Duran Kalkan, member of the KCK Executive Council, spoke about the developments in Syria, where the country is heading now, and what impact the current developments have on the forces involved.

A few weeks ago, there was a massive rupture in Syria. Within a few days and weeks, the existing system collapsed, and now the situation in the country is uncertain, with the central question of what kind of new government will emerge. How do you assess this process?

That’s right, a crucial change in the balance of power in Syria began at the end of November. Now everyone is discussing the consequences of this. There is a suitable Turkish saying: ‘Let’s hope that one will not long for what was overcome.’ Currently, one can only make such a wish. Because it is known what was just overcome, but it is also known who all the forces are that are involved in building something new. They promise some things and are also trying to create some expectations. Supposedly, there will be a new Syria, a democratic Syria, a pluralist Syria. What we can say is, let’s hope that this is the case. We have always fought for this. The Kurdish struggle, and even the PKK’s struggle, has been no less. But it is not clear what will really happen.

What has happened so far? The situation we are seeing right now is a result of the world war. This started with the collapse of the Baathist governments in Iraq. Now it has taken a new level with the fall of the Baathist Syrian regime in its 61st year. There are also the results of the Gaza war from October 7, 2023. We made it clear on many occasions that after Gaza, it would be Lebanon’s turn, and after Lebanon, it would be Syria’s turn, and after Syria, it would be Cyprus.

The situation that is currently developing in Syria is being driven forward under the leadership of Turkey. Now, various circles flatter Tayyip Erdoğan and pat him on the back. Trump is not even in the White House yet and is already starting to praise Erdoğan. He is inflating himself like a frog inflating itself.

But what did he really do? Did he do something for the benefit of Turkey? Or did he do it for the benefit of others and also prolong the life of his own government? Didn’t he personally benefit himself? The coming process will show this. Now those cries of victory are not very meaningful. They want to inflate themselves. We called it a Pyrrhic victory, a false victory. A victory similar to Saddam’s forceful invasion of Kuwait. They made many people do that, and now they are using Tayyip Erdoğan in the same way. They used him in the Gaza War. Through him, they made Hamas start the war, encouraged Hezbollah to go to war, and now in Syria, they have given the command of the war to Tayyip Erdoğan. And now they inflate him because he has done a great job. How much is this in Turkey’s interest? Some Turkish intellectuals are questioning this, thinking, and discussing. But this still remains at a very weak level.

This inflated propaganda and psychological warfare of the AKP-MHP are so comprehensive that others are not even heard. They suppress them all. Actually, the situation was completely different not long ago. Tayyip Erdoğan was eager to meet with Bashar al-Assad. Secretly, openly, he was constantly trying to enforce a meeting. He talked to Putin, so that he would mediate, many times. Everyone was expecting that the US wanted to walk with Bashar al-Assad. Indeed, these were not just empty words. But suddenly some developments turned this situation upside down. Nobody expected that Hezbollah would be hit so hard, so fast, and that Syria’s turn would come so soon. Hezbollah’s power and support were very crucial to the survival of the Assad regime in Syria.

When it was hit, Syria also weakened. The results of the Gaza and Lebanon War actually created this situation in Syria. They realized that Syria’s turn came early, and the Assad regime’s support was seriously weakened. Russia was the only one left. And so they came together on November 6 and made a deal. After that, there was no support left for the Bashar al-Assad administration. There was only the question of who will carry out this work, who should be entrusted with it. They made Israel fight against Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon. Bashar al-Assad’s government was a government, a state that had a place in the UN. The system did not want Israel to be the one to destroy it. They made Tayyip Erdoğan pull the rope. They made Tayyip Erdoğan overthrow the UN-affiliated administration, and he is rejoicing, “I destroyed it; I won a victory”.

He is happy as if he has won a great victory. However, who knows what will happen to him tomorrow because of this? There is no need for him to rejoice too soon. He has been encouraged to do so. They saw very clearly that he was very eager. Until now, the US and NATO were kind of against it because they did not agree with its policies in Syria. They immediately held talks. The NATO secretary went to Turkey, and then they launched the attack from Idlib, and this result emerged.

Now this situation has emerged, but this is not a final result. The existing situation has been destroyed, but it is still not clear what will replace it or what will happen next. What the replacement implement will be is not clear at all. The people and organizations who are considered as terrorists by those who supported it, the person for whom they issued an arrest warrant as a terrorist, are now the ones to attend the meetings. They fall into each other’s arms, put on ties and suits, and try to tailor a matching government. But everyone is pretending. Those who are running this are pretending, so are the forces behind it, and so they also do it themselves. There is a lot of this kind of pretense in these Islamic circles. This is how such groups came to be in the beginning.

