In an in-depth interview with ANF, Mustafa Karasu, member of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council, spoke about the upcoming anniversary of the international conspiracy of February 15, as a result of which Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan was abducted. Karasu speaks about the significance of the more than 50-year struggle, about how the Kurdish people’s current united stance is the result of this struggle, and about how the concept of the democratic nation, as shaped by Abdullah Öcalan, may be the only way for the Middle East to achieve peace and stability through democratization.
We are approaching February 15, which marks the 27th anniversary of the international conspiracy that began with the expulsion of Leader Öcalan from Damascus on October 9, 1998. This means we are entering the 28th year of the imprisonment of the Kurdish people’s leader. Once again, we strongly condemn all the states and political forces involved in this conspiracy. At the same time, I respectfully and gratefully remember the martyrs who gave their lives in the ‘You Cannot Darken Our Sun!’ resistance united with Leader Öcalan against conspiracy. If the international conspiracy has not succeeded, if our people’s great resistance against the conspiracy has expanded and continues to this day, it is largely due to the resistance of the ‘You Cannot Darken Our Sun!’ resistance put forward by these martyrs. To this day, we continue the struggle against the international conspiracy following the principles they established. And with our struggle against it, we have prevented it from achieving all its goals. But still it is neither completely defeated, nor has the international conspiracy ended.
The conspiracy that started in 1999 is a conspiracy against Leader Öcalan’s revolutionary personality and against his political idea for the Middle East. Leader Öcalan wanted to shape a new order of the Middle East based on the brotherhood of peoples with his ideas and his struggle. But the international powers were keeping the Middle East under their domination through collaborators. With his struggle based on the brotherhood of peoples, Leader Öcalan aims to resolve the Kurdish issue, develop democratization in the Middle East, and break the collaboration with the hegemonic powers in the region. Leader Öcalan’s ideas and his goal of a new Middle East order based on the brotherhood of peoples disturbed the hegemonic powers. It is a political approach posing an obstacle to their policies in the region. It was for this reason that the US, Israel, and the UK, among others, carried out the international conspiracy against Leader Öcalan. They forced him to leave Syria through coercion and threats.
Also, Turkey was used in this course, which itself aimed to remove Leader Öcalan from the Middle East. Turkey was waging a war against the PKK. They had carried out an attack against Leader Öcalan. In 1996, they launched an attack on Leader Öcalan in Damascus through a conspiracy, but it failed. They realized that as long as he led the PKK, his ideas would develop and become influential in the Middle East. Not only in Kurdistan, but also a system based on the brotherhood of peoples would be established in the Middle East.
The reason international powers wanted to carry out this plot was to eliminate this mentality, which they saw as a threat to their own hegemony. They were planning to intervene in the Middle East, and they feared that such a revolutionary force, such a leader, and such a movement could take advantage of the war environment in the Middle East. That is why they saw it necessary for their own purposes to neutralize Leader Öcalan before intervening in the Middle East, in Iraq. It was their calculation that if they could neutralize Leader Öcalan, they could render the Kurdish freedom movement ineffective.
Our people waged a great struggle against this conspiracy, pioneered by the ‘You Cannot Darken Our Sun!’ martyrs. Yes, Leader Öcalan was imprisoned, but our people embraced him and the PKK; rather, loyalty to Leader Öcalan increased even more. Our leader grew stronger with the paradigm that he developed. In this sense, the struggle against the international conspiracy may not have physically freed Leader Öcalan or defeated it completely, but our struggle also grew and developed during this process. Today, the influence of Leader Öcalan has massively increased.
