The PKK coming to Qandil is a project. Qandil is a strategic region and the U.S. has ignored the PKK presence in the mountainous region for not letting the region to fall into the hands of al-Qaida and Salafist groups, Sedek Zilan told KurdPress in an interview.

Responding to the question that some consider the Democratic Peoples' Parties (HDP) as affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the Kurdish lawyer and politician Sedek Zilan stated that this is not an easy issue to answer. “The PKK had previously declared existence as an armed party, and the People's Democratic Party was born under other conditions. On the Kurdish issue in Turkey, a peace project started between the PKK jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan and the Turkish government, the role of the HDP was clear in the talks but the project did not yield any results and led into no avail. Both sides accuse the other of sabotage. The PKK blamed the government and Ankara accused the PKK of violence. But the reason behind the project's failure was not only the Kurdish issue in Turkey, but it was also tied to the issues in Iraqi Kurdistan and Syria Kurdistan.

He continued: The People's Democratic Party is under the influence of the PKK, and Turkey political events will affect the party. When the peace project was under way, the PDP was politically active and played a role, but when the project stopped, it was affected by conditions between the government and the PKK.

He added: "On the other hand, the military strength of the government and the PKK is incomparable and the stronger the military confrontation between the two sides, the worse the society will be affected. It also left a bad impact on civil activities and undermined cultural and social achievements made over the past few years.”

“In my opinion, another topic is the verbal policies of the Peoples’ Democratic Party as it needs to adopt a softening policy, as the ruling party took concrete measures when the conflict between the two exacerbated. For example, on the issue of changing the parliamentary system in Turkey the PDP could follow a different political behavior, Zilan further told KurdPress.

In response to the question how he evaluates the detention of leaders and members of HDP and removing immunity from the parliamentary representatives of this party, the lawyer explained: “The pressures that are applied to (HDP) are not reasonable and that they are linked to supporting terrorism. Once the government received help from HDP during talks between Qandil (PK base in Qandil Mountains in Kurdistan Region) and now the government accuses the HDP of working with the PKK. This doesn't mean that the HDP has done something illegal, but that the move was an attempt to make peace under the support and responsibility of the government. They have now imprisoned Selahattin Demirtas (former HDP leader) on the same accusation and sentenced him to twenty years. They say that you should not be a member of a terrorist group and that you are responsible for your mistakes. These actions are neither legal and nor just and these government’s actions are wrong.”

The Kurdish lawyer further added these actions are not just for the reasons the government claims, but because the HDP has been on the front of opposing the government and has turned into an enemy of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). In 2015, the HDP won 13 percent of the votes in Turkey election. Half of the Kurdish votes goes to the HDP and the other half to the AKP, so Erdogan (Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan) sees the HDP as his rival.

The AKP is not in A good condition and it is divided into parts, Zilan also said, adding that both Ahmet Davutoglu and Ali Babacan, former AKP leaders, have turned into Erdogan's rivals and they no longer need the HDP. The opposition parties are currently standing against the AKP and MHP. They are seeking changes and it is not clear if they take part in the elections or whether Turkey goes towards dictatorship or not.

Answering the question if the problem of the Turkish government is merely the issue of the PKK or it is opposed to the Kurdish political movement, the lawyer said: “There are several groups in Turkey. A group that has committed many crimes against the Kurds in the past hundred years like what they did in Dersim and they continue the same policy today; People like Turgut Ozal and, for some time, Erdogan used to speak about the rights of the Kurds. And some others call Syrian Kurdistan and Iraqi Kurdistan as part of the Ottoman Empire.

He added: The PKK issue is related to the issue of Turkey security and it is very important for Turkey. The Turkish government uses the PKK issue and intervenes in northern Iraq and Syria. Other Kurdish parties also believe that Turkey is using the PKK factor for its operations so I believe it is better that the PKK would not interfere in Syrian and Iraqi Kurdistan. The PKK ideology and Ocalan images are now used in Syrian Kurdistan, which has led to Turkey's intervention in Iraqi Kurdistan and bombs the region and innocent people are killed. Turkey had signed several security agreements with former Iraqi governments over the past years. The U.S. and Europe have designated the PKK as a "terrorist" group and Turkey use the designation as an excuse based on international rights.

PKK is better to drive itself out of this dilemma and it is better to distance itself from harsh measures, Zilan noted, continuing to say that “armed groups are a problem for each state, and each government uses a specific protocol to deal with them.”

When asked what the solution is to the Kurdish issue in Turkey, Sedek Zilan explained: “Cultural and linguistic issues and justice issues are important and they need to be resolved. Turkey has been planning to become a member of the European Union for nearly 50 years. However, the Kurdish issue prompted the European Union to oppose to the case and press Turkey to make changes in the Kurdish rights in the constitution. The second concern is the geography of Kurdistan in Turkey. The Kurdish nation has rights in Turkey and political models such as autonomy or federalism can be used (in Turkey Kurdistan). Legal Kurdish parties in Turkey are seeking to make the issue come true, but the HDP is following a different policy.”

“The united Turkey Kurdish parties are seeking four fundamental demands. First, the Kurdish language should be accepted as an official language and it should be used at different levels of education and in government departments. Two issues are important about the language. First, the ban on Kurdish language should be lifted; some civil society institutions are active regarding the language, but there are still many problems. The next issue is teaching the Kurdish language at all levels, and for the move we need to change the constitution. Kurdish parties have made lobbies with the newly established parties led by Ahmet Davutoglu and Babcan, which they have accepted, and the CHP (main opposition Republican Peoples Party) should accept the demand too. The second issue is the creation of a Kurdish entity and the model can be close to system of the Iraqi Kurdistan. The next issue is that there should be activities in Turkey under the name Kurd and Kurdistan and social and cultural institutions should be established in this regard.’

In response to the question of what his assessment is about Turkey attacks on Iraqi Kurdistan and Syria Kurdish region, the Kurdish lawyer and politician said: Turkey is seeking an expansionism policy and today it has occupied a large part of Syrian Kurdistan. However, the Kurdistan Region is different because the region is an official entity in Iraqi soil.”

"The United States the ruler of Iraq and everything is under the U.S. supervision. The KRG is also supported by the United States. The presence of the PKK in Qandil and in the Kurdistan Region is related to the U.S. The U.S. has labeled the PKK a terrorist group, but has not called on the PKK to leave Iraq. The PKK coming to Qandil is a project. Qandil is a strategic region and the U.S. is turning a blind eye to the PKK presence in return to prevent the region from falling into the hands of al-Qaeda and Salafite groups.

He added that “on the other hand, the Kurdistan Region does not want to see a war between the Kurdish movements. it is in the interest of the Kurdish people that the PKK would surrender Qandil and other mountains to the Kurdistan Region. The PKK has no power and can not harm Turkey but it can cause inflict damages to Kurdistan Region due to its actions in the region.”

Sedek Zilan stressed: The next issue is Syrian Kurdistan, and Turkey does not want to see a Kurdish entity to be formed in Syria. Just as after the referendum, Iran and Turkey and Iraq cut off 40 percent of Kurdistan's land from the region and made the region incapable, they also want to destroy the legal political entity and they use the PKK in this regard. Turkey was not in favor of the creation of Kurdistan Region and had not recognized the region for ten years; however, they had no other way but to accept it.

Reporter’s code: 50101