Cahit Kırkazak, who was elected as the new co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) after the general elections, gave his first interview to Gazete Duvar. Answering the questions of Gazete Duvar Diyarbakır Representative Vecdi Erbay, Kırkazak talked about the HDP and the Green Left equation in politics.
Responding to the question of how to alleviate voters‘ concerns about ’re-appointment of trustees‘ ahead of the local elections, Kırkazak invited all voters to the polls. Kırkazak described the idea that ’trustees will be appointed anyway‘ as a ’perception operation“ of the government and said, ”Even if we hit the wall, we should not lose the determination and resolve to fight.".
Emphasizing that they are looking for organizational ways and mechanisms to prevent the appointment of a trustee, Kırkazak said, “We will not be in an attitude of compromise to prevent the appointment of a trustee. We will not make fundamental rights and freedoms a bargaining chip to prevent the appointment of a trustee.”.
“Turkish society needs to fight shoulder to shoulder with the HDP and the Green Left Party here,” Kırkazak said:
“Because there are very clear historical experiences. When Armenians were treated in this geography, Armenians were neighbors, friends and cousins of Kurds. The Armenians would say to the Kurds, ‘Kirvem, don't, if we are breakfast in the morning, you are lunch.’ We can say to the society in Turkey, ‘If the Kurds are lunch, you are all dinner.’ Then we need to take an example from historical experiences and fight shoulder to shoulder. If a trustee is appointed in Diyarbakır, there is no guarantee that a trustee will not be appointed in Istanbul.”
‘HDP IS THE ROADMAP FOR LIVING TOGETHER IN TURKEY’
HDP cadres entered the elections as part of the Green Left Party after the party faced the threat of being shut down. Commenting on why the HDP is still open despite the Green Left Party's entry into the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Kırkazak said that the HDP is the first joint struggle of the Kurds and socialists in Turkey for a democratic republic. Kırkazak emphasized that they had electoral partnerships from time to time before, but HDP was the first organized structure under the same roof where they carried out an organizational struggle. “In this sense, HDP is a very valuable organization for Turkey. We can consider it as the compass and road map of Turkey's coexistence,” Kırkazak said, adding, “We care that this philosophy and this will survives and continues as a memory for the society in Turkey.”.
Stating that the HDP will transfer its experience to the Green Left Party, Kırkazak said, “But at the same time, as a legal entity, we will believe in law and democracy and will continue to defend the HDP before the Constitutional Court and the judiciary. Our political and social struggle will continue on the Green Left. But we will also continue to defend and protect HDP legally.”.
COBANE TRIAL: ‘CONTEMPORARY EMILE ZOLAS NEEDED’
Kırkazak, one of the lawyers in the Kobane trial, said that the trial was not on the public agenda. Kırkazak stated that what happened should be publicized more and that he found it very valuable that intellectuals signed a petition for the release of the detainees.
Cahit Kırkazak explained how the events in Kobanê started as follows:
“In Turkey, trials are based on perceptions. They are not based on the reality and content of the files. For example, everyone knows that these events started because Mr. Selahattin tweeted. However, this happened right after ISIS barbarians attacked Shengal. There were marches in Turkey and around the world in support of Kobanê. And we don't call it the events of October 6-8, we call it the events of October 7-8. Because there had not been a single violent incident until Erdoğan's statement in Gaziantep on October 7: ‘Kobanê has fallen and will fall’. Immediately after Erdoğan's statement, the first incident of violence took place in Muş Varto. Hakan Buksur was killed by a bullet fired from the gun of a law enforcement officer and then the violence started.
Let me talk about perception, for example, there is no such tweet by Mr. Selahattin. Selahattin Bey has repeatedly said in court, “Make a statement; show that such a statement has been made in audio, verbal and video form, we are willing to do anything. It is that clear. For example, the public still hasn't heard this. There is still a claim that these incidents started after Mr. Selahattin's tweet.
Now I will give a historical example for this case to get out of that courtroom. The Albert Dreyfus case. Albert Dreyfus was a French soldier who was tried and sentenced to death on the grounds that he was an intelligence officer of a foreign state based on fabricated evidence, a handwriting found in a wastebasket. After the case is over, Emile Zola takes up the case because he receives such a request from Albert Dreyfus' family. And Emile Zola realizes that Albert Dreyfus' writing is not the same as the one found in the garbage, and he starts to write and analyze it.
After Emile Zola exposed the Albert Dreyfus case, Albert Dreyfus was tried again and acquitted. In order for the Kobanê case to be socialized, modern Emile Zola's are needed. Therefore, the signatures of intellectuals are very valuable. We thank them very much, bless their hearts. But we suggest one more thing, we invite these intellectuals and friends to the courtrooms. Let them come and listen to what happened in the courtroom; the procedure, the merits, the approach of the police, the approach of the court, the way the state is present there... Because the state is there as a whole: National Intelligence Organization, General Staff, all army commands, General Directorate of Security, Gendarmerie Intelligence Organization, AKP, MHP, HUDA PAR, Religious Affairs...”
‘COMMON STRUGGLE STARTS IN SINCAN’
Kırkazak made a call to all political parties and said that they should fight together to publicize what happened in the Kobanê trial. Inviting everyone to the courtroom, Kırkazak continued as follows:
“And let them see how only political representatives in the tradition of the HDP defend the democracy, law and coexistence of the country and let them tell about it. Let them explain it in their articles, columns, columns, television programs so that the society in Turkey can learn what is happening there. No one knows what is happening there. We thank all our intellectuals, writers, illustrators and artists for these signatures, but we also invite them to the courtroom.
If the opposition wants to build a struggle for democracy and common life, they need to start with the Kobane trial in Sincan. We are also saying this to the political parties: Each political party should send one of their parliamentarian friends for a period of time. They should come and tell what they saw there - we are not saying for or against - in the parliament, in the group. Let the Turkish society see what is happening there. Let them see the Kurds” will to live together. And Erdoğan's will to suffocate and destroy the Kurds."