Besê Hozat, Co-President of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council, spoke to Medya Haber TV about the currently developing events in the context of the Third World War, which finds its current center in Syria in the Middle East. Hozat talked about several other topics, exposing the genocidal policies pursued by the fascist Turkish government on the one hand and talking about the need for resistance and self-governance of the peoples on the other. Below is the first part of the comprehensive interview with Hozat.

Currently, the region faces constant change, and new realities are developing on a daily basis. The Middle East is the center of the Third World War, and after Palestine and Lebanon, the war has now gained new intensity in Syria. The HTS and other gangs of the oppressive Turkish state have attacked Aleppo. These are attacks that continue to unfold as we speak. Many questions arise: What is the current general situation in Syria? Who are the forces behind this new attack? What is the US and Russian approach to these developments? The list of questions could certainly go on and on, but I would like to ask one central one: What is the necessary attitude of the Kurdish people, as well as that of the other peoples of the region and their self-defense forces that follow the understanding of the democratic nation and unite accordingly, in view of the situation in Syria?

A big war is going on, and truly, Syria has become the center of the Third World War in the Middle East. It started with the occupation of Aleppo, and now it has spread. The gangs are also about to take over Hama and claimed that they will advance towards Homs and Damascus. On the other hand, gangs are being mobilized by Turkey, not only there, but also in North-East Syria. The Turkish state is currently carrying out a plan based on attacking North and East Syria. One needs to be aware of the reality that Turkey has been the main actor in this war in Syria since 2011. It played a very decisive role in the outbreak of the civil war. It took the lead in organizing many gangs, tens of thousands of mercenaries. Turkey has become the central headquarters of the gangs. It trains, equips, and provides all kinds of logistics and ammunition and commands the gangs. It has been doing this for years. It also developed an alliance with ISIS and made it attack Rojava and particularly Kobane. That war was coordinated by Turkish generals together with ISIS.

At the moment, the Turkish state and the Turkish army are also coordinating this war. Together with al-Nusra and the so-called FSA, the command and control center of this war in Syria is the Turkish state itself, the Turkish army itself. Turkish generals are coordinating this war. This needs to be stated very clearly. It is the Turkish generals who are coordinating and conducting the battle for Aleppo and the war in other regions. For four or five years they have already been waging a great war of annihilation in the Medya Defense Zones (guerrilla-held areas in northern Iraq) together. They came and crashed in this war. They got locked in the places they entered. Developments in the region have also accelerated. Now, in order to intervene more effectively in Syria, they have turned their attention to Syria. It should not be said that al-Nusra is fighting, or that the gangs affiliated with Turkey are fighting; it is the Turkish army that is fighting in Syria. The gangs themselves are paramilitary forces affiliated with the Turkish army. It is a branch of the Turkish state, a militia branch. And it has created great destruction in Syria and is currently continuing this destruction. Because Turkey was left out of the balance, left out of the equation in the reorganization of the regional order, it is waging a war in Syria with all its might in order to put itself in this equation, to take a role again. It is waging a war of genocide, a war of occupation and annexation against the Kurdish people and the Syrian peoples. This is how the neo-Ottoman policies are currently being put into practice in all their nakedness and visibility. Turkey has been training these gangs for years. Idlib and the other occupied areas were under the control of the Turkish state. It has trained these gangs in Idlib; it has trained them in Turkey; it has turned many camps into recruitment centers for gangs. It trained and equipped them, and now it has led them to war against the peoples, against the Syrian peoples. It is currently waging a great war of genocide and will develop it further.

On the other hand, there is the war that started on October 7th. It was particularly a war between Israel and Hamas, and Hamas has suffered a serious blow. Israel left no stone unturned in Gaza and then turned its attention to Lebanon, where an intense war developed between Israel and Hezbollah. Finally, there was a ceasefire after Hezbollah obviously suffered serious blows, but Israel could not defeat or break it as a whole. And Israel itself also suffered serious difficulties and wear and tear. They had to make a ceasefire. There, too, an agreement was made on a basis that was based on Israel’s interests. Hezbollah was expelled from the south of Lebanon. On the basis of what Israel wants, a new status quo and a new system are being built there; a design is being given to this area. It is understood that the Lebanese government and administration will be more aligned with Israel. Lebanon will be redesigned in accordance with Israel, in accordance with its interests.

