The development of the Kurdish liberation struggle and the global democracy movement

The solidarity within the fight against the ISIS fascism and the activities at the “World Kobane Day” at 1^st November show effects. It became clear that a global democratic movement with a clear way, is able to fight any kind of fascist barbarity. – Duran Kalkan

In the last years the Kurdish liberation movement has become an international even more popular and widely discussed revolutionary movement, one hand due to the widening of Abdullah Öcalan’s theory of democratic modernity and on the other hand because of the Kurdish people’s heroic resistance against the AKP-IS fascism. Especially the emotional and mental development of the Kurdish youth and women attracted big attention.

This fact creates new important task for on the one hand the global revolutionary democratic movements and on the other hand the Kurdish liberation movement. While revolutionary democratic movements at the international level are in the process of recognizing, the Kurds, Kurdistan and the Kurdish Liberation Movement and supporting the heroic struggle against fascism of the 21st century, the Kurdish liberation movement must address the task, to acquaint itself in a global context and to develop much more cooperation and solidarity with the revolutionary democratic movements. This will also make a significant contribution to the history of the global democratic movement. As is known, the Kurdish liberation movement currently leads a struggle for a democratic solution to the Kurdish question, which probably represents the most difficult and most complex problem of the last century. However, what is presented as the Kurdish problem is actually the fact that it leads a fight against denial- and extermination policy to overcome the regime of cultural genocide, to pave the way for a free life as a nation with its own language, culture and history, to organize the scattered people and to unite the divided country and and thereby create democratic unity and brotherhood with all the neighboring peoples in the Middle East and to seize the opportunities of a free life with them.

The Kurds were brought in this situation in the First World War and in the period afterwards. The process, which divided Kurdistan and exposed it to a genocide, had started with the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 16 May 1916 and was institutionalized within the framework of the Ankara Agreement of June 1926^th. While the Sykes-Picot Agreement had been made between Britain, France and Russia, the Treaty of Ankara was closed between Britain and Turkey. Also Germany, as a party of war, and the US, who took over a leading role for the system after the Second World War, are equally responsible.

If we look closer at the so-called “Kurdish problem” we see that it’s actually problem which is created and maintained by the global hegemonic capitalist system. Without doubt, the Turkish and the Iranian nation-state play an important role in the continuation of this problem. Actually the present chaos in the Middle East is due to the Kurdish question. It should be added that in addition to the genocides of Armenians and Syriacs and today of Kurds, the Arab society is reduced to a second-class society as well.

Today both Kurds and Arabs lead a liberation struggle against the order, which was established in the First World War. Actually, they are already a century in this fight and gave many sacrifices. As it turns out in Kurdistan and in the Arab world, they have to pay an even higher price today. The Kurdish freedom movement PKK is the last step in this period of resistance. The Kurdish question, which the Kurdish movement is trying to solve, obviously has a global extent. Consequently, every effort is expanding for a solution necessarily on a global level. Exactly it will be apparent to the global nature of the Kurdish freedom movement and the need for relationship and cooperation with the global democratic movement. If this reality is combined with a solidary, democratic socialist understanding, there is the image of today.

At this point needs to be emphasized and understood that the PKK was not like this since the beginning. At the beginning the national character was in the foreground, and it was sought to apply the international situation on the national. So were the first and second periods of the party, which we call the formation and arming period. The leading character of the third period, which is the process of building the democratic nation, is more global. Here is conversely important to analyze the national datum and to transfer it into a global context. Consequently, we can say that the Kurdish liberation movement is currently in a period of globalization.

Undoubtedly here a certain mentality, a theoretical understanding and an ideological and political direction are important. Our Chairman Abdullah Ocalan rendered those things which we can learn from the struggles of oppressed peoples on Kurdistan and analyzed the revolutionary practice in Kurdistan. Today with the theory of Democratic Modernity he has managed to show a perspective for freedom in an international context for all the oppressed and all the peoples. This is characterized by a social economy, women’s liberation and societal ecology, which are the basis of the democratic nation.

In addition to the global characteristic, that arises from the nature of the Kurdish question, the global characteristic of the current theoretical understanding and the ideological and political line of the PKK leader plays a major role. Therefore, those who want to put this theory into practice must act on a global scale. For this line has the basic goal of establishing international democratic confederalism within the framework of the Global Democracy Congress. In this context, the international character of the Kurdish freedom movement and its place in the global movement of democracy are evident.

There is certainly a political dimension. The political dimension of the Kurdish issue has such an extent that the problems of the Middle East and even the whole world cannot be solved without their solution. What we see today in Turkey, Syria and Iraq is a clear expression of this. The latest example of this is the Geneva-III conference, which is to lead to a solution to the war in Syria. Obviously everything must be linked to the Kurdish question; it is like a Gordian knot, gathering together all the problems. In this sense, it should be noted that no problem can be solved in the long term and democratically before this Gordian knot is broken.

The recent events in Syria also clearly show, that no solution can be a correct and long-term solution that does not consider the democratic solution of the Kurdish question. It is obvious that the etatistic system does not have the ability and strength to solve the self-generated problems. For this reason, any action or attempt at a solution within the ruling system, which does not involve the Kurdish question, leads only to a deepening of the problems and a lure of the Gordian knot. The unresolved Kurdish question not only means that the problems in the Middle East cannot be solved at the same time, but also closes the possibilities for a democratic solution for humanity around the world.

The global capitalist system as a hegemonic power cannot solve the self-created Kurdish problem and probably will not be able to do it in the future. It also highlights the importance of a democratic solution and the role of the global democratic movement. It`s clear that the problems can only be solved with global democracy. The global democracy movement has to take a closer look at the Kurdish question and build a movement that addresses the Kurdish issue.

Our Chairman Abdullah Öcalan calls this solution the paradigm of Democratic Modernity, which is characterized by Democratic Autonomy and Democratic Confederalism. The global democracy movement which is fighting against capitalist modernity, based on maximum profit, industrialism and nation-state, must create its own democratic based on ecological, economic and democratic-confederal society in order to be successful. It focuses on economic autonomy, social ecology and the liberation of women. Such a movement must unite and implement the values ​​of real socialism and anarchy, of ecological and feminist movements. With the pioneering role of organized women and youth, it should also be able to mobilize the working classes. Also ethnical movements have to be involved in the struggle. Today’s global democracy movement is without orientation and very scattered, but it has great potential and the capacity for resistance. It needs to reorganize itself. At this point the global democracy movement can learn a lot from the Kurdish freedom movement. For this process it’s the task of the kurdish freedom movement to give impulses and support.

As an orientation, the model of democratic modernity should be discussed and evaluated by all movements. Of course we do not say that it has to be accepted, because that would be neither right nor necessary. Our Chairman and Comrade Abdullah Öcalan makes clear that he is always open to any constructive criticism. The paradigm of Democratic Modernity can greatly contribute to the worldwide revolutionary democracy movement. Along with this, the Kurdish struggle for freedom can contribute a great deal to the global democratic movement on a political and practical level. The solidarity in the fight against IS fascism and the activities on the “World Kobanê Day” on 1 November are showing their effect. It has been shown that a global democratic movement with a clear path is capable to fight any kind of fascist barbarism. It`s time to challenge the statist-capitalist system, which nurtures fascism and deepens hopelessness. It`s time to build a global democracy movement that calls for and develops the solution of the Democratic Modernity. This is the only way to save and free humanity from the destructive effects of World War III and the hopelessness of humanity.