“A struggling youth can shake the rulers”

Drugs have always been used as a counterinsurgency tool by rulers around the world. The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Youth Council launched the campaign “Breaking the Addiction, Building the New Life” on September 10 and is carrying out numerous activities in this context. Hazal Karabey, a member of the Youth Council, spoke to ANF on the campaign and the Turkish state’s dirty war methods against Kurdish youth.

“We know the reason for the widespread drug use”

On the background of the campaign, Hazal Karabey said, “We see that the attacks on all values of life are increasing every day. Due to capitalism and the monster of nation-state culturelessness that has emerged from it, ethical values are being lost more and more. It is an attack at the highest level. Ethical values are being stripped of their essence and content; they are being rendered meaningless. This is to reintroduce enslavement. Society cannot be completely eliminated, but it is destroyed when the values of life and its culture are exposed to degeneration. This is what is happening at the moment through the special war policy.

The idea is to create a youth that is dependent on the system, that gives up its own being, does not question anything and does not fight. In Turkey, and especially in the Kurdish provinces, drug use is very common and we know the reason why. There is intervention against everything, so why not against narcotics? Youth is the part of society that has the most dynamism. It has the power to change and transform things. What it rejects and what it accepts is clear.

As the HDP Youth Council, we are aware of this particular form of warfare. In order to promote this awareness throughout the youth and society, we have proclaimed the campaign ‘Break the Dependency, Build the New Life’ on September 10 in Amed. We want to create publicity to denounce this dirty politics and remind the youth of their real role.”

Not an obedient youth, but a free youth

The Kurdish youth will not give up their struggle, Karabey emphasized: “The Kurdish liberation struggle is also developing through the spirit of the youth. The youth is defending itself in an organized way against the attacks on its language, identity and culture. They will not give up their struggle for freedom despite massive attacks and oppression. In order to crush this spirit, many different methods are used. The youth are wanted to be intimidated and silenced with torture and repression. This policy systematically targets young Kurds in particular. The goal is to crush the liberation movement. The youth are a leading force in the Kurdish freedom struggle. Because the youth movement has grown and developed, it is now a nightmare of the fascist AKP/MHP government. Kurdish youth everywhere denounce government policies. They do not want a youth that obeys, but one that is free. A struggling youth can shake the rulers.”

Language courses, art competitions, cultural centers

The HDP Youth campaign also includes cultural activities. Hazal Karabey said that one’s mother tongue and culture should be defended against the assimilation policy: “Every society has its own values. It creates its own values and shapes life with them. If the youth are alienated from their own culture and values, the society loses its values and culture. As HDP youth, we also work on the issues of language and culture as part of our campaign against assimilation policies. We have established language courses in all locations. We still want to expand the promotion of the use of the mother tongue. We are also planning cultural activities, celebrations, concerts, theater performances and excursions to historical sites at the local level. As the coordination of young women in the HDP, we have launched an art competition within this campaign: ‘Young women meet in art against addiction and abuse’. Through paintings, poems, stories, photos and folklore, young women will be able to freely reflect their point of view. The contest will end with a big celebration. We also plan to set up local cultural centers as focal points for young people.”