That’s how it is now, so one can say that the situation in Syria is rather unclear. In this way, the formation of something new in Syria is difficult. It didn’t happen in Gaza or Lebanon either, nor did it in Iraq. They are destroying the old, and the new formation remains on a regional level. What is created now is temporary. They will only establish temporary things in Syria too, if they can. Because there are too many contradictions in Syria. The ethnic structure is very diverse. There are so many different religions, many different sects, and many very different groups of people. Only pluralist, democratic, confederal systems can create unity among them. Non-democratic systems cannot survive. They cannot create anything new or good. Therefore, the current situation will prevail.

Syria was one step. It is said that after Syria, the forces in Iraq that oppose the monopolistic system will be targeted. On the one hand, Iran will be the target. It is already under siege. The pressure on Iran will increase. The other is Turkey. The global monopoly capital system is trying to establish control in the Eastern Mediterranean on the basis of energy and trade routes. Therefore, they are clearing the way. Cyprus will be next. Turkey is the center of the war. Therefore, sayings like “Turkey made this war” and “Tayyip Erdoğan won it” are empty. They are just words of deception. They are aimed at inflating public opinion in Turkey. Tayyip Erdoğan’s administration was very much weakened. It was already about to fall. They were doing this to keep him standing. They saw that they still needed to keep him standing, as they used him as a provocateur. Obviously, they wanted to use him more, and therefore, they gave him such a Pyrrhic victory to keep him on his feet. But what will happen at Turkey’s borders? The war has come closer to Turkey, and it is not clear what the country will face.

We had warned Turkey that it should not waste any time. Those who are using the talks with Rêber Apo as part of their special warfare will realize tomorrow that it is too late to take them seriously. Turkey is missing the opportunity. It is exhausting the possibilities. Why don’t those who love Turkey understand this? Why don’t they see it? The opposition forces, democratic circles, left-wing socialist forces, women’s and youth organizations should be raising hell. With the AKP-MHP government that has created this situation in Syria, it is unclear what this will bring for Turkey. We have already pointed out before that the only savior from this is Rêber Apo. Turkey’s only salvation is the democratization of the country on the basis of Kurdish freedom. Without this, Turkey has no future. And the only person who can provide this is Rêber Apo. Now they’re talking about the possibility of something happening tomorrow or the day after. That’s a game for them. All they are doing is wasting time and letting the only possibilities slip away. Tomorrow it may already be too late for them.

The Kurds are also at the center of the attacks and the war in Syria, and above all, the aggression of the Turkish state. What impact does this have on the Autonomous Administration and what role can it play in the new Syria? What repercussions will this have on Turkey?

Today’s situation is not one that was created by Turkey or Tayyip Erdoğan and his administration. The war in Gaza, the war that had already started in the Gulf in the 90s, was led by the same people who started it, and they also did so in Syria. It happened according to their plan. Turkey was only used to playing an executive role. It was made the force that was to pull the rug out from under Bashar al-Assad’s feet. This is not Tayyip Erdoğan’s success. They made him do it. The forces that made him do it are the forces that conducted the previous war. They are also behind the forces now sitting in Damascus. They want to involve Turkey and bring it to the point they want, that is, to take it under their full control. And the current Turkish government is giving them everything they want in exchange for staying in power. What will happen to Turkey afterward, of course, is never clear. Now that a new Syria will be created, what will happen? They have brought Turkey into the picture to put pressure on the Kurds. It attacks them on a daily basis. First there was an attack on the Kurdish communities in Tell Rifaat, who had migrated from Afrin, and then there was the attack on Manbij and the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES). Turkey is commanding these attacks. They call it the ‘Syrian National Army,’ but there is no such force. They called it a different organization, but it consists solely of Turkish organizations with many different names and masks. This is commonly known. And the FSA is at the heart of this. The FSA is the Muslim Brotherhood, and Tayyip Erdoğan is the co-chairman of this Muslim Brotherhood. The Muslim Brotherhood is not an organization of another power; it is directly their organization.

What will the new Syria look like? What will be the role of the Kurds, the role of the communities? These are questions that need to be addressed. The existing Syria has been destroyed, and it is not so easy to build a new one. It cannot be established like the old one. No one will accept it. Everyone has become a little more conscious and organized over the years. There are many ethnic structures, different religions, and many sects. Not only Sunni Arabs live here. There are Christian Arabs, there are Arabs of other religions, there are Assyrians, Assyrians, Armenians, Turkmens… In other words, there is everyone.

They want to put the DAANES under pressure and threat. When the DAANES shows some resistance, it can be a power, a bright light within Syria. It is an influential power, and it has people, very conscious and organized people that are resisting, to rely on. I salute that resistance and commemorate their martyrs with respect, love, and gratitude. They resisted heroically and are still resisting at the Tishrin Dam, the Qereqozakh Bridge, and in Kobane. Just as ISIS and the YPG fought there in the past, the same forces are fighting there now.