It is, of course, no coincidence that right after this ceasefire, such an attack in Syria was launched in Aleppo by gangs affiliated with the Turkish state and gradually spread. There were various pieces of information and indications about it before. During the last period, both the Turkish media and the ruling media were discussing this. Just before the attack started, the ruling media had targeted al-Nusra and HTS. It was broadly covering, criticizing, and targeting the fact that al-Nusra was trained, equipped, and prepared by Israel, Britain, and the US in Idlib. Now it is understood that this was done consciously. They wanted to obfuscate the relationship between the Turkish state and al-Nusra, the plan between al-Nusra and the Turkish state, in order not to decipher it, in order to cover it up. They developed this agenda in a very conscious way. But this, of course, does not eliminate the truth. Yes, the US, Britain, and Israel are working seriously on al-Nusra. Not only on al-Nusra but also on other gangs, these powers are trying to use these gangs for their own interests. On that basis, these powers are also carrying out a plan. They want to use these gangs against Syria. They want to use them against the Syrian people. In that sense, Israel also made statements. After Lebanon, it targeted Iran. They said that they will hit Iranian forces everywhere, that Syria is their target. They made various calls to Syria and imposed various conditions and threatened Syria if it did not comply. Now all this has coincided with the same period. The Turkish state saying that they are “closing the lock,” shows that their real target now is North-East Syria. Israel’s targeting Syria after the ceasefire, the statements it made, these kinds of developments immediately afterwards, this war that is developing is, of course, not a coincidence.

The Turkish state has not given up its ambition to completely occupy and annex North and East Syria. It wants to realize its plans of Misak-i Milli (The so-called ‘National Pact’ refers to a political declaration made by the leaders of the Ottoman Empire in 1920 during the First World War. The oath defined the territorial borders – including Kurdish settlement areas in present-day Iraq and Syria – and the basic principles for Turkey’s future policy. Today, Turkish nationalists often refer to the ‘National Pact’ to formulate their aspirations for Turkey’s territorial expansion), including Aleppo through the genocide of the peoples, particularly the Kurds. It states this plan openly and does not even care to do this in secret. It has not given up on this in any way and is always aiming to realize this plan whenever it finds the slightest opportunity. Now the conjuncture has become favorable for them. It is an interim period during the US elections. Israel’s war against Hezbollah, the ceasefire, Israel’s plans for Syria-Iran and the region, and the plan that the US, Britain, and the international hegemonic powers are carrying out together with Israel. All these are also being evaluated by the Turkish state. How can they utilize this conjuncture according to their own interests? How can they seize the opportunities in time? They are calculating and planning this. There were meetings during this process. Hakan Fidan and Erdoğan had intense diplomatic traffic with the US, Russia, Britain, and the regional powers. These are part of a long-term effort. When all this is put together, one sees that America, Britain, and Israel already had a plan for Syria. Either the Syrian state as a whole would join their axis, it would compromise, or it would face a violent intervention. It is possible to understand this from their statements and calls towards the regime. This was clear. How could they develop this? Israel has been hitting Hezbollah targets in Syria for a long time, hitting the regime forces intensively. It has intensified this in recent months. Hezbollah was seriously hit and weakened in Syria. It transferred the remaining power to Lebanon, which has weakened the regime a lot. This is not a coincidence. In Ukraine, NATO weapons were used against Russia. Missiles were used. New advanced techniques were used against Russia. Russia responded to this. They drew Russia’s attention to Ukraine as a whole. They made Russia deal more with Ukraine. Therefore, they aimed to weaken Russia’s position in Syria. They have already weakened Iran, so the two most crucial supporters of the regime have been weakened in Syria. The regime became vulnerable. In other words, it has lost its bases to a great extent.

