The meeting between AKP Chair Tayyip Erdoğan and Federated Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani in Antalya on March 12 is considered to be the signal of a “new cross-border operation” against Shengal, Makhmur and Northern and Eastern Syria. Evaluating the meeting that coincided with the anniversary of the Halabja Massacre, politician and writer Mahmut Alınak said that Federated Kurdistan had become a colony of Turkey.

 

'STATE IS NOT THE SOLUTION FOR THE PEOPLE'

 

Stating that the protocol signed between the PKK and the KDP in 1982 was made nonfunctional, Alınak stated that he did not approve to try to solve the problems between them through weapons. Alınak emphasized that the states are not a solution for the peoples and pointed out that the solution is civil disobedience. “Feudal lords and bourgeoisie establish states not for the people, but for their own interests. As seen in Iran and Turkey, the peoples have never been included in the lives of the bourgeois and feudal lords. Other peoples, including the Kurds living in Iran, do not have a decision in the administration. A dictatorship was established there, and young people continue to be massacred at the gallows for years. The same goes for the Southern Kurdistan Federal Region. The Kurdish people in Southern Kurdistan have struggled for years to have their own state. They shed blood and died for years to get rid of Saddam's oppression, and as a result, thanks to international conditions, a Federated State was established there, but this state became the state of two families, Barzanis and Talabanis.

 

Alınak emphasized that there are some privileges such as education in Kurdish in the Federated Kurdistan Region, but other basic rights are violated.

 

'FEDERATED KURDISTAN REGION IS A COLONIAL OF TURKEY'

 

Recalling an article he wrote in 2013 with the title "Did the Kurds die for a Kurdish Kingdom in Halabja", Alınak pointed out that the Barzani family owns real estate worth more than billions of dollars in Turkey, and that this is one of the reasons for their close relations with Turkey. Regarding the last visit of Federated Kurdistan Regional President Nechirvan Barzani to Turkey, Alınak said, "There was such a poor person next to Tayyip Erdogan that he even ignored the flag of his country and posed under the Turkish flag. The most important thing for the Barzani family is their own interests. They don't have a national problem. For this reason, Southern Kurdistan, which was previously under the rule of the Baathist government and was a colony of Iraq, is now sadly a colony of Turkey. It was a de facto colony of Iraq yesterday, but today it is dependent on Turkey with its economy and administrative management.

 

Underlining that the colonial status in the Federated Kurdistan Region has not been broken, Alınak said, "The people have not been liberated."

 

'COLLABORATION WITH INTERNATIONAL FORCES AGAINST KURDS SHOULD BE ABANDONED'

 

 

 

Having a footnote that the first Kurdish Republic in history, the Kurdish Republic of Mahabad, which was founded by Qazi Muhammed in 1946, was destroyed as a result of the intervention of international forces and internal betrayals, Alınak said, “It is a pity that Kurdish people collaborating with these forces gathered signatures to execute Qazi Muhammed and his colleagues and came to the Shah's door.” Stressing that the Kurds came under the domination of the Iranian State again with the collapse of the Republic and this domination still continues, Alınak said, “The Kurds have always suffered internal betrayals since 1814 and the Kurds have paid the price for this throughout history. Kurdish political movements should create more striking projects on collaboration with these international forces that leads to betrayel and abandon this habit.

 

‘KDP'S FUTURE DEPENDS ON AKP-MHP GOVERNMENT’

 

Expressing that all four parts of Kurdistan are under occupation and exploitation, Alınak said that the KDP only pursues a centrist Kurdish policy. “We can explain the reason for this with the cooperation between the Turkish state and the KDP. KDP made it so that its future depends fully on AKP-MHP government. They are trying to maintain their reign under the umbrella of Turkey.”  Mentioning that Turkey and the KDP have formed an agreement over the opposition to the PKK, Alınak said that Turkey's recent KDP-supported attacks on Shengal and Makhmur are an indication of this. Alinak said, “KDP do not uphold the interests of the Kurdish people. The consequences of this will be a big handicap for the Kurds in the 4 parts of Kurdistan." 

 

'MATERIALISM DECAYED THEIR SOUL'

 

Saying, “The Kurdish people paid a great price so that Southern Kurdistan could achieve status,” Alınak said that the Barzani family was embraced by the Kurdish people, but instead of paying their debts of gratitude, they usurped the property belonging to the people. Alınak continued his words as follows: “What difference do they have from the oligarchs in Turkey or Russia? The President of Uruguay lives in a slum but you live in palaces. These people have raised them to the highest positions! Isn't that the greatest wealth? This hysteria of holding office and property has decayed their souls.

 

Emphasizing that intellectuals, writers and thinkers have important duties in this regard, Alınak said, “We have to insist that the state alone is not enough. We need to fight against reactionism and tribalism and initiate civil society projects that can enlighten the public. There is a need for an intellectuals movement." 

 

'WHAT ABOUT KURDS?'

 

Addressing the Russia-Ukraine war, Alinak underlined that this war is full of lessons for the Kurds. Alınak finished his words as follows: “According to the United Nations (UN) data, around 500 Ukrainians were killed and the whole world supported them. What about the Kurds? From Koçgiri to Zilan Massacre; From the Dersim Massacre to Roboski, there were many massacres and thousands of people were killed, but the world remained silent. We went to Switzerland with Orhan Doğan for a while and spoke to the UN MP Secretary General. He told us: 'Don't believe the interest of the states about the Kurds. Our only focus is our own interest. You Kurds should address the people not to us. Our states will back down if you can manage this". It was very true."