The model and experience of the DAANES can be an example for all of Syria. They have created a democratic system that unites so many different ethnicities. In over twelve years, they have acquired a tradition of self-administration and corresponding experience. In fact, they thereby have created an answer to the question of how the new administration in Syria should be. They should not be afraid. They are the most organized and strongest group when they show resistance. As they resisted ISIS, they received the support of all the peoples and democratic circles of the world, and now again they have the support of the Kurdish people; they have the support of all peoples, women, young people, and democratic circles. And there will be an increase.

It is not clear what the opposing power will develop. They might try to turn it into a new Afghanistan. But it is clear that the DAANES is the basic model, the core of the new democratic Syria. The people will support it. Those who strive for women’s freedom, those who want the freedom of peoples, those who want democracy, those who want freedom of thought and organization – they find all of this in the DAANES. They have created such a model of democratic governance. They have created a model of how Syria could be a democratic confederal system along with the understanding of a democratic nation. As I said, if there really is to be a democracy, the experience of North and East Syria is a model for the whole of Syria. They can utilize it and adapt it to Syria. They have the power to do so. They are in the strongest position for this. They should definitely not see themselves as weak. Especially the Kurdish people, but generally all the peoples of North and East Syria. They are already united there. They should strengthen their union and intensify their resistance. All the people – women, old people, and even young people – are armed. This is a people’s resistance. It inspires all the oppressed and shines for them like a star. They have the support of all those under oppression and exploitation. They will always support them. That is something they can trust in. Various massacres are taking place; it is necessary to resist them. It is not possible to be successful without resistance.

Let me ask, who are those people in HTS? Some of them were gathered from East Asia, and some from other parts of this world. They are a recruited group of mercenaries. The Syrian National Army is a recruitment group. They are trying to portray it as if this is a force of nations, while on the other hand are ‘the Kurds’. Let me take this opportunity to point something else out. They keep saying that the PKK is the problem. They have made it a catchphrase. They say this to put pressure on the DAANES.

As comrade Cemal has already put it, there is no organizational connection. But this is not a problematic situation. There are consultants, individuals who work as consultants there. If there are non-Syrian Kurds who are doing some work as individuals, and they are associated with the PKK, if the DAANES says that they should leave their areas, they will leave. Particularly for PKK members, this is no problem. They had already taken their weapons from Northern Kurdistan before and had crossed to Rojava Kurdistan to help fight and resist against ISIS. Tayyip Erdogan knows this more than anyone else. It is not possible to put pressure on the DAANES in this regard. I salute all the peoples of North and East Syria, and the Kurdish people in particular, for their resistance and commemorate their martyrs with respect. I wish them great success in their historic struggle for freedom.

On 19 December, two journalists, Nazim Dashtan and Cihan Bilgin, were murdered in a targeted Turkish drone strike on a vehicle that was clearly marked as a press vehicle. What can they tell us about this?

I commemorate the martyrs Nazim Dashtan and Cihan Bilgin with respect, love, and gratitude. Indeed, they were fighters of light against darkness, truth against tyranny, goodness against evil, beauty against ugliness, and freedom against slavery. They were sacrificial warriors of the truth.

Everyone learned from Nazim and Cihan what happened in Manbij, at the Qereqozax bridge and the Tishrin dam. Otherwise, without their efforts, the lies and manipulation of the Turkish state’s special psychological warfare would have been accepted as truth by everyone. It was them who repelled this propaganda and unmasked it. They illuminated the truth and set an example of great courage and sacrifice. Because of this, they were deliberately targeted. It was a planned attack, a targeted assassination. A massacre, an assassination committed by the Turkish state, by the administration of Tayyip Erdoğan. An assassination that constitutes a crime against humanity. In the language of law, this is called premeditated murder. They treacherously targeted them because Nazim and Cihan were ripping off their masks. They were resisting valiantly, as the people of North and East Syria resisted valiantly. They did not make fake friendships like Tayyip Erdoğan. This is what Bashar al-Assad’s government has been doing for a while. Nor did they engage in dishonorable warfare. The Kurds and those allied with the Kurds have always stood firmly with a democratic mentality against the Baathist regime. They waged the most effective and fruitful struggle. As journalists, Nazim and Cihan have made this sacrificial and valiant war of the people for democracy and freedom visible. In doing so, they have rendered a great service to the people in the fight against the propaganda war.

Once again, I commemorate them with respect and gratitude. I share the pain of all their loved ones, their families, and the members of the free press. They are embraced everywhere, but their legacy still deserves to be embraced even more. Societies that cannot embrace these people cannot survive. ‘The free press cannot be silenced’ is chanted everywhere, and indeed this is true. We strongly believe in this because its foundations have been laid very firmly. It was people like Mazlum Dogan, Gurbetelli Ersoz, and Ape Musa who laid it. This struggle cannot be stopped with such an attack, with such an assassination. The press can and will not be silenced. No matter what they have done throughout the past five decades, they could not silence it. This struggle has continued by overcoming all obstacles, overcoming all kinds of difficulties, and showing all kinds of courage and sacrifice. And it will continue. Nazim and Cihan will be the symbols of the struggle for a free press.