The best example of the practical potential inherent in the ideas of Leader Öcalan has been demonstrated here in the Middle East. Leader Öcalan had spent twenty years in Syria and was closely connected with our people in Rojava. Not only are the people of Rojava loyal to Leader Öcalan, but the Arab community in Syria also knows him well. They see that Leader Öcalan does not have such a narrow nationalist approach. In fact, some Arab intellectuals had described Leader Öcalan as a second Saladin. Just as Saladin protected the peoples of the Middle East against the Crusaders, they said that Leader Öcalan would protect the peoples against the hegemonic powers in the Middle East. The ideas of Leader Öcalan were put into practice in Syria according to the concept of the democratic nation. This has been practiced and constructed over the past 12-13 years. The revolutionary forces that prevailed in Rojava fought alongside the Arab people and Arab youth against ISIS and established the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. This was a very important development. And this development was not just a step towards democratizing Syria; it was not just a democratic system. It represented a democratic system that affected the entire Middle East. The Middle East was a region exhausted by ethnic and religious conflicts. Leader Öcalan’s ideas were actually welcomed with sympathy by Arabs, Syrians, and other peoples in North and East Syria. A seed was planted.
Undoubtedly, it did not materialize to the extent that Leader Öcalan desired. But Arabs, Syrians, and other peoples have lived together peacefully for 12-13 years. Just as in the first international conspiracy, the international and economic powers that saw Leader Öcalan’s ideas and his vision for the Middle East as a threat to themselves also saw this concept of the democratic nation, this democratic system in North and East Syria, as dangerous for their interests. The US representative clearly stated that there is no need for democracy in the Middle East, that the Middle East can only be ruled by monarchy, thus revealing what kind of Middle East they actually desire. This was also a clear expression of what kind of policy they would pursue, what policies they would oppose, and what policies they would not accept.
Based on this understanding, an agreement was reached in Paris on January 5. The US, France, Israel, and Turkey thus decided to dismantle the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Israel achieved its goal here, taking control over the Golan Heights and southern Syria. Syria used to have influence over Lebanon, but now it has been guaranteed that Syria will no longer interfere in Lebanese affairs. And thus, an attack was launched on North and East Syria with a mentality that was similar to ISIS, did not transcend its ideology, and was based on the presence of gangs and mercenaries around the Damascus government that still adhered to the ISIS mentality. This was not just an attack on the Kurds; it was also an attack on the democratic system in North and East Syria. An international conspiracy was carried out against the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. This was thereby also an attack against Leader Öcalan’s paradigm of the democratic nation.
The paradigm of the democratic nation is an important theoretical approach and a valuable proposition. It is a project to eliminate the division of ethnic and religious communities in the Middle East. The project of the democratic nation project was attempted to be implemented here, and there may have been shortcomings and inadequacies, but there were no segments within the Arab people or the Syrian people who were very uncomfortable with this life. Because Arab society was not under such pressure. In fact, the situation of Arabs under the control and influence of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria was even better than that of Arabs in other regions. It was a good situation. It was this project of a democratic nation, which stands for the democratization of the Middle East, that the international powers attacked. It had the potential to end the ethnic and sectarian conflicts in the Middle East. But international powers, hegemonic powers, do not accept such a project, such a system, for their own interests.
But now there are some calling themselves Kurds who have made it their goal to rhetorically attack the concept of democratic nation. They want to push forward the concept of the nation-state. Who suffered the most in the Middle East under the nation-state concept? The Kurds. It is this concept that makes the Kurds a constant target. They are being tried to be removed from the Middle East. Nation-state means genocide and ethnic cleansing. The nation-state system has destroyed and eliminated other cultures wherever it has existed. This accounts for Europe as well. There have been conflicts and wars in Europe for centuries. As a result, they abandoned that concept and moved towards a concept closer to the democratic nation. Europe is now securing its peace and stability with a mindset close to the democratic nation concept.
