PKK's Duran Kalkan stated that resistance will grow altogether, spread across Turkey and grow stronger during the coming period, saying; “2017 will be the year of the fall of Tayyip Erdoğan-Devlet Bahçeli dictatorship. No one can prevent this. Neither Erdoğan's fascist cruelty nor his begging to Europe and Russia will help him remain standing.”

PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) Executive Committee Member Duran Kalkan spoke to News Channel TV about the current situation and latest developments in Turkey and Kurdistan.

First part of highlights from Kalkan's interview is as follows;

Intense guerrilla actions have been developed in Turkey and Kurdistan during the past one week. Your movement has launched a new initiative with the arrival of spring as the Turkish state's genocidal attacks continue. A demolition project is being put into practice in Sur, one of the leading areas of self-governance. How would you evaluate the current state in the struggle you are waging in North Kurdistan?

Resistance against fascism is growing. In all areas of Kurdistan, in the mountains and in every city of Turkey, the whole society of Turkey is resisting the fascist dictatorship and aggression of Tayyip Erdoğan and Devlet Bahçeli. This anti-fascist democratic popular movement started with April 16's referendum. The society manifested reaction after 'Yes' triumphed in the referendum through fraud. The society therewith said 'No, it is not over yet, the struggle continues'. During this past one and a half months, the struggle was carried into the streets and pursued in a rich variety of manners. This struggle against fascism is growing.

Women, youth, workers, Kurdish people, Alevis, all religious and sectarian groups, intellectuals, artists and villagers are all mounting resistance as fascism attacks the whole society. By its nature, fascism otherizes all the societal circles and seeks to make them bow to itself. Fascism attacks everyone that does not belong to it, that does not obey and surrender. In response, the society, with all its constituents, is responding to fascism with resistance. Despite widespread arrests, the AKP government could not cow one single person into submission. The resistance we witnessed during the referendum process continues and grows even more today.

There has been a remarkable increase in the guerrilla actions starting from May. Without doubt, these will continue and enhance further in the coming process. In the current situation, with the increasingly ongoing guerrilla actions across North Kurdistan, from Botan to Amed, from Dersim to Serhat, it is seen very clearly that the Tayyip Erdoğan-Devlet Bahçeli dictatorship will fall. As is seen, the struggle against fascism is being waged through various means.

In Ankara, dismissed academics have resisted. The actions limited with handing out leaflets and casting votes during the referendum process have now changed into protest demonstrations and are spreading in the form of various practices. Youths are forming groups and developing resistance against fascist gangs. In Sur, the women, children, youth and elderly of Alipaşa neighborhood are resisting. Righteously, they want to protect their houses and the areas where they were born and raised. Fascism is an enemy of people, folks, free and democratic living, and especially everything pertaining to the Kurds. It is an enemy of the centers of resistance in Kurdistan, of Sur, Cizre, Botan, and of Colomêrg, Serhat, Dersim and Mardin.

There is a total fascist genocidal aggression that aims to crush the Kurds and annihilate their existence, freedom and values of living. However, people, young and old alike, are resisting bravely. During the coming period, this resistance will grow altogether, spread across Turkey and grow stronger. 2017 will be the year of the fall of Tayyip Erdoğan-Devlet Bahçeli dictatorship. No one can prevent this. Neither Erdoğan's fascist cruelty nor his begging to Europe and Russia wil help him remain standing. There can be no prosperity through cruelty and those responsible for this atrocity are definitely brought to acccount eventually. Here, guerrillas have launched actions everywhere to bring fascism to book.

Doesn't the demolition in Sur actually manifest the desperateness of AKP? Isn't there an AKP in question that tries to wreak its anger on concrete walls and houses after failing to get what it wanted in Sur?

True, there is a total hysteria in question and he has become hostile towards everything. This is because of the fact that four battalions of soldiers were annihilated during the resistance in Sur. Sur and Nusaybin became a syndrome for the state. Tayyip Erdoğan experienced a great fear of breakdown.That fear transformed into enmity against Sur. This enmity is an enmity against Amed, and enmity against Amed is enmity against the Kurd. It came out in the open that Erdoğan is the leading enemy and murderer of the Kurds, and that this is a fascist, genocidal and colonialist mindset and policy he pursues.

Let Erdoğan attack as much as he wants. The heroes of Sur, Çiyagers, are heroes of Sur today as well. The children, youth and women of Sur will never end. They are the children of a 5 thousand year old city. They are not like Erdoğan whose past is uncertain. Those city walls in Amed were built 5 thousand years ago. There is a sedentary society culture in that city and its residents internalised, breathed and took shape with it. No one can push them out of there, nor defeat them. The sense of community in Sur cannot be wiped out.

The people, youth and women should know this truth and resist further. Nobody should let their houses and streets be torn down. They should protect the history there and the resistance in Sur should be supported. I invite all the intellectuals, artists, human rights defenders and political circles to unite with the people of Sur.

Sur was inscribed on World Heritage List by UNESCO. Why are they silent?

Such decisions are taken but when the Turkish fascism is on the agenda, no international laws or conventions apply. A truly spoiled nuisance has been created, everybody wants to get away from it. There is a fear in the outside world. But one can not get rid of fascism by escpaing. Similar to the classic slogan, “Don’t run, if you run, your turn will come!”

In any case, Tayyip Erdoğan threatened everybody. He said: “If you don’t do what I say, nobody will be safe anywhere in the world.” He openly “warned” Europe. Before he went to Europe, he had Britain hit. He wants to make everybody kneel to him. This is akin to Hitler, Mussolini and ISIS. In the face of this, an institution like the UN to issue a decision but not endorse it means the UN becomes the shame of the age and humanity. How will the UN make the Kurds listen to it like this? How will the UN be acceptable for the peoples? I’m calling the UN to duty, and to uphold their responsibilities. Their decisions are being trampled. Tayyip Erdoğan’s fascism is trampling, stomping on UN decisions. All should embrace their duties and their responsibilities. Humanity can’t be allowed to be crushed by fascism. All should unite in the resistance against fascism.

As the anniversary of June 7 approaches, we see HDP employing a lively and energetic opposition despite all the pressure and arrests. Have democratic politics done what they should have in the fight against fascism after June 7?

The democratic politics arena resists. They haven’t bowed down before fascism, they chose resistance. In the parliament, on the streets, throughout Kurdistan and Turkey democratic politics resist. People are thrown into dungeons, and they are displaying a serious resistance there. This is important. We must look back to these two years. The post-June 7 period wasn’t utilized well. The current resisting political stance and level of activity couldn’t be displayed back then. An inertia came over with the June 7 results. Democratic politics achieved a great win, but thought we had a democratic mindset and atmosphere in the country to accept and deal with this. The characteristics of Tayyip Erdoğan-Devlet Bahçeli failed to be seen, they weren’t understood. So there were weaknesses and shortcomings.

There was a slight bewilderment when the fascist aggression bounced back and launched political, military and ideological attacks after June 7. They thought there shouldn’t have been. There were doubts “whether the PKK was making these happen”. Some people thought this way first. Some spoke of this openly or in secret, some spoke to the press. These were the faults and shortcomings. For this part, there is always a need for self criticism. Those who can’t do that, won’t be able to understand the present or the future of fascism, thus how the resistance against it should be or how it can be developed.