Cemil Bayik, the head of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) and also the “number two” man in the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has said that the “civil war” in Turkey will intensify in the near future.
In a report published by French newspaper Le Monde, Bayık said there is no reason to stop the armed struggle of the PKK organization, adding: “The civil war in Turkey will greatly intensify in the coming months.” Bayık further said, “We [the PKK] reserve the right to deploy more fighters to Kurdish cities in Turkey because our duty is to protect the people [in Kurdish cities].”
Bayık also revealed that the PKK is preparing to establish a “revolutionary resistance front” with other groups from Turkey and abroad. “I will not give the names of those groups. However, they share the same struggle with us against [President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan’s Junta regime. They will fight with us.”
The PKK’s three-decade armed struggle against Turkish Junta government flared up again in late July after the collapse of a two-year cease-fire and settlement process, plunging Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish Southeast back into open conflict between Turkish security forces and the PKK. Although traditionally based in the countryside, the PKK has shifted its focus in recent years to towns and cities in the region. The government has responded by cracking down on the organization through operations in border districts such as Cizre and Silopi.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released last week that more than 100 civilians have been killed and many more have been injured in the Southeast since July, warning that the civilian death toll is likely to rise steeply in the coming days.
Since the settlement process ended, more than 200 members of Turkish security forces have died, curfews have been imposed in 17 southeastern districts and nearly 200,000 residents have been forced to leave their homes due to armed clashes and curfews. Kurds make up nearly 20 percent of Turkey’s population, according to estimates.
