The Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) Executive Committee member Duran Kalkan was interviewed in a special programme that was broadcast on Medya Haber TV and he shared his views on the recent attack against the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (HDP) Izmir office, the ongoing Turkish campaign in Iraqi Kurdistan and the NATO summit.

Commenting on the attack on the HDP office and the killing of Deniz Poyraz, Kalkan said, “Deniz Poyraz is the martyr of democracy in Turkey, the martyr of the fellowship of the peoples.”

He stated that the attack in Izmir and the closure case against the HDP reflects the “beginning of the end” of the Turkish government. “Some say that they would go to elections benefiting from such incidents and will consolidate their power. Actually, they still have time for elections. It is not like election time has come and they are losing it. Rather than seeing things this way, linking everything to the elections, people should see that the Justice and Development Party – Nationalist Movement Party (AKP-MHP) coalition is crumbling,” he said.

Kalkan shared his views about the ongoing clashes between the Turkish armed forces and Kurdish fighters since late April in the Zap, Metina and Avashin regions, known as the Medya Defence Zones of the PKK, located in Iraqi Kurdistan.

“The war has been going on for two months. Of course, our Central Headquarters will share the two-months war outcomes sheet. The outcomes of the war will be seen much better by the public,” he said.

He continued: “The war is not an easy thing: the guerrilla resist with a spirit of sacrifice and courage against a NATO army. They have many times compared this war to the war between an ant and an elephant in terms of the inequality of the forces of this unbalanced war, but we must say that the ant has managed to make the elephant unable to move by pinching it bit by bit.”

“The Turkish army has landed in the region, but how will they hold on? Will they be able to get out from there? These are all matters of discussion,” he added.

Kalkan stated: “‘They are stuck,’ said the Central Headquarters Command. They are unable to take a single step. The AKP-MHP fascism already has no legal or moral rules. In the war, they completely disregard such rules. They use all kinds of poisonous gases and chemical weapons. A crime is being committed. They clearly commit war crimes.”

Kalkan spoke about the ongoing tensions in Iraqi Kurdistan and also saluted the international peace defenders and the Defend Kurdistan Initiative.

“Various democratic powers and human rights organsations have shared their reactions and some of them even came to Erbil (Hewlêr). They also established the Defend Kurdistan Initiative. These are all very valuable developments,” he said.

Regarding the attack on the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP’s) peshmerga on 5 June, Kalkan said, “We were very surprised by what happened on 5 June. It cannot be doubted that five peshmerga losing their lives is an important issue. But what is more important are the questions, ‘Why were those peshmerga there on that day? What were they doing?’ There were not only five of them, but 40 armed vehicles.”

“What happened then? What can we make of this?,” Kalkan asked. He stated that the answers became clear to them as soon as the NATO summit took place.

“On 14 June, there was the NATO summit and US-Turkey meetings took place. Tayyip Erdoğan shared his speech in the NATO lounge. When we heard his speech, we understood it all,” Kalkan said.

“What did he say? He said, ‘The People’s Protection Units (YPG) hit a hospital, massacres civilians, the terrorist organisation did this and that,’ etc. It was revealed that they wanted to provoke a NATO decision against the PKK once again. They wanted to obtain the full support of all NATO forces in their war against the PKK.”

Kalkan stated that the perception that the AKP-MHP alliance tries to “deceive” the people, the Kurds and the international public is “wrong.” He pointed out that Turkey’s President Erdoğan announces his aims and wishes very clearly to the world.

“Tayyip Erdoğan presented his map from the platform of the United Nations. He announced his aim: he clearly stated, ‘I will occupy these areas.’ Everyone remained silent. He [Erdoğan] wants to create domination by gangs. The forces he brings forth in the war are absolutely all gangs,” he said.

Emphasizing that the Erdoğan regime has been mobilising jihadist gangs from Libya to Azerbaijan, from North East Syria to Iraqi Kurdistan, Kalkan added: “He mobilises those gangs of Daesh, those gangs of al-Qaida, at full capacity. He transferred those gangs to Libya, to Azerbaijan and then these gangs were placed in Afrin, Tell Abyad (Gre Spi) and Ras al-Ayn (Serekaniye). This was not enough, so now he wants to place them in Haftanin, Metina, Avashin, Hakurk so that he can create a state of gangs, a zone of gangs in a part of South Kurdistan up to North Kurdistan including Hakkari (Colemerg) and Şırnak (Şirnex).”

Kalkan shared his concerns with the international public. “There is an occupation taking place. There is a great threat, an attack. These issues concern both Kurdistan and the Middle East and humanity in general. All democratic powers of the Middle East, all humanity, needs to see this fact,” he said.

“Remember,” he added, “how they threatened humanity from France to America with Daesh. If they ever take control of these zones, if they ever settle there, then we will see what this fascist mentality will do to the world, but then it will be too late. That is why we keep appealing to the international public. Everybody should put aside that nonsense of ‘PKK terrorism,’ as such. Everybody should see the facts.”

Kalkan further explained what he meant by the “facts”: “There is an occupation, there is genocide, there is fascist gang organisation. There is a development which constitutes a threat to the Middle East, to the world, to humanity.”

He appealed to the international public: “What is important is to say ‘no’ to this, without giving any opportunity. This has been our call to everyone. We are already engaged in that struggle ourselves,” he said.