In the second part of this interview, Duran Kalkan, member of the KCK Executive Council, said that "the current government is not going through a change of mentality and politics that recognizes the existence of the Kurdish people."

The first part of the interview can be read here.

The Imrali delegation recently held a meeting with the President of Turkey. How do you see and assess the rapprochement of the state and the rulers in the current phase?

The meeting took place after a long time, almost two weeks. There was even a debate about whether it would happen or not because of the time that had passed. But finally there was a meeting. Of course, it is important and meaningful that the President of the Republic met with the DEM Party’s Imrali delegation. They also met with the Speaker of the Parliament, they met with the heads of other parties, and with further circles. But it is decisive to meet with the President of the Republic as the interlocutor of the government and the number one responsible for the state, and for the President of the Republic to be involved in this matter at that level. Therefore, we see it as meaningful. And the statements given afterwards were very positive. It impressed everyone. But as we have expressed before, there are many wishes, many words, but no practice. No practical steps are taken. Now there are very positive, pleasing words and statements, but the question is what the practical outcome will be. We really don’t have any information about the content of the talks. We don’t know if something has been decided, or if wishes have been expressed, or how the results will be put into practice. We hope that it will be positive, that it will advance the process.

More can be said when a practice develops. Mere words will not be enough. We cannot say anything based on words. In this respect, both the talks and the statements are important. We hope that practice of it will follow.

The public, especially the Kurdish and the democratic public, first and foremost the women and the youth, must be aware that so far everything is just at the level of words and wishes. There should be no wrong perception. All this might be a concept of special warfare being in play. Caution is necessary, and evaluations from as many angles as possible are needed for it to be evaluated correctly, since there is enough reason to have doubts and to be concerned.

The war and the attacks of the Turkish state continue uninterruptedly. On behalf of our Central Headquarters Command, the HPG Press Office announces the statistics of the daily attacks against the guerrillas. We gave five martyrs in Zap and two martyrs in Gare. There are about 500-1000 bombardments every day. Prohibited weapons are being used. And airplanes continue to hover over the area.

I want to take this opportunity to salute the resistance of our guerrillas once again. I commemorate with respect, love, and gratitude the martyrs we gave in the face of these attacks. It is important and meaningful to be able to stand firm under these conditions, to use the right to legitimate defense against these attacks. No one can say anything different to this. But how will it be if it is being said that armed struggle must stop and arms must be laid down while they still uninterruptedly launch military attacks? How credible can that demand for laying down arms be? This is, to say the least, debatable. Why are these attacks still going on? It doesn’t look like a peaceful situation at all. I wonder what a force that attacks while there is a ceasefire will do to those armed people if they lay down their arms tomorrow. We are not ignorant. They should try to deceive us.

The current government is carrying out similar attacks not only on the military front but also on society and politics. Democratic individuals are constantly being arrested, and democratic institutions are being shut down. The prisons are filled to the brim. The government is attacking the opposition. There is massive pressure and attacks on the CHP, as well as on all the other parties. As comrade Karasu said, “Can we talk about an approach, mentality, and politics that cannot tolerate the opposition being democratic? Can such a mentality and politics democratize the state and society? Can it realize the democratic solution of problems?” This is not possible. If it cannot be democratic itself, then it cannot build democracy. It cannot create a democratic solution to problems. The current AKP-MHP regime is abusing this process and the opportunities created by it to consolidate its power. It is abusing it in the most reckless way. It is using the judiciary as a weapon. Democracy cannot come to Turkey with this approach. A mentality that cannot democratize Turkey cannot solve the Kurdish question. It is not possible for those who cannot solve the Kurdish question to make changes in the Imrali system or to take part in the process envisioned by Rêber Apo.

And these are not the only things. There are also external factors. For example, they held a meeting with Iraq in their joint mechanism. The only agenda was “PKK terrorism” and “joint fight against the PKK”. And you were making a deal with the PKK? You wanted the PKK to hold a congress, to dissolve, and to lay down its arms? They hold meetings in Syria, Iraq, Iran, Europe, and all over the world and make agreements with everyone against the “PKK terror”. There is no change in mentality and policy. Anti-Kurdishness, Kurdish denial, and Kurdish enmity continue as the guiding mentality and politics of the current government. Not only do they try to prevent the Kurds from obtaining their most basic rights, but they also want to annihilate them. They carry out all kinds of attacks. The attacks on Rojava and the struggle in Syria are very clear. There is no recognition of the existence and democratic rights of any Kurd here.

