KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council Member Mustafa Karasu commemorated Rıza Altun, one of the founding members of the PKK, on the 6th anniversary of his martyrdom, and Musa Anter on the 33rd anniversary of his assassination. Karasu spoke to Medya Haber TV.
The first part of this interview can be read here, and the second here.
Just recently, it was also the anniversary of the murder of Musa Anter. Is there anything you would like to say about his significance as a person, or about the importance of his work for journalists today?
Firstly, I commemorate Musa Anter with respect and gratitude. I had just been released from prison at that time, in 1992. After being released from prison, I went to Ankara. At that time, there was a DEP or HEP congress in Ankara. I joined the congress and wanted to greet those at the congress. Musa Anter was also sitting in the front row at the congress with Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan’s mother, Üvey Ana. I kissed Üvey Ana’s hands and chatted with Musa Anter. I chatted with them for about half an hour. It was a very enthusiastic conversation. I remember that I stayed for half an hour, forty-five minutes, and then left. Two days later, Musa Anter left there, went to Amed, and was murdered.
He was a patriot who believed in our struggle, who believed it would succeed. He was a patriotic democrat. I remember him talking about how Mehmet Ali Birand went and interviewed Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan, and how he played soccer and such; it was very nice. Musa Anter had written important articles and essays about Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan. He was a true patriot. Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan met Musa Anter in 1970 or 71 in Istanbul. He was truly a person who, with his feelings, thoughts, and stance, did not accept the genocidal colonialism and was filled with the desire to struggle against it. Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan evaluated, valued, and appreciated Musa Anter’s life and struggle. Also, our entire press stands by the legacy of Musa Anter. They see Musa Anter as their own pioneer. Kurdish journalists should all be valuable intellectuals, writers, patriots, democrats, following in his footsteps, striving to realize his aspirations. Journalism is something that needs to be done with strong patriotic awareness. It cannot be purely technical, mechanical journalism. Journalism can only be done correctly with strong patriotic, revolutionary awareness, by living the aspirations of the people, the Kurdish people’s passion for freedom. And it is being done. We have many valuable martyrs in this regard. I call on all our friends working in the press to follow in the footsteps of Musa Anter and Gurbetelli Ersöz and to contribute to this struggle at this level.
As we come to the end of our interview, we would like to turn to another very important current issue and process, namely the situation in Syria. Recently, there have been repeated attacks on the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, which are interpreted as attempts to provoke a war. Turkey is essentially involved in this. Among other things, Syria is likely to have been one of the central topics at the meeting between Erdoğan and Trump. Now Shara has also been invited to speak at the UN. How do you assess all this? How do you see the situation in Syria?
North and East Syria, with its self-administration, is the foundation of stability in Syria. It is the most stable region. In other words, it is the most stable area in terms of its social structure and mentality. It can ensure stability in Syria. Arabs, Kurds, Syriacs, Armenians, everyone lives together with a democratic understanding. They do not attack each other, they do not fight. Arabs, Kurds, Assyrians and all the others have been living as brothers and sisters now for years. No one is an enemy to anyone else because of their beliefs or ethnic identity. Could anything be more valuable than this?
Now, this is being sabotaged. It is clear that an attack on North and East Syria, on the Autonomous Administration, would drive Syria into instability. Syria would then enter a dangerous phase. North and East Syria have given around 20,000 martyrs to secure their system and their people. A significant portion of them are Arabs, Arab youth. They fell as martyrs in the fight against ISIS. Then again there are also tens of thousands of wounded, veterans.
Those who are carrying these attacks are openly showing that there sole intention is to destabilize Syria and to stir up trouble in Syria. Syria is not yet fully stable. They try to ignite the fire again. Surely North and East Syria will not surrender. Would those who have given tens of thousands of martyrs surrender? They will resist; they will resist to the end.
