In the fourth part of this in-depth interview, KCK Executive Council co-chair Cemil Bayık spoke about the recent wave of attacks launched by the Turkish state against the Kurdish culture. He also spoke about the ecocide carried out by Turkey in Kurdistan.

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

Young people  have been systematically attacked for dancing govend or listening to Kurdish songs. Recently, there have again been many arrests. The policy of assimilation and Kurdish genocide continues. How do you evaluate the auto-assimilation policy alongside this policy of the occupiers?

The Turkish state is attacking Kurdish culture in order to eliminate the Kurds. It wants to eliminate everything that is connected to the Kurdish identity. If you want to destroy a people, you eliminate the culture of that people. Without its culture, a people would disappear; it would no longer be able to take care of themselves. What was Erdoğan saying? 'We have taken many steps, but we have not yet taken a step in the cultural field. We must take this step so that we can perpetuate our power.'

They are changing Turkey’s history; they want to change its culture. They want to create a Turkey and a society according to themselves, and they also seek to develop this in Kurdistan. That’s why they ban everything that is part of Kurdish culture and identity. For example, they distribute tablets to students in all primary schools. With those tablets, they aim to take all children away from Kurdish culture. They are trying to force those children to love the Turkish state. They have installed many programs on these tablets; in this way, they want to assimilate the children already in primary school and make them forget where they come from. In this way, they want to completely eradicate Kurdish society and identity.

They arrest people who dance govend, they ban education in Kurdish, they ban slogans, Kurdish writing, etc. In other words, there are huge attacks on Kurdish culture. The state organizes many festivals in order to push forward assimilation. They want to oppress society through arrests, torture, and lynching, and they want to Turkify the Kurds and eliminate those who do not let themselves be Turkified so that no one remains to oppose them. They are conducting their politics on this basis. I would like to make a call from here: no one should go to the festivals organized by the Turkish state in the cities of Kurdistan. Those festivals should be prevented from taking place. Instead of those festivals, Kurds themselves should organize festivals in their cities. They should speak Kurdish at all their rallies and marches, wherever and whatever they do. They should not speak Turkish. The friends in prison should also develop the Kurdish language and Kurdish literature. Their theater, literature, poetry, novels, and stories should all be in Kurdish. They should testify in Kurdish in front of the courts. Each of our people should live with their own culture and speak their own language. All Kurdish families should live a life based on Kurdish identity against their assimilation. They should not develop auto-assimilation alongside the state’s assimilation. This is wrong. We have many achievements as a people; we should put these values at the service of humanity, and this can be done in Kurdish. If you don’t write in Kurdish, it is not Kurdish literature. This serves as assimilation. All songs should be in Kurdish. For example, we have some artists who appear before the public with Turkish songs. However, they should start to appear before the public only with Kurdish songs. The Turkish state wants to eradicate the Kurdish identity. Against this, a strong struggle is vital. On this basis, I call on all Kurds to take care of their culture and identity.

An ecocide is going on in Kurdistan. From North to South, from Rojava to East Kurdistan, the Turkish state is cutting down trees, destroying forests with bombs, and polluting the water and air of Kurdistan. What is the reason for this ecological destruction of Kurdistan’s nature?

The Turkish state wants to make all of Kurdistan its property. It is working to achieve this goal in every sense, both materially and morally. Recently, it has been focusing especially on the regions of Sirnak and Colemerg (tr. Hakkari). They want to establish their military headquarters there and turn these places into fields of energy. Therefore, it aims to erase the Kurds from these places. In this way, it wants to cut the relationship between the four parts of Kurdistan and liquidate the link between Kurds and their land so that it can liquidate other places more easily. At the moment, it wants to occupy South Kurdistan as well, and to do this, it wants to finish Sirnak and Colemerg first. In order to eliminate Kurdish society, it is distributing drugs deliberately, spreading prostitution and spying, and destroying nature by cutting down trees, extracting oil, polluting the water, and putting these places at its service in this way. It is causing great destruction, both in society and in nature.

It poses a great danger with the destruction it creates in nature and society. It was stated in the Turkish press that suicides among young people in Colemerg are increasing day by day. They made this a reality, not only in Colemerg. Drugs are distributed to children, even from as young as 5 and 6 years old. This is a great danger for society. Most recently in Cewlig (tr. Bingol), a drug addict, lost his life, and while dying, he injured many people. This is the policy of the state. It creates unlimited destruction, both in society and in nature. It deprives Kurdish society of the basis for life. Another example would be that many waters in the Sirnak region are undrinkable. People say that the water we see is like tar; it is undrinkable. They have left no trees, no villages; even in the cities, people are unable to live. The weather is not what it used to be; the seasons are losing their characteristics. People’s lives are now in danger. This is how they want to force people to migrate. They have especially focused on Sirnak and Colemerg now, but they will carry out the politics they are implementing there all over Kurdistan.

The Mesopotamia Ecology Movement has made a call, not only to Kurds but also to society in Turkey, to stop the destruction of nature and society. But this is not just a call. In the press, there are both personal and institutional statements that oil is being extracted, water is being polluted, trees are being cut down, and that this is being done to prevent the guerrillas from staying there. But this destruction cannot be prevented with statements. Look, many villages in Turkey also stand against ecological destruction. The destruction of society and nature must not be allowed. I recently saw in the press that people from the ecological movement in Amed (tr. Diyarbakir) are visiting houses and explaining the consequences of this destruction on society and what will happen in the end. This is an important work and should be done everywhere. In cities, towns and villages, our people need to protect themselves, their identity, their will, their labor, their values, their culture, their language, and their nature. One by one, houses should be visited, people should be told about the situation. Awareness must be raised. This is what is necessary. If even a single tree is being cut down, they should go there and stand against it. They should not be afraid of being arrested or getting killed by the state. They are already killing the whole of society in this way, destroying the whole of nature, leaving no possibility to live. Everyone needs to see this and stand against it. The people need to protect their society, nature, humanity and values. This is what is required of everyone.