TEV-DEM supports international campaign to delist the PKK

Institutions and organizations affiliated with the Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEM) released a statement to announce their support for the ongoing international campaign for delisting the PKK.

The statement was read out by Zeynep Hesen, a member of the Women’s Office of TEV-DEM, outside the TEV-DEM headquarters in Qamishlo.

PKK’S STRUGGLE IS MORAL AND HUMANITARIAN

“PKK’s theoretical and practical struggle promotes moral and human values and protects the rights and cultures of the region’s peoples. Moreover, the PKK represents a political will that prioritizes social freedom and life and has always stood for women’s freedom.

Delisting of the PKK is a legitimate demand because the PKK serves all peoples. The group champions core democratic values and contributes to peace, fraternity and peaceful settlement of conflicts,” the statement said.

The statement underlined that the policies of the fascist Turkish state caused the PKK to be put onto the terror list. It added that the Turkish state seeks to undermine the accomplishments of the Kurdish people and the region’s people.

“All our institutions and organizations will collect signatures to support the campaign to delist the PKK. We believe that delisting the PKK will bring peace and democracy and protect human rights. Therefore, we ask the European Union and the US to remove the PKK from the terror list,” the statement said.

The campaign for the delisting of the Kurdish liberation movement was launched last November by the international initiative “Justice for Kurds” and is directed at the Council of Europe. The goal is four million signatures for the removal of the PKK from the “terror list”. The campaign petition can also be signed online.

The Justice for Kurds initiative highlights in the campaign that the classification of the PKK as a terrorist organisation serves as a justification for attacks on Kurds and as a reason for war and leads to “endemic inequalities being overlooked and social problems not being addressed”. The peace initiative is supported by internationally known personalities from politics, civil law, art and culture, including Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek, Afghan women’s rights activist Selay Ghaffar, German international law expert Norman Paech and Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek.