KCK Executive Council Member Mustafa Karasu spoke to ANF about the first year of the process shaped by Abdullah Öcalan’s Peace and Democratic Society perspective, the responsibilities of the state and society, and how to struggle against forces opposed to a resolution.
The first part of the interview can be read here, the second here and the third here.
The Kurdish people are wondering whether the issue of the Right to Hope and the physical freedom of the Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, will now be brought to the Parliament’s agenda. However, it is clear from the statements of the DEM Party delegation that there has been no improvement in the conditions in which the Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, finds himself. What is the reason for this?
The issue of the Right to Hope and the physical freedom of Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, could actually be resolved without a law being passed in Parliament. Because the Right to Hope takes effect after 25 years. Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, has been in captivity for 27 years. Based on the decision of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan’s physical freedom can be secured.
On the other hand, the PKK has been dissolved, and a decision has been made to end the armed struggle. This situation requires a special law for all PKK members and guerrillas. This law concerns directly Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, as well. The law that needs to be passed must also include Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan. It would be unacceptable if it would cover the dissolved PKK’s leadership, but not Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan. Categorizing the PKK leadership, cadres, and fighters would only obstruct the process. From this perspective, it is crucial that any special law or transitional law enacted is in line with the spirit of the process and ensures its success. Otherwise, if decisions are met based on the noise made by those hostiles to Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, those who dissolved their party, and those who abandoned the armed struggle, how can this process be successfully advanced? We believe that the Parliament, which has listened to all segments of society, and the actors who support the process will approach the matter with common sense and demonstrate the will for the right decisions to be made.
There is currently no improvement in Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan’s, conditions. There is only some information suggesting that efforts are underway to make the place where he stays more suitable.
The MHP commission has prepared its report. It is stated that after other parties submit their reports, the points agreed upon by the commission will be brought to the Parliament’s agenda. As far as has been revealed to the public, some legal, administrative, and political bills and legal regulations are being proposed, but the final decision will be made in Parliament. You also have concrete demands regarding both the freedom of Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, and the enactment of the laws of democratic politics and freedom. What role should the Parliament play at this stage?
Each party has submitted its report to the Parliamentary Commission. The Speaker of Parliament is in dialogue with the commission members, and a law will be submitted to the Parliament. Undoubtedly, it is important to arrive at the stage of presenting laws to the Parliament. Essentially, the content of this law will be crucial.
Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, has consistently demanded for decades that the Parliament step in and that a commission be formed within the Parliament to address this issue. The CHP and other parties have also requested that this issue be brought to the Parliament. The AKP-MHP alliance also accepted the involvement of the Parliament, resulting in the establishment of a Parliamentary Commission.
The establishment of the commission in the Parliament was an important step. Despite its shortcomings, it has carried out a significant work. Now, the preparation of a law commensurate with this work is expected.
Undoubtedly, our expectation is that the steps we have taken will be given legal status, ensuring the freedom to engage in democratic politics without any ifs or buts. After reading out the February 27th call, Sırrı Süreyya Önder stated, “For these to happen, the legal and political requirements must be fulfilled.” Since the February 27th call was viewed positively by the AKP-MHP alliance and everyone else, then it is expected that the Parliament will fulfill the legal and political requirements that will enable the February 27th call to be realized.
Until now, the Parliament has only played a negative role in the Kurdish issue. It has passed laws that deny the existence of Kurds and ensure the Turkification of Kurds, or that strictly enforce these policies. At this stage, it is expected to play a positive role. Indeed, without playing this role, neither the parties can truly be political bodies, nor can the Parliament become an authority that solves problems. Therefore, we see this stage at the same time as the stage where politics and the Parliament will prove their adequacy. If this role is not played, politics and the Parliament will become institutions that deceive society. Indeed, trust in parties and politicians in Turkey has already greatly diminished, because they have not addressed the country’s fundamental problems.
It has been reported that Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, stated that in the second phase of the ongoing process, he will focus on issues such as the emergence of gangs, degradation in society, violence against women, prostitution, special warfare, drugs, spy recruitment and similar activities. What kind of role does society, and particularly the youth, has within this?
The emergence of gangs and degradation in society you mentioned stem from the unresolved Kurdish issue. Policies aimed at suppressing the Kurdish people’s struggle for freedom produce these results. In Kurdistan and in Turkish metropolises, this kind of corruption is overlooked, in order to keep Kurdish youth away from the struggle. It is known that a state official in Sêrt (tr. Siirt) said that they should engage in prostitution rather than go to the mountains. It is also a known fact that in the 1990s in Izmir, the formation of gangs was overlooked in order to keep Kurdish youth away from the struggle.
