KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council Co-chair Cemil Bayık spoke in the Nêrîna Azad (Free Point of View) program on Ronahi TV about the crisis in Southern Kurdistan.

Bayık commented on the “Raperin” that has spread throughout the South and said, “The people now see the politics of the Southern Kurdistan government and they are revolting.”

Bayık talked about the events in South Kurdistan and stressed that the fundamental reason for them is that the Southern Kurdistan government does not agree to Kurdish national unity.

Bayık said the situation in Southern Kurdistan confirms their predictions and analyses and stated that the Southern Kurdistan politics and administration are making the Kurds and the South lose.

Highlights from Bayık’s comments are as follows;

 “The political, economical, cultural, military and social issues in Southern Kurdistan are getting more and more dire. The people can’t live with these problems anymore. That is why they want the issues resolved. The people see the reality of Southern politics, and believe that these politics can’t offer solutions to issues anymore. This reality is seen now. The situation can’t offer a solution anymore. They wanted the situation before the referendum to continue exactly as before after the referendum. The people saw that these politics continued with absolutely no change, and have stated that this needs to change. That is why these policies have subtracted from the gains of the people and have become the fundamental issue beneath many problems.

 The Iraqi government took control of many regions after the referendum, and the problems got more severe. The people expected the Southern Kurdistan government to draw some conclusions from this. The people of Southern Kurdistan expected the government to turn back from the wrong policies and continue with new politics. But the people saw that the old style of politics continued exactly as before. As this type of politics makes current problems more unsolvable, the people saw that issues will get more severe if this approach continues and they expressed their protest with this wrong type of politics. Because the government didn’t change anything.

A new government should have been formed and old politics should have changed. If there was a democratic government, if all different powers and democratic circles found representation in the Southern Kurdistan government, this crisis wouldn’t have gotten worse. Because a democratic government could have created solutions to the problems in the South and formed policies based on democratic foundations with regional states like Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq. That way the gains of the Kurdish people and other peoples could have been protected and a basis for democratization in society could have been found. That government could have waged a democratic struggle. The current dirty politics would have started to dissolve with democratization. The people faced the referendum with this hope.

But the people saw the truth. The government didn’t change at all. The two parties wanted to share the power between themselves according to their own interests again. The Southern Kurdistan government called on states like Turkey and Iran again. They gave messages that these states could support them again, they can continue like before. But looking at the politics of the South, one can see that the large scale issues do stem from Turkey. Despite everything, they expect Turkey to offer them support. It is apparent what support Turkey offers them. The situation Turkey is putting the South can be seen clearly. Turkey is directly responsible for many of the problems in the South. Turkey took Southern Kurdistan’s resources for itself and used them for animosity against Kurds. Turkey brought all enemies o Kurds together expecting to form an anti-Kurdish front. Despite all these, the Southern Kurdistan administration considers Turkey a friend and continue to stand in a position where they ask for their help. That is why the people are taken to a serhildan (uprising) position, trying to prevent coming threats and dangers.”

One of the reasons the situation in the South got to where it is today is that the Southern Kurdistan government does not agree to national unity and acts in accordance with their own interests instead. Not listening to the people, not focusing on their problems, focusing on their own power and interests, seeking to grow their own finances are among the reasons why the current situation came about. They didn’t do anything for the people. They turned their heads away from national unity and needs. They didn’t form a national relationship with other parts of Kurdistan. They didn’t support Kurds, instead they supported the invaders.

If national unity had been achieved, these situations wouldn’t have come to pass. And invaders couldn’t easily target Kurds’ gains and destroy them. Looking at history, all who have failed to fortify internal unity have fallen weak. Palestine is the most striking example, just to illustrate the point better. The Palestinian movement was weakened when their relationship with their surroundings was weakened. The government in Southern Kurdistan only thought of their own power. They supported invaders with their politics. They should have supported the struggle in other parts of Kurdistan, but they focused on their own interests alone. They displayed a political practice that is bad in every sense. There were such wrong policies in place against our people in the South as well. They made everything serve their own interests under the guise of politics. They lost the people with this approach. That is why the people stand against them today.

The people have risen up today as a result of their politics. This is the result of wrongful policies. This reality should be seen with all its aspects. They shouldn’t ask why the people are against them, there are some who want to take advantage of this. Underneath this reality is their wrongful policies, they need to face their own reality. The source of the problems in the South is the government itself. They should put a stop to their wrongful policies. They should give accounts to the people. They should form relationships with all democratic forces and form the government. Only a new, democratic government can be a force of a solution to the current issues. The new government should focus on national unity and democratization. That way the problems of the people can be resolved.”