into an even bigger shackle for the country. So far the Kurdish question is a big shackle because there has been no will on the part of the state to create a solution. Denial and extermination have been the only methods used by it. It is obvious that this has only deepened the problem and aggravated the shackles on Turkey’s feet. Although they are aware of this, they still insist on continuing the genocide against the Kurds. This shows the existence of a deeply rooted mentality. And this goes hand in hand with a circle of people in the state who can only hold on to their position and power because of the lack of solution to the Kurdish question.

There is no doubt that the political dimension bears the main responsibility for the Kurdish question becoming so deep and remaining unsolved. The politics in Turkey does not have an attitude that solves problems, develops methods, and creates development. A state-centered, rather than society-centered, understanding of politics has persisted, and the nationalist, monist nation state ideology has made Turkish politics reactionary and inefficient. There is a political reality in Turkey that consists of a refusal to see and deal with problems like the Kurdish question in all their depth and with all their dimensions. Looking from the past to the present, one can easily see that there has not been much change in Turkish politics, but there has been a certain change in Turkish society. Despite all the fascist special war that is being waged against it, there has been a change in Turkish society. Our struggle in particular and our paradigm have a significant impact on it. Again, despite all the disinformation and perception operations, the developments in Rojava are also affecting Turkish society. The contribution of democratic politics should also be mentioned in this respect. Society is ahead of politics in Turkey. This is a serious paradox.

There is no change in the government’s approach. On the contrary, the AKP-MHP government is trying to deepen the politics of genocide and finalize it. The most concrete indicator of this is the government’s approach to Rojava. In view of these facts, it would be extremely wrong to perceive Devlet Bahceli’s statements as a change in political approach. At the moment, we are in a period in which special war is predominant. The approach of the state and the government to Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] and the Kurdish question has not gone beyond the concept of special war. The state and the government have not developed a new approach to the Kurdish question.

It is crucial for opposition politics to approach the Kurdish question correctly. If politics is to be done in Turkey, if there is to be an alternative to the government, this is only possible by approaching the Kurdish question correctly and defending the democratic solution of it. If the opposition in Turkey cannot develop an alternative politics to the government’s politics, it is because it does not approach the Kurdish question correctly. If alternative politics is to defend and fight for at least minimum democratic principles, the way to do this in Turkey is to approach the Kurdish question correctly and defend its democratic solution. Recently, it is seen that some opposition parties have developed more positive approaches than in the past; while this is positive, there is still no holistic, determined, and solution-oriented approach. In general, the political parties have not overcome their pragmatic approach to the Kurds and the Kurdish question. Nationalist, monist mentality has a prevailing impact on politics. This prevents the correct approach to the Kurdish question and the development of its democratic solution.

There is a struggle by democratic politics for Turkish politics to get out of the influence of the nationalist, monist, and statist mentality and to adopt an approach that takes into account social reality. This has had, to a certain extent, a positive influence, especially on the opposition parties. In the past, as the HDP and now as the DEM Party, both the political struggle waged and the political strategy pursued have an impact on the opposition parties in Turkey. The method implemented in the municipal elections under the name of urban consensus has yielded positive results. These approaches developed by democratic politics positively affect the style and politics of opposition parties.

The CHP came out as the leading party in the last election. Especially from this position, it should take the most responsibility for solving the problems of the country. Turkish society has put forward its expectations in favor of the CHP. If the CHP acts on the basis of this responsibility, it will receive even more support from society. Considering the fact that the existence of the Kurdish question is the basis of all problems in Turkey, the future of the CHP, whether it will be an alternative government or not, will be determined by its approach to the Kurdish question. If it is mistakenly assumed that any problem in Turkey can be solved while denying and ignoring the existence of the Kurdish question and without taking the democratic solution of the Kurdish question as a basis, it will not be possible for the CHP or any other opposition party to make any progress. The future of the CHP will be determined by its approach to the Kurdish question. As far as we follow it, the new leadership of the CHP has a positive approach to the solution of the Kurdish question. There is a difference in approach compared to the past. What is important is that this is transformed into a democratic program.

Following the conclusion of the municipal elections, the government put into effect the trustee policy. The arrest of elected co-mayors and the trustee policy has now also spread to municipalities governed by the CHP. How should this trustee policy be understood? What can the struggle against it and the underlying mentality look like?

