PKK: Democracy bloc must be formed in Turkey immediately

PKK stated that a democracy bloc bringing together civil society organizations, intellectuals, writers and artists that represent different social segments demanding democracy in Turkey must be formed immediately.

PKK (Kurdistan Worker's Party) Executive Committee issued a written statement and said that the current political party oligarchy could not democratize Turkey or solve the country’s problems. The committee emphasized the need for establishing a bloc of radical democracy forces that would democratize the country, prevent further coups from happening, and put an end to oppression and cruelty.

In its statement, the PKK committee commemorated the people that lost their lives during Rojava revolution and in Suruç, and emphasized that there was a political, social, economical and political system of oligarchic structures in Turkey that has enabled so many coups to take place in recent history.

‘TURKEY’S INABILITY TO DEMOCRATIZE LAYS THE GROUND FOR COUPS’

PKK described the inability to solve the Kurdish question as the main reason for why democratization does not take place in Turkey, and emphasized that the country’s inability to democratize lays the ground for coups. PKK stated that Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan offered realistic proposals for the solution of the Kurdish issue in order to democratize the country, and recalled Öcalan’s warning that the coup mechanism would always be activated if the Kurdish issue were to remain unsolved.

PKK described the rejection of the Dolmabahçe agreement and the results of June 7 elections as political coups against Turkey’s democratization, and said that the AKP government’s alliance with the MHP and Ergenekon forces reactivated the coup mechanism in the country. The PKK committee said that the democracy struggle of Kurdish people and democracy forces enabled the strengthening of an anti-coup stance in Turkish society, which has contributed to the prevention of the coup attempt on July 15.

‘DECLARATION OF STATE OF EMERGENCY IS NOT A STANCE AGAINST THE COUP’

The PKK Executive Committee pointed out that democratization was necessary in order to prevent future coups from taking place, but warned that Erdoğan’s declaration of a state of emergency is not a stance against coup but an attempt to further the destruction of cities in Kurdistan, increase the oppression of Kurdish people, and consolidate the monist, hegemonic and authoritarian rule of the AKP government in Turkey.

PKK recalled that Turkey has never been a true democracy, and the special war system in the country has aimed to put Kurdish people through genocide. PKK warned that instead of taking steps for democratization, the AKP government was aiming to consolidate its hegemonic rule and intensify its genocide of Kurdish people.

PKK underlined the need for establishing a bloc of radical democracy forces that would democratize the country, prevent further coups from happening, and put an end to oppression and cruelty. The committee stated that June 7 elections had given hope of democratization to citizens, but the anti-Kurdish and fascist alliance in Turkey restarted the war on July 24, 2015 and implemented a project of annihilation, which has laid the grounds for the coup attempt on July 15, 2016. PKK emphasized that the current state of emergency meant the deepening of the crisis in Turkey, as opposed to democratization and stability. Therefore, PKK invited civil society organizations, intellectuals, writers and artists that represent social segments demanding democracy to form a democracy bloc immediately in order to prevent further coups from taking place.

‘ALL DEMOCRACY FORCES IN TURKEY SHOULD STRUGGLE FOR REAL DEMOCRACY’

PKK Executive Committee recalled the heavy attacks Kurdish people have endured over the past year, and called upon Kurdish people to increase their solidarity and mobilization in collaboration with Turkey’s democracy forces in order to prevent further attacks. The committee emphasized that Turkey’s democratization was the only way to solve the country’s problems and prevent further coups from taking place, and the PKK would fulfill its responsibilities in order to ensure the free and democratic life of peoples in Turkey.

PKK noted that it would continue fighting against coup attempts as well as state of emergencies and policies of cruelty that lay the ground for further coup attempts, and recalled Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s goal of solving Turkey’s problems through democratization and get rid of the coup mechanism in the country. The committee said that Öcalan’s struggle makes him politically valuable for all peoples in Turkey, and Kurdish people and democracy forces in Turkey should struggle for Öcalan’s health and security because of Öcalan’s value and importance. Lastly, PKK reiterated its faith in the success of a bloc that would bring together Kurdish people and the forces of democracy in Turkey.