Last week, the Netherlands hosted an annual Kurdish cultural festival, which had to be cancelled last year due to the covid-19 outbreak, but was held this year by the Democratic Kurdish Society Council of the Netherlands, known as DEM-NED for short, in the city of Landgraaf.

Cemil Bayık, co-president of the Executive Council of the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK), sent a video message to the festival saluting those attending, mainly members of the Kurdish diaspora from around Europe.

In his video message, Bayık talked on various topics dominating the agenda of the Kurdish politics, including Europe’s support for Turkey in its battle against the struggle of the Kurdish people, the importance of the joint struggle of the Kurds living across Turkey, Iraqi Kurdistan, North East Syria and Iran, and the increasing tensions between the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party] and the KDP [Kurdistan Democratic Party].

“If a joint struggle is waged in all parts of Kurdistan and if the people embrace their future themselves then the Kurds can progress and achieve their goals. Increasing the struggle against the Turkish state and supporting the struggle in North Kurdistan is to the benefit of all parts of Kurdistan,” he said.

Bayık criticised European countries for ignoring the Turkish government’s abuses of human rights against the Kurds: “Europe is pursuing a hypocritical, unethical policy. The Turkish state is conducting a genocidal policy, with the use of chemical weapons and torture. All laws are trampled on, even the graves of Kurds are destroyed. But the Europe remains silent, closes its eyes. They support Turkey in an underhanded manner. Our people and institutions should be able to expose these dirty policies of Europe.”

Bayık emphasised that if the European government had been sincere in their battle against DAESH, the so-called Islamic State, “they would not have supported Turkey against the Kurds and the PKK.”

But we see their support for Turkey continues, he said, “so much so that Turkey continues its genocidal policies leaning on that support.”

Bayık shared his view that for the democratisation of Turkey to be achieved, the Turkish government must be replaced:

“The AKP [Justice and Development Party] is the same as the MHP [Nationalist Movement Party]. They are conducting policies of hostility against the Kurdish people, pursuing a genocidal policy together now,” he said. “They want to complete the genocide of the Kurds.”

“As long as this government is not replaced by a new one the Kurdish question cannot be solved, and democracy and justice and laws cannot be nurtured. So we must increase the struggle against fascism!”

Finally sharing his views on the tension between the PKK and the KDP, Bayık warned that things are not as they appear to be in the field of war in Iraqi Kurdistan.

“Lately certain elements have been projecting some events as if the issue is between the PKK and the KDP. This is not the truth, it is a deception,” he said and ended his comments as follows:

“The KDP attacks the guerilla together with the Turkish state. They blockade, impose embargoes on and ambush the guerilla. They limit the freedom of movement of the guerilla. They legitimise the Turkish occupation. In all aspects, they support the Turkish state. They attack the PKK alongside the Turkish state. This is the truth.”