The response to Turkey's occupation attacks against Northern and Eastern Syria has shown the need of national unity among Kurds. Although there have been major attacks on Kurds before, this time the discourse of national unity and the need for a common attitude of Kurds became more visible. This also prompted demands of the Kurdish people on how national unity should be achieved.

Murat Sarısaç: We have to fight for national unity

Murat Sarısaç, HDP Van deputy, said that the Kurdish people had reached this feeling of national unity before. Yet, he added, "we have to fight for it. With the latest occupation and war attempts, four messages have been sent to all parts of Kurdistan. I am sure that even if we were half way with establishing a national unity the trustees, the occupation attempts today or the global and international forces in these four parts would not been so free to negotiate on the lands of the Kurdish people." 

The Van MP added: "From this point, we came to the trustees, the war and the invasion attakcs in Kirkuk, Afrin and finally Rojava, which were the concrete gains of the Kurds for a hundred years."

According to Sarısaç the reason for all these attacks is actually the will to end what Kurds have achieved. 

"The appointment of trustees - he said - does not boil down to the hatred of Minister Soylu, or because of the current cabinet of the AKP. This is a concept. It is a war against the Kurds' gains."

Sarısaç stated that the municipalities rejected the centralist understanding and that the trustees were an attack on the understanding of local democracy.

"If national unity cannot be established, - said Sarısaç - these attacks will not be limited to Rojava alone. Tomorrow or the next day we'll see the same attack on Basur. The situation in Bakur is already evident. Maybe there hasn't been another period in history in which Kurds have been so much under attack. But I am sure that if unity is achieved in Başur, Rojava, Rojhilat and Bakur, it won't be possible to talk about the partition of Kurdistan."

Ferhat Encü: Kurds are fighting for their existence

Ferhat Encü, HDP former Şırnak deputy pointed out that the discourse of national unity is important and said: "The call for unity coming from 4 parts makes a great contribution to the emergence of national unity. The Kurds are fighting for the existence of one of the most ancient peoples of these lands and they have paid very heavy prices in this struggle. We believe that all we paid will eventually turn into a status. We have made these clear, but unfortunately the fascist mentality we face does not allow it. An idea emerged in Rojava. This idea can lead to a solution not only in the Middle East but also all over the world. Which is why there was a big attack against this paradigm."

Encü added: "This is an attack on the Kurds' existence, which is not limited to Rojava. All our people should claim this common life and react against the attacks on Rojava. If we don't foil these attacks, the plan drawn on a table 100 years ago to divide Kurdistan into 4 parts will prove successful today."

The former HDP deputy continued: "This century is a century in which the struggle of the Kurds will bring great gains. If we embrace, resist and unite, we will win this struggle. This fascist mentality is a major obstacle to national unity in the four parts; but today, when we look at the claim of the struggle emerging in Southern Kurdistan and the attitude put forward in Europe, we see that Kurdish national consciousness has reached a different level."