There is much debate about what the appointment of trustees means, but the important aspect is to have an attitude against it and to develop a struggle against it. Trusteeship does not only consist of usurping municipalities, it is the will of the people that is being usurped. In the current system in Turkey, the will of the people is not accepted; to the state, it does not exist. Therefore, it is neither democratic nor legitimate. With the appointment of trustees to municipalities by the state, the dismissal of elected officials, their arrest, and imprisonment, democracy has been completely shelved. This practice is the work of the AKP-MHP government. With the AKP-MHP government, there is not even a trace of representative democracy, which is called bourgeois democracy. The fact that the appointment of trustees is now also developed against CHP municipalities reveals the understanding of the government and shows that the government wants to adjust the CHP by intimidating and threatening. It wants the CHP to turn away from its relationship with the DEM Party. The AKP-MHP government is aware that an opposition that engages with the Kurds and the democratic forces in Turkey is an alternative to itself and is afraid of this. It is trying to prevent this with its practice of appointing trustees.

But for sure, the practice of appointing trustees is a fruitless practice. It is a sign of bankrupt politics. In the municipal elections on March 31, the people gave the necessary answer to the trustees and the ones that push forward the mentality behind all of this. In the words of the people, the trustees were sent away. However, the state and the government have not given up, they insist on Kurdish genocide. This is the main reason why they have started to reappoint the trustees that were sent away by the people. Everyone who opposes the trustee practice must approach the Kurdish question in a holistic, determined, and courageous manner. Overcoming the monist, authoritarian, and reactionary mentality in Turkey and the development of democratization is only possible by embracing the democratic solution of the Kurdish question. As long as this is avoided, the monist, authoritarian, and reactionary mentality will gradually envelop and suffocate the entire society and politics of Turkey. The appointment of trustees to CHP municipalities reveals this reality.

With the appointment of trustees, the AKP-MHP government is also trying to take revenge for the outcome of the municipal elections. It is clearly punishing the people. The society of Turkey, especially the Kurdish people, is aware of this reality and reacts strongly against it. The society is very disturbed by the practice of appointing trustees and this approach of the AKP-MHP government. It is also trying to reflect this discomfort. However, this discomfort in society needs to be organized and put into action. The example of Wan (tr. Van) shows that when this happens, the government is forced to take a step back. In this respect, there must be a strong sense of responsibility, and an according attitude is needed to be developed.

In addition to the genocidal attacks on the political dimension, the extensive special warfare on Kurdish society, particularly targeting women and youth, continues. However, despite this, Kurdish society, pioneered by women and the youth, takes to the streets. In 2024, what kind of concept did the AKP-MHP fascist government implement against the peoples of Kurdistan? What approach and resistance should the Kurdish people develop against this?

The so-called ‘collapse plan’ that was set into action by the Turkish government envisioned the massacre of the Kurdish people. It was aimed to realize genocide by destroying all the resistance centers of society. In order for this plan to succeed, on the one hand, annihilation attacks were carried out against the movement and the guerrillas, and on the other hand, the law was totally pushed aside, and the Kurdish people were attacked with violence that surpassed everything that had been before. Intense physical violence was developed. Society was intimidated by trustee appointments, detentions, arrests, oppression, torture, executions, and all kinds of other threats.

Also, the attacks on the nature of Kurdistan should be considered within the scope of this physical violence. There is a reckless attack on the nature of Kurdistan, and this attack is within the scope of Kurdish genocide. The geography of Kurdistan is not only plundered but also made uninhabitable and dehumanized. Society was wanted to rot from within through psychological special warfare. Drugs, prostitution, spying, and all kinds of degradation methods were developed within this framework. Women and young people in particular were the main targets of this, and thereby the decay of society was aimed at. Disinformation and perception-building activities were intensified on the public. Paramilitary structures, collaborator agents, mafia, JITEM-derived counter-organizations, special military, police organizations, the national intelligence service, and many more structures that would put this special psychological warfare into practice, with an intensity exceeding the one in the 90s, were moved to Kurdistan. With all these physical and psychological attacks, the Kurdish people were tried to be forced on their knees. But this policy didn’t succeed, and the state did not get the result it expected. The Kurdish people did not give up their stance of struggle, patriotism, and freedom. Let alone falling back from these, it has raised the struggle even higher. With the global freedom campaign for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo and the democratic solution to the Kurdish question, it has made its struggle more known to the whole world and received more support from the peoples and women of the world. However, one must always be aware of the fact that the enemy has not given up on his efforts to destroy us and continues to increase its physical and psychological special warfare attacks. And one must be aware that psychological and special warfare are much more destructive than any physical attack. That is why the enemy pushes it so much. Knowing this, it is necessary to develop more awareness and organizational work against the enemy’s special war policies.