Exclusive: Interview with pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party in Turkey

CAIRO – 24 September 2017: Hours separate us from the historic independence referendum that will decide whether we will witness a Kurdish state or not, with vague vision of the nature of this state and its anticipated political system, and what consequences will result of this independence.
Egypt Today reached the vice co-chairman of pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in Turkey, Hişyar Özsoy, to ask him about this major shift in the region and the future of Kurds in case the state of Kurdistan is established in north Iraq.
How does the HDP see the region if the independence of Kurdistan goes through?

The HDP supports the right of people to decide their destiny. We are for the right to national self-determination. We know that there have been so many problems between the Iraqi government and Iraqi Kurds, and unfortunately they weren’t able to work out their differences and reach out a solution through negotiations, and because of that the Kurds have decided to go on their way. We have raised some criticisms about how the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has handled the process of making the decision of going for a referendum for independence. We think the process could have been more participatory. But at the end of the day the Kurds and other peoples in KRG territories will go to the polling stations and neighboring countries and the international community should respect their choice and will.

You have said that HDP has criticized the referendum, on what basis?

The referendum should have been conducted in a collective manner, meaning that it should have included all Kurdish parties represented at the parliament of KRG. But the parliament was closed since October 2015 and reopened on September 14, 2017 to have a vote on the referendum. The process could have been more inclusive, participatory and open to criticisms and recommendations from all Kurdish parties and organizations in the Middle East, because this referendum in one part of Kurdistan would impact the lives of Kurds in other parts of Kurdistan.


Would the referendum lead to other calls for independence from minorities in the region?

Not necessarily. The Kurds have faced repression and violations through ages from different governments, and now they are exercising their right to choose their future.

How do you see the threats of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to the Kurds in Iraq?

He can’t do much. If Erdoğan fought the Kurds, which he has already been doing, they will defend themselves and fight back and they won’t retreat. Erdoğan already has enough troubles domestically and internationally. Military intervention does not seem realistic, but both Turkey and Iran may engineer proxy wars in addition to diplomatic and economic sanctions.

Can the region afford another conflict by establishing a state for Kurds?

There is already a Kurdish conflict in the region. Kurds have been facing all kind of repression, in Syria, Turkey, Iran, and have even been subjected to genocide by Saddam Hussein in Iraq. They ran out of solutions, they resorted to political negotiations, armed conflict and now they chose to go to polling stations to finally win a political status.

If a Kurdish independent state in North Iraq is established, what will be the next step for Kurds in Turkey?

Let me clarify something. HDP is not a Kurdish party per se; it includes Kurds, Turks, Armenians, Alevis, leftists and members from every political spectrum, with a Kurdish majority. HDP does have a fully developed political project to resolve the Kurdish conflict in Turkey. We demand a decentralized political system that we formulated as ‘democratic autonomy.’ Regardless of the result of the referendum, we will promote our political project to find a peaceful and democratic resolution to the conflict in Turkey.

Do you agree with the U.S. administration’s claim that the time is not right for such a referendum?

So when is the right time?! The time is never right when it comes to independence for Kurds. Kurds tried everything and nobody heard their voice. We said over and again to Erdoğan and to the Iraqi and Iranian governments, if you have something to offer to Kurds, offer it now, instead of threats and repression.