From this perspective, the current process, emergence of a conflict-free situation, a democratic political solution to the Kurdish issue being discussed about, a peace that will end 50 years of conflict and war becoming concrete; all of this means that the ground for such gang activity and corruption will also dry up. In this respect, progression of the current process will further increase the possibility of reducing, or even preventing, special warfare policies such as the formation of gangs, social degradation, drug use, forcing people into prostitution, and recruiting spies.
This process, which Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, patiently seeks to bring to a conclusion, also provides the society with the opportunity to organize and fight against such forms of corruption.
In recent years, practices of ecocide have reached extreme levels in Kurdistan. The policy of Kurdish genocide is also being implemented in this manner. If the solution in form of the ‘Peace and Democratic Society Process’ is to develop, these practices must also come to an end. In-fact, Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, has stated that this ecocide must be fought against at all costs. While Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, expresses his intention to fight against such practices, he calls at the same time on the Kurdish society to fight against these policies and practices.
The youth, of course, as the dynamic force of society, must be at the forefront of the struggle against all these negativities. All the problems of the society are the problems of the youth. Does the society have any other dynamic force than the youth? Only those who are sensitive to the problems of the society can be called young. Those who are insensitive to the problems of the society, even if they are 18 years old, cannot be called young. Youth is not about age. Being the youth of the society means being concerned with the problems of society. Those who are not concerned with the problems of society, who do not lead the way, should not be considered in the category of youth.
In short, youth is a social phenomenon. Their place and role within society is what makes them young. Youth is a social force where organization and action are, and should be, intertwined. Undoubtedly, proper organization and action are achieved through education. From this perspective, young people should be able to combine education, organization, and action, just like Kemal Pir. Being involved in organization and struggle against the aforementioned gang formation and corruption is the most legitimate right. Because these are, first and foremost, the organizations and the actions to defend society.
Even in recent years, when oppression intensified, Kurdish women have always been in the streets, never giving up the struggle and resistance. What does the new process mean for women, and why is it important that women have the leading role in the new social structure?
Kurdish women, through their struggle for freedom, are waging the struggle for all social freedom and democracy. No emancipatory and democratic space can truly be emancipatory and democratic without women’s freedom. Through their struggle, women have become the vanguard of the struggle for freedom and democracy of the entire humanity. In this respect, Kurdish women should be regarded as the pioneers of freedom and democracy for all of humanity.
Women, whose enslavement has been deepened throughout history, are now responding to this by deepening freedom and democracy. Indeed, women cannot truly achieve a free and democratic life unless freedom and democracy are deepened and comprehensive. In this respect, the key to solving all of humanity’s problems lies in the hands of the women’s freedom struggle. The more women become self-aware and organized, the more they become conscious of this vanguard role, and on this basis, they engage in a powerful struggle. The energy of women’s struggle for freedom and democracy is so strong and effective that no reactionary force can stand in its way. Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, has given this great energy to humanity by creating the ideology of women’s freedom.
Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, has further deepened the analysis of women’s freedom. He has emphasized that women will create the democratic communal system, which will be the salvation of humanity against the capitalist modernity destroying humanity. Women will constitute and revitalize the society, that is, communal life. While capitalism is destroying humanity, women will once again play their historical role and bring society into existence.
Sociality and social values are in women’s genes. This has been the way in which women have existed and been a power throughout history. Now, with this characteristic, they will bring all of society into existence along with themselves and lead humanity to liberation.
Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, is once again making striking assessments and delivering messages about women. These excite not only women, but all those fighting for freedom and democracy. Women, as the gender that created society and as the first oppressed class and nation, have deeply realized their own reality. This realization creates great self-confidence and energy, giving impetus to the struggle. Women have now acquired an ideology of freedom, a doctrine for a free and democratic life. No power can stop a struggle that has achieved ideological clarity and theoretical openness. Because they are the ones who best understand and comprehend the analyses of humanity and history, they will also be the ones waging the struggle most effectively and correctly. That they understand the analyses of humanity and history the best is rendered possible by their social status and the consciousness they have reached in this regard. In short, they have more advantages than men in this matter. What they experienced in the past has become their strength by being brought to consciousness today.
With the new process, women’s struggle for freedom and democracy will find an opportunity for a leap forward. Women will embrace and put into practice the best what Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, has put forward with this new process. In short, the democratic communal structuring will attain its true content and embodiment primarily through the ideological stance, organization, and struggle of women. Kurdish people’s leader, Abdullah Öcalan, has given women this leading role.