In short, yes, there are talks, there are some political discourses, but there is not much change in terms of mentality and politics. At the beginning, Devlet Bahceli said, “Let Apo come; let him speak in parliament.” But it remained at the level of words. Where remains the practice? He talked about Kurdish-Turkish brotherhood, about historical continuations. But the current government is not going through a change of mentality and politics that recognizes the existence of the Kurdish people, their existence as a people, and their democratic rights. What can be done with a government that follows anti-Kurdish mentality and politics? There is a genocide and no process. In this respect, yes, we have paid attention; there are optimistic statements, and there are wishes. “We will take steps,” they say. They are playing on time; they are stalling while there are no practical steps. There is an unclear, ambiguous situation, and it continues.

You have already mentioned that the declaration by peoples leader Abdullah Öcalan is being widely discussed. Let’s be more specific about this. How do you see the discussions in this regard on the part of the opposition and the press?

In terms of the opposition, one should not be too hopeless or denialist. There are important discussions within some democratic and leftist-socialist circles, as well as within women’s and youth movements. They are discussing the situation and rights of Rêber Apo, as well as the fact that the Kurdish question is a one- or two-hundred-year-old problem and the Kurdish people’s existence and gaining their democratic rights after 27 years of torture and isolation in Imrali. These are important discussions, and they are appropriate. The solution can only come from here. Without such discussions, there will be no solution. But there are also some discussions… It really surprises people. Can one be so narrow, chauvinistic, and nationalist? Can one be so racist? Can one be so power-hungry and self-interested? Some debates have nothing to do with the reality of Turkey. They are buried in their own interests; they are suffocating Turkey’s future and deepening its problems in a narrow power struggle. They are the ones preventing the democratization of Turkey, preventing Kurdish freedom. They are so confused that it is not even clear what they want. The only thing that can be seen is that they are enemies of Rêber Apo; they are enemies of the PKK. Whenever they open their mouths, it is only enmity that is coming out. You cannot reach anything with such people. They need to be reminded of the reality of Turkey and the reality of the region. The state that they know is cracking down. It is in search of how to save its future. It has fallen into a dangerous situation, but they don’t know it. Actually, they don’t really care about the survival of the state or about the future of the country; their only concern is their own narrow interests. There is such an individualistic, self-interested, materialistic environment. This is a very bad situation. These people need to be opposed and isolated.

There are discussions in this direction in the ruling circle. In terms of the opposition, the AKP suppresses it with its own methods. It has gotten the CHP into something, manipulating it. It made up a lot of things, but the CHP could not overcome them. Other opposition parties have expressed positive wishes, but they are unable to take steps. They are not pioneers, they cannot present projects, and they cannot develop an independent policy. They could not make the parliament work. Rêber Apo was also pointing to the parliament. We also considered it important. The institution that has to produce solutions in the first place is the parliament. And it is these parties that run the parliament. Many parties have groups or deputies in the parliament. They are in a position to work in parliament. “We are preparing a project,” the CHP said at one point. “We will present it to parliament on democratization and the solution of the Kurdish question”, but again nothing followed. They only say that the government is unreliable, express their doubts, and criticize the government. Fine, so be it; but if they really want to fight against this power, they can do so if they present their own projects and solutions that will overcome it. Otherwise, they will not criticize the government; they will just strengthen it even more.

They haven’t really taken very effective steps in terms of running the parliament and developing projects and plans. We haven’t seen it yet. “It can’t be done,” they say. They reject even the positive rhetoric of the government. Like this, they won’t achieve anything. If you really want to oppose the oppression, exploitation, and antidemocratic attitudes of the government, then make democracy work, develop it, take steps towards democratization, and develop projects. Make parliament work towards democratization. But practices to this extent have not developed. They create a narrowing, a blockage. It does so in such a way that it obstructs the solution of very historical, very important, very urgent problems such as the solution of the Kurdish question or the democratization of Turkey, or it confines this solution to a narrow power struggle, thus making them no longer a “solution force”. Everyone should abandon their self-interested, narrow, power-oriented approach. The solution of a problem such as the Kurdish question and the democratization of Turkey cannot be used for narrow power calculations. It cannot be handled with narrow interests. This is how the government handles it, this is how the AKP handles it; they carry out attacks on this basis. Doing something similar cannot surpass it!

The opposition should develop an attitude that develops democracy and shouldn’t try to imitate the government. The opposition should be able to become a democratic opposition, and step by step, it should operate the parliament and produce solutions for the democratization of Turkey. This is our call. If they do so, they will be effective. They will be understood, they can condemn the wrongdoings of the government, and they can find a base in society. We believe that such problems can indeed be overcome with a democratic mentality, with a democratic unity and alliance, and with an approach and effort that involves almost everyone in some way. This is our call to everyone. If the opposition does this, it will succeed. It will not be successful otherwise.