It is necessary to emphasize again that it is the Kurds who suffer most due to the nation-state concept in the Middle East. The Kurds are being subjected to genocide due to it. So what is the alternative? The alternative is the democratic nation. That is, regardless of which state it is, it is the coexistence of other peoples by accepting their cultural, religious, self-administration, and all other basic rights. No matter what state it is, no matter what, the establishment of this democratic nation concept everywhere means peace, it means a democratic approach, and it means a humane approach. The nation-state, on the other hand, means eliminating and oppressing other different identities. The concept of the nation-state remains dangerous. Wherever and whenever nation-states existed, there was oppression and genocide. The concept of the democratic nation has to take root in all states. This is what is right for humanity. This is the Middle East stability project. This is how the Middle East can achieve stability. Otherwise, peoples, faiths, and ethnic communities will always continue to clash. If the nation-state concept remains unbroken, the Middle East cannot escape these conflicts.
Now, there was an intervention against Rojava. There, they set back the democratic nation project. There was a retreat. Still, Arabs, Kurds, and Syriacs live together in Rojava. The most correct approach in Rojava today is the democratic nation approach. It is necessary to live in peace with Arabs, Syriacs, and all communities with a common mindset. Of course, everyone will live with all their rights. Kurds will live with their own identity and culture, as will the Arabs, the Assyrians, and all the others. There has to be a certain common administration.
Some people talk as if that setback was due to the concept of democratic nation. That has nothing to do with it. There is the agreement of January 6, and the attack starting with it. With this attack, as a truly reactionary decision, the international powers wanted to completely dismantle and destroy that project. To oppose the democratic nation is to engage in nation-state fetishism, to glorify the nation-state. Again, the glorification of nation-states in the Middle East stands for the genocide of the Kurds. They try to criticize Leader Öcalan, but it is his leadership that is historically the greatest value of the Kurdish society. It is Leader Öcalan and the freedom movement he led that honored the Kurds and enabled them to hold their heads high. If the Kurds hold their heads high in the Middle East today and are honored in the world, it is because of the line of Leader Öcalan and the stage reached by the Kurdish freedom movement led by the PKK.
The PKK has been dissolved; as it has played its role. This was not an end, but a new beginning, achieved with a new understanding and approach. In this sense, speaking ill of Leader Öcalan is reactionary. International conspirators may attack Leader Öcalan and the PKK. Those who currently use this slanderous language against Leader Öcalan and the freedom movement are serving the international conspiracy.
It was the aim of the first international conspiracy to crush Leader Öcalan’s ideas and revolutionary movement. The international conspiracy launched in Syria today, initiated on January 6, is again aimed at eliminating Leader Öcalan and the freedom movement. Some circles are truly supporters of the conspiracy. The attacks against Leader Öcalan and our movement, against the concept of the democratic nation, during this period are definitely a continuation of the conspiracy mentality. They also say that democracy does not concern them. What does it mean that democracy does not concern them? The Kurds in the Middle East can only secure their existence under democratic conditions, if democratization develops.
The 21st century will be the Kurdish century based on democratization. Some people don’t know what they are saying, they are provoked. An attack on the concept of the democratic nation is an attack on Leader Öcalan. We will defend the brotherhood of peoples. We will also defend the concept of the democratic nation. And we will continue to oppose the concept of the nation-state. Because this concept of the nation-state is a policy of Kurdish genocide.
Our people rose up against the attack on Rojava. They rose up in all parts of Kurdistan, as they saw that the attack on Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafiyah, and North and East Syria was an attack on all Kurds. The people took a stance because they saw that the freedom movement of Leader Öcalan, which developed the Kurdish people’s struggle and played a major role in the gains in all parts and is still being defended today, was being targeted. The people’s stance stems from Leader Öcalan’s ideology. It is the defense of the Kurdish freedom movement against the attack on the Kurdish freedom movement. Because the Kurdish people know best how bad the liquidation of the Kurdish freedom movement would be for the Kurds. It is therefore that people rose up everywhere. This is the result of 50 years of struggle. Since Leader Öcalan began, we have not only struggled in one part of Kurdistan for 52 years. We have not only struggled in northern Kurdistan. We are the only movement struggling in all four parts of Kurdistan. We are the only movement that has fought in all four parts of Kurdistan and has created such an influence on the people. Just as all parts rose up in the struggle against the international conspiracy in 1999, our people rose up in all parts against this second international conspiracy, this attack on the gains of all Kurds.