In this regard, the Turkish state’s policy there is wrong, and Damascus’ policy is wrong. The Turkish state should in-fact support the Autonomous Administration there. Doesn’t it want Syria to become democratic? Does Turkey want Syria to become democratic, or not? Syria’s democratization can only happen through reconciliation between North and East Syria and Damascus. By reconciliation, we do not mean that Northern and Eastern Syria should surrender to Damascus. Let’s leave the others aside; the women in Northern and Eastern Syria will not accept Damascus’s policy on women.
In this regard, the Turkish state must pursue the right policy. Northern and Eastern Syria and Damascus must reconcile on a democratic basis. Let’s call it democratic integration. Damascus must also enact democratic integration laws to ensure the democratic integration of Northern and Eastern Syria with the rest of Syria. The Turkish state must also assist in this regard and not threaten.
It speaks about the March 10 Agreement. The March 10 Agreement does not mean that North and East Syria will join Damascus unconditionally. If that were the case, it would not have signed the agreement. Why did it sign? It has given 20,000 martyrs and tens of thousands of veterans. Would the commander of a military force go and sign an agreement as Turkey envisions? Turkey interprets that signature according to its own understanding, and Damascus interprets it according to its own understanding. That’s not how it works. That signature is, in a way, a signature for joint governance in Syria. That’s how it should be understood. It’s not understood that way.
Is there an elected government? Which election brought it to power? It came by military force. It overthrew the previous regime, which in itself is good, but what next? Now, the bearded Baathists emerged. The old Baathists left, and the bearded Baathists came. Turkey needs to change its policies. We do not find the policies pursued so far to be correct. It benefits neither Syria nor Turkey. They claim to oppose war. Erdoğan goes and claims to oppose war, saying, “There should be no war in Gaza.” If you say these things, then why are you inciting war in Syria? These are not the right approaches. Such approaches must be abandoned.
Erdoğan and Trump met; they praised each other. Praising each other so much is actually a sign of mistrust. We cannot say that they are very much in tune with each other. This means that there are many disagreements; that is, there are problems they cannot solve. Moreover, the next day, Trump said, “I ended seven wars.” Erdoğan said, “Where did you end them? There’s no such thing.”
Of course, Turkey’s expectation is this: Erdoğan and Trump will agree, and then this will be done in Syria, and the Kurds in Syria will be targeted. In other words, what is expected from the Erdoğan-Trump meeting is, once again, for Turkey to target the Kurds in Turkey or abroad. Or there was an expectation that the US would support Turkey’s misguided Kurdish policy.
We don’t know how much of this is true, but we don’t think it is. Because this would destabilize Syria. I don’t think the US or other countries want Syria to become unstable. However, it can be said that there are more positive things than before on some issues, or that they have made some positive agreements. But assessments that portray this as “very positive, very beneficial for Turkey” are exaggerated. They are mostly assessments by the pro-government press. We should not approach it that way.
On the other hand, Shara went and held a speech at the United Nations. Who is Shara? Until yesterday, he was called a terrorist. What they did to the Alawites is clear, and what they did to the Druze is clear. They threaten the Kurds every day. Someone like that went and spoke at the United Nations. They invited Shara to the United Nations with an approach that does not fit any principle. Yes, if Syria is a state, its president can speak at the United Nations. But they didn’t let him speak in the past; Assad couldn’t go. Is Shara really still in control of the state? Does he represent the people there? He went on behalf of Damascus, but how much does he represent Syria? These are really problematic issues. This United Nations meeting has actually turned into a show. It has become a place where there are no principles, where people come and put on a show. The United Nations should not be like this. The United Nations has become dysfunctional in many ways. Trump went to the United Nations, spoke, and criticized. He even said: “What is the climate crisis? It’s a hoax.” Look at the state the United Nations has come to. The state with the world’s greatest military, political, and economic power stands up and calls the climate crisis, the world’s most fundamental problem, humanity’s problem, a “hoax.” This alone reveals how problems are approached.
In this respect, the situation at the United Nations probably did not give humanity much hope. We do not think that much came out of the meeting between Erdoğan, and Trump. But it was very tense during Biden’s time. Now they have moved away from that tension a little. Now they talk, and they have become more open to discussion. If there has been any progress, it can be said that it has been in this direction.