On the other hand, Turkey has been preparing for years, and in recent years, it has intensified these preparations. There are two plausible scenarios: Either the US, Israel, and the UK have put their intervention against Syria into action in this way, in agreement with Turkey and by including Turkey in it as a leading figure. Or they carried out a plan and imposed various conditions on Turkey. Turkey did not see these conditions in its favor. It acted quickly to disrupt the game, to re-establish a game in its favor, to create a new equation. And it has been training and equipping these gangs for years and made such a move together with these gangs. It tried to turn the game plans in his favor. This will become clearer in a few days, in the near future. Did the US, Britain, and Israel come up with a joint plan together with Turkey by including Turkey in their plans? And are they currently carrying out this intervention in Syria, this intervention against the Syrian people, under the leadership of Turkey? Or did they impose a plan on Turkey? Turkey did not accept some of the conditions; it gave birth prematurely. Turkey made a move and tried to oblige all these forces to its plan. Did it aim to cooperate in that way? This will become clearer in the near future, but the reality at the moment is that the Turkish state is leading the current war. The international powers and the coalition are currently silent on this. They are in a monitoring position. How and at what level is it involved in this? At what level is it a supporter? This will become visible and clear in the future. But what is clear right now is Turkey’s role, its leadership in this war. Right now, the coalition and Israel are still silent at the moment. The regime has experienced a great disintegration and collapse. It is almost like it is in a state of shock. So is the situation in Russia. Currently, Russia is not doing anything very serious either. I mean, it is not fighting back. It has already suffered a serious weakening in the current situation, also due to the situation in Ukraine. Iran has already suffered serious blows with the post-Lebanon war attacks.

Syria has also weakened now. And at the moment, there is no such thing as a regime or a Syrian state. At the moment, the war has spread throughout Syria. One needs to be aware of this and of the fact that Turkey is leading this war. It is very likely that they will spread this war to all of North and East Syria. In this respect, our people, the peoples everywhere, must be in total resistance. Mobilization must be declared in North and East Syria. Especially in North and East Syria, but generally throughout Syria, the people must resist against this. And this must be based on the strategy of the revolutionary people’s war. They must stand with the forces of the SDF. They must fight and resist together with the forces of YPG and YPJ. Everyone who is capable of holding a weapon in their hands, men and women, young and old, must take their place in this resistance. They must defend their existence, their freedom, their homeland, and their land. There should be no abandonment of land. There should not be any migration. Where will these people go? There is war everywhere. There is destruction everywhere. The right attitude, the right approach, is to develop resistance where they live, to defend your homeland, your land, to defend its existence and freedom, to develop the revolutionary people’s war. It is the participation of all our people in this resistance.

There is currently a great genocidal threat to our people and the peoples of Syria. In Aleppo, Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafiya, and other neighborhoods, our people’s experience of revolutionary people’s war is very strong. They put up a truly legendary resistance against the gangs. Its population has already doubled two to three times. All of them must stand with the armed forces, take part in the resistance fronts, and participate in this resistance. They must defend their neighborhoods, defend their places. All cantons, all cantons of North and East Syria. On this basis, I call on the people of North and East Syria to join the revolutionary people’s war. I call on them to ensure their existence and freedom, to grow and strengthen the resistance against the fascist, genocidal Turkish state, against the occupying, annexing Turkish state, against its gangs. These attacks, the war they are waging in Syria, the trustee policies, the attacks, and all the arrests have made it very clear how they are carrying out a comprehensive genocidal plan, that all these discourses are a game, a special war game. That is why everywhere; in northern Kurdistan, in Turkey, in southern Kurdistan, in eastern Kurdistan, abroad, everywhere, our people must stand up with a spirit of mobilization. They must increase the resistance. Rojava as a whole, all the peoples of North and East Syria must mobilize for a revolutionary people’s war. This cannot be left only on the shoulders of the military forces. The danger is great, and everyone must evaluate the reality on this basis, and our people must rise up everywhere.