It will be seen what the historical foundation is that made this people rise up. Who unites the mentality in the four parts of Kurdistan? Which struggle united them? Our struggle united them. Everyone will know this. In this regard, the uprising of all parts of Kurdistan in support of Rojava and the participation of Kurds with different views in this struggle are the result of such a historical reality. The people stood up massively in Sulaymaniah, in Kirkuk, and all over Kurdistan, and they were joined by their international friends. It is our freedom struggle; it is Leader Öcalan who has enabled the development of this freedom struggle. Without Leader Öcalan’s line, the freedom movement in Kurdistan would not have developed to this level today. This reality must be well known. It cannot be discussed cheaply. They rhetorically attack the movement; they attack the leadership. But their words will fade away, and what they write is written in the sand and will soon be washed away. No power can stand in front of Leader Öcalan’s ideological line. The flow of history is in that direction. There is intense pressure on us. There are attacks. There are attacks by international powers. There are attacks by regional powers. There are attacks on us from many sides. That’s right. But this attack will not set us back. It will not make us abandon our ideology, our thoughts. In this regard, we salute the will shown by our people in this process. Our people have shown a great uprising in the four parts of Kurdistan. They have embraced Rojava. If Rojava has not been completely eliminated today, if it has not been completely destroyed, if that special structure, that determined structure, is still preserved in Rojava, it is the result of our people’s struggle. It is the result of Leader Öcalan’s efforts. This reality must be known. On this basis, of course, this embrace must continue in the future.
We are at the brink of the anniversary of the international conspiracy. Leader Öcalan is still in captivity. The anniversary should be taken as an occasion by our people to stand up everywhere. Standing up for Rojava is standing up for Leader Öcalan, for the entire Kurdish people, and for the freedom of the Kurdish people. And it means to rise for the freedom of all peoples in the Middle East. A geography based on the brotherhood and freedom of the peoples of the Middle East is beautiful. This idea can make the future of peoples free and democratic. Beyond this, nothing can be achieved with the approaches brought about by the nation-state concept. Europe has understood this, which is why, instead of the nation-state concept, they have now adopted an understanding close to the democratic nation concept, even if they have not completely abandoned the nation-state.
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our people who have risen up in the past weeks. And I commemorate with gratitude and respect all those who were martyred in the attacks on Rojava and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded. This uprising of the people is also a call for us to realize the democratic unity of the Kurds. This is a goal that Leader Öcalan and our movement have been aiming for for decades. However, because many different forces have influenced Kurdish politics, and because the interests of these many different forces have not seen national unity as beneficial to their own interests, we have not been able to achieve national unity to this day. For the Kurds in the four parts, true unity can only be democratic unity. Democratic unity is a necessity of our time. If democratic unity is achieved, the Kurds will truly become stronger and come closer to freedom in each part. But this must be in a democratic mindset. It must not be in a hegemonic mindset. A democratic mindset requires a democratic approach within itself, as well as a democratic mindset in relations with neighboring peoples. Because a democratic mindset, an understanding of democracy, is a whole. It is not right to be democratic on one issue and not on another. We assess the people’s approach in this regard as a call. In fact, we see it as an instruction. Within this framework, we will do our part to achieve democratic unity.
Öcalan is a Kurdish leader. Which Kurd can accept that a Kurdish leader has been held captive like this for 27 years? Just as the people did not accept the attacks on Qasimlo, Seyit Riza, and Sheikh Sait throughout history, they do not accept the continued imprisonment of Leader Öcalan. He is in that prison because he fought for the freedom of the Kurdish people, because the majority of the Kurdish people call him their leader. In this regard, I call on all our people in the four parts of Kurdistan to participate in the actions that will take place on this February 15 to bring Leader Öcalan’s physical freedom closer, to bring the freedom of the Kurdistan people closer, to protect the status in Rojava, and to raise the struggle for protection.
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