On Thursday, the Kobanê trial, a show trial orchestrated from the palace in Ankara, came to its end. Leading HDP politicians, such as the party's former co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, were sentenced to decades in prison for calling for protest over the ISIS siege of Kobanê via Twitter. Demirtaş received a prison sentence of 42 years and Yüksekdağ 32 years and nine months.

Following the ruling, the Executive Council of the Community of Kurdistan Societies (KCK) released a statement saying: "With the judicial farce of the Kobanê trial, the crucial importance of the fight has once again become clear. It is an indispensable need and necessity for democratic politics and democratic forces to expand their unity and solidarity and intensify their struggle."

The KCK statement continued: "Dozens of HDP leaders, members and politicians were handed down long sentences in the Kobanê trial. This procedure is part of the policy of genocide against the Kurdish people and was initiated to liquidate democratic politics. The fascist AKP-MHP government is responsible for one of the most scandalous judgments in history. The righteous were condemned while the perpetrators were given a free pass. This procedure clearly expresses the anti-Kurdish stance of the regime. The procedure had absolutely nothing to do with the law. Instead, it was a farce developed by the fascist AKP-MHP government. The Kobanê trial was purely political and an expression of a policy of extermination. The court that made this decision is a court of annihilation. The Kobanê trial has no legitimacy whatsoever in the eyes of the Kurdish people, nor in those of Turkish society and public opinion. This trial has passed judgment on itself.

The fascist AKP-MHP regime opened these procedures to prevent the solution of the Kurdish question on the basis of the democratization of Turkey. To do this, democratic politics should be silenced and liquidated."

The KCK added: "The court’s ruling also serves this purpose. This procedure is also very important because it makes clear the close connection between the approach to the Kurdish people and the Kurdish question and to democracy. It is becoming clearer every day what kind of situation the AKP-MHP has brought Turkey into by sticking to the anti-Kurdish genocide. It is becoming more and more obvious that the state has no place for law, justice and balance, that it is completely dominated by criminal gangs, the mafia and the profit cartels, while society falls into extreme poverty. This course will result in severe destruction, burying everyone. The most important conclusion from this situation is, therefore, that all those who support democracy, freedom and democratic order should join forces for the democratization of Turkey and the democratic solution to the Kurdish question. Anyone who wants to make a contribution to democracy and the future of Turkey should take this as a guide. It is not possible to play a positive role if you ignore this."

The KCK said: "With the justice farce of the Kobanê trial, the crucial importance of the fight has once again become clear. It is an indispensable need and necessity for democratic politics and democratic forces to strengthen their unity and solidarity and intensify their struggle.

With the overcoming of fascism, the creation of a democratic basis is possible. This can only happen through the united struggle of revolutionary and democratic forces. This is the most important conclusion we must draw from this process. No force in Turkey that defines and positions itself as an opposition should take a stance that would legitimize the policies of the AKP-MHP. The fascist AKP-MHP government is at war with the Kurdish people, the peoples of Turkey, the future of society, democracy, freedom and justice. The rhetoric of political liberalization is a complete deception.

The decisions made in connection with the Kobanê trial have revealed the reality of the AKP. The attitude towards the Kurdish people and democratic politics is also the attitude towards Turkey and democracy. There is an inseparable connection between the two. Knowing this, everyone must act, make the struggle their basis and expand it."