In a statement published on its website, the Kurdistan Women’s Communities (KJK) Coordination said that the struggle must not remain limited to taking a stance alone, stressing that sexist and racist attacks must be confronted through a legal struggle that leads to judicial sanctions.
The KJK statement continued as follows:
“We are living in a period marked by profound transformations in the Middle East. We have the opportunity to shape this change on the basis of the common interests and shared future of peoples and women. Those who can demonstrate a will to make history and build society show the strength to turn even the most chaotic periods into moments of major progress. However, passive, inert, and indecisive positions, policies opposed to the process, and acts of sabotage will cause this transformation to unfold against the interests of peoples and women.
The ‘Democratic Solution Process’ initiated by Abdullah Öcalan nearly a year ago aims to ensure that this period of change yields outcomes in favour of peoples and women through the dialectic of negotiation and struggle as an integrated whole. Yet those who fail to grasp this historic crossroads and approach it on the basis of opportunism are placing the process at risk.
The resolution of the Kurdish question, which stands as a Gordian knot of the Middle East, will ensure a process of democratisation that yields results in favour of all the oppressed. The cost of keeping the Kurdish people in a condition of statelessness has not been borne by Kurds alone. The Turkish people, who have been condemned to live under anti-democratic regimes, a war economy, and the harshest forms of nationalist and sexist ideology, have also suffered major losses. Hostility, hunger, poverty, moral collapse, and immense human loss have almost been turned into a fate.
However, there are fundamental problems in the approach to the ‘Democratic Solution Process,’ which historically represents the last chance for both peoples. On the one hand, negotiation is spoken of, while on the other, racism and nationalist movements are being revived, placing the process under serious threat. The nature of the process is peace, and creating a climate conducive to peace is first and foremost the responsibility of those in power. Yet disrespect for the political will of the Kurdish people, along with delegitimisation and aggression, has been normalised. Pursuing a policy that enlists racism and nationalism into the process means playing with the shared destiny of peoples.
The status quo–oriented and dogmatic understanding observed within the field of democratic opposition, shaped along the axis of a bipolar world, along with an expectant stance and an inability to think boldly, leads to passivity in properly assessing the process and transforming it into a movement for peace and democracy. The weaknesses in embracing the process on the basis of democratisation and peace, and in revealing one’s own capacity for solution, result in an inability to take a stance against the attacks and provocations of the racist and fascist front.
Under these conditions, where sufficient response and precaution are not taken, racist parties find room to manoeuvre. Those who sustain war and genocide organise their opposition to the process by dangerously mobilising hostility toward Kurds and women. Most recently, an organised sexist attack targeting Ms. Zana took place. We condemn and reject this hostility toward women and the people. It is an attack directed at the dignity of all women and our people. Fascist and racist circles that feed on politics of hostility toward the Kurdish people have committed a crime through this sexist attack against Leyla Zana. We call on women’s organisations and the democratic public to strengthen the common struggle for democracy and a stance for peace against provocations and acts of sabotage that generate hostility. This struggle must not be limited to taking a stance alone but must be completed through a legal struggle that brings sexist and racist attacks to judicial sanction.”