The KNK interim meeting started in The Hague with the participation of 200 delegates from the four parts of Kurdistan.
The Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), which held its founding congress on 26 May 1999 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, has been seeking national unity among Kurdish parties in the four parts of Kurdistan for 25 years without interruption.
The KNK has convened for the 22nd interim meeting of its General Assembly. The 2-day meeting in The Hague is attended by 200 delegates from the four parts of Kurdistan and dozens of representatives of political parties, institutions and organisations, intellectuals, writers and personalities.
The Governor of Sulaymaniyah, Heval Ebubekir, is also attending the meeting.
The opening speeches of the KNK General Assembly interim meeting were made by KNK Council Member Dr Şergo Mihemed Emin and KNK Executive Board Member Shala Hefid.
After the opening, the election of the council, which will moderate the meeting for 2 days, started.
Hiwa Nasih on behalf of GORAN, Hiwa Seyid Salim from Zehmetkeşan executives, Dersim Zend from PUK executives, Bave Narin on behalf of El Parti, Jalane Nexşibendi and KNK Foreign Relations Spokesperson Nilüfer Koç were elected to the council.
Nilüfer Koç, who was elected as the chairperson of the council, stated that they held their meeting in a critical period and said, “Turkey is seeking to attack South Kurdistan. Our approach should be taken accordingly.”
‘Turkey is leading the massacres against our people’
KNK co-chairs Zeyneb Murad and Ahmet Karamus also made speeches.
Zeyneb Murad said:” There is a serious crisis in the Middle East and the world. Our enemies want to turn this into an opportunity and attack our people. This is their plan. They want to realise their plans that they could not realise for centuries. Turkey is leading these massacres. Iran, Syria and Iraq are also part of this. We Kurds must unite against all these massacres. As KNK and Kurdish organisations, we must take all kinds of initiatives against Turkey’s military operations. Knowing that Kurdish lands are the honour of all of us, everyone must defend this.”
In her speech, Zeyneb Murad emphasised the need to oppose the isolation of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan.
‘KDP should not be a partner in the massacre and crisis with Turkey’
Ahmet Karamus said, “The 4 colonialist states in particular are united and attacking the Kurdish gains today. They do not tolerate the existence of Kurds. That is why they are implementing plans and concepts.”
Noting that Turkey is committing crimes against humanity in Kurdistan, Karamus said, “The chemical weapons and the disproportionate power it uses are proof of this. Today, it targets civilians every day in Rojava and Shengal. It wants to occupy our lands.”
Ahmet Karamus also appealed to the KDP and said, “Today, all our enemies are united and attacking us. Everyone responded to the KNK’s calls for unity. But the KDP does not respond in any way. Here, in the presence of everyone, I would like to make the following call to the KDP; you should not be a partner in the massacre and crisis with Turkey. We should serve the unity and interests of the Kurds. The foundation of our people is here.”
Representatives of Kurdish political parties and organisations are speaking
KONGRA-GEL Co-Chair Remzi Kartal said: “This meeting is taking place in a historic process. It is also important that this meeting takes place at a time when important events are taking place in Kurdistan. This meeting is important in terms of underlining the historic process in the four parts of Kurdistan and to make a note in history. In this historic process, the Kurdish people are struggling with significant morale and motivation in four parts.”
‘The solution lies in the paradigm of Abdullah Öcalan’
Referring to the crisis in the Middle East, Kartal said that the solution lies in the paradigm of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan. He continued:” Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan has been held captive in İmralı for more than 25 years. We have not heard from him for the last 3 years. The state disregards all domestic laws and international laws it is bound by. This heavy isolation is also being maintained as a war on the Kurdish people. For this reason, they are imposing a heavy isolation on Leader Öcalan. The Turkish state has not been able to get results from these processes and is heading for defeat. Our meeting will hold discussions and take decisions within this framework. The whole world should know that the Kurdish people will have an attitude and stance with one voice and unity. The struggle for ‘freedom for Abdullah Öcalan and a political solution to the Kurdish question’ has been waged all over the world. Especially with the struggle carried out for the last 6 months, this issue has entered the agenda of world public opinion. With this action, the Kurdish people have raised their demands and struggle. The protests against the conspiracy against Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan have been very strong this year in four parts of Kurdistan and the world and have been embraced everywhere.”
‘The Turkish state cannot achieve results against the Freedom Guerrilla’
“The will of the Kurdish people’s struggle has pushed back the fascist AKP/MHP, that is, the Turkish state,” Kartal said and emphasised the following: “This fascist wave experienced a great break. A great break emerged in their war concept. The state wanted to get results in the war by mobilising all its means. However, it could not achieve any results in the war against the people and the guerrilla. A great war was being prepared for after the elections. If it had the power and belief, it would have started this war by now. The state sees the difficulty. That is why it wants to get support. They visit Iraq and Arab states, European states and America and ask for support. This is also proof of the fact that the Turkish state cannot achieve results against the Freedom Guerrilla.”
Remzi Kartal also referred to the AKP’s defeat in the local elections on 31 March and said, “The decline and collapse of the Turkish state means freedom and democracy for the four parts of Kurdistan. For this, not only as a party, but as a people, we need to clarify an attitude in which all political and parties are involved. All our movements and political parties should take a national attitude.”
‘A new system is being created in the Middle East’
Adem Uzun pointed out that the Third World War is taking place in the Middle East and said that all Kurds should be aware of this reality. Adem Uzun stated that the events in the Middle East are taking place before the formation of a new system and said, “Everyone is pursuing a plan for this. Turkey and Iran in particular are making efforts in this regard. They are making plans accordingly. However, these forces see the Kurdish Freedom Movement as a problem for themselves. That is why they are preparing operations and attacks. Because new things are happening in the new century, and they do not want the Kurds to have gains. Today, both the war in Gaza and the war in Iran in the Middle East concern us. We cannot act as before. We must take serious and important decisions. Either we will disappear or we will achieve gains.”
Drawing attention to the ongoing wars in the Middle East and the Caucasus, Uzun said, “What is happening today is the 3rd World War. Kurds are at the centre of it. We cannot sacrifice the Kurdish gains that have emerged so far in this period. Therefore, our attitude towards the forces acting with the enemies must be clear and open. We must condemn the attitude of these forces.”
‘Abdullah Öcalan is our national value’
Adem Uzun underlined that the problems of Kirkuk and other Kurdish cities are their national problems and continued:” Kirkuk is a national issue for us, and so are other Kurdish regions. Abdullah Öcalan’s situation is also our national problem. We cannot see Öcalan as the leader of a party and a part. All Kurdish leaders have been massacred in history. If something happens to Leader Öcalan today, what will we say before history? In order to have honour in the world, we need to protect all our values.”
‘Let’s hold the Kurdistan National Unity Conference this year’
Uzun concluded: “We are in the 100th year of Lausanne. One hundred years ago, states dismembered our country. Today, we are struggling to frustrate this. We had decided on Kurdistan National Unity Conference at the Lausanne Conference last year. I call again here; let’s hold this conference within this year. No matter who attends it or doesn’t, let us realise it. If we do not ensure our national unity, no one will take us seriously.”