Interview with Mustafa Karasu: The PKK is a turning point in Kurdish history
Interview with Mustafa Karasu, founding member of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and a member of the Executive Council of the KCK (Community of Societies of Kurdistan) on the anniversary of the PKK’s founding:
On the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the PKK’s founding, I salute Rêber Apo, the founder of the PKK. I also remember the martyrs with respect and gratitude. It is Rêber Apo and our martyrs who fought in his footsteps who brought the PKK’s 50-year struggle to where it is today.
The PKK is truly a turning point in Kurdish and Kurdistan history. These are the most meaningful years in Kurdish and Kurdistan history. These 50 years have brought about a development and dynamism in Kurdistan history that is worth 100 years. In a way, these 50 years have recreated the reality of Kurdish society. They have added very important values to the Kurds. The most important feature of the struggle led and spearheaded by the PKK is that it has given the Kurds new values, freedom-loving values, democratic values, rights, law, that is, human values, women’s freedom, ecological sensitivity… These have been gained by the Kurdish people through the PKK. We can say that the Kurdish people of 50 years ago are not the same as the Kurdish people of today; they have changed. It has undergone significant change. Experiencing great dynamism, it has changed in thought, changed in behavior, and a new Kurdish identity has emerged. Undoubtedly, this has been shaped on the basis of the Kurdish existence dating back thousands of years.
The PKK, however, has been resisting for 50 years. It waged a great war, a great struggle. It waged a great struggle not only against the Turkish state, but also against regional reactionaries, international powers, and Kurdish reactionaries. It created great values in the midst of such a struggle. In this respect, when evaluating the PKK today, it is particularly necessary to reveal what it has created. How did the PKK create a Kurdish reality, create Kurdish culture, create Kurdish morality, give the Kurds moral values, give them national values, give them democratic values? All of these need to be examined thoroughly.
At the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, the Kurdish reality was on its deathbed. There was still a Kurdish reality, but it was a Kurdish reality that was gradually disappearing under genocidal colonialism, under both physical massacres and cultural genocide. In this sense, the emergence of the PKK was a struggle that, in a way, turned the Kurds away from the precipice or propelled them from the edge of the precipice into flight.
Considering the conditions of that period, initiating such a movement was truly not easy. The Kurds were running away from their own reality. There was no international support for the Kurds. Since Turkey was a NATO member, the Turkish state received all kinds of support. In this sense, the emergence of the PKK is historic. It is an act of great courage. It is overcoming great barriers. It was breaking the circle around them.
THE PKK STRUGGLE AFFECTED EVERY PART OF KURDISTAN
This struggle has grown over not just six months, but over four or five generations. Almost everyone in Kurdistan today has grown up witnessing this struggle and becoming familiar with the values it has created. This is how it should be seen. In this way, a new culture has been created, a new culture of struggle has emerged. There is a social reality, a political reality, a culture created by not a six-month, not a one-year, not a ten-year, but a decades-long struggle. In this sense, a cultural awakening emerged from cultural genocide. Yes, genocidal colonialism continued. In particular, all kinds of tools of cultural genocide were applied. But the Kurds, everyone became aware of their own identity. Kurdish identity emerged not only as an authentic, innate identity, but as a conscious appropriation of identity.
Kurds used to be seen as a backward people in the Middle East. Many stories were invented about the backwardness of the Kurds, their thoughtlessness, and so on. In other words, a culture has developed in the Middle East that mocks the Kurds, belittles them, and trivializes them. Is that still the case today? Now, with the freedom struggle waged by the PKK, the Kurds are currently the most enlightened society in the Middle East. Today, the Kurds are the society with the highest level of democratic consciousness in the age of democracy.
Women’s freedom… Women, who created the first society and created humanity, have been subjected to tremendous pressure in the Middle East, and the women who created Middle Eastern society have been relegated to a very backward position. But today, in line with the Leader’s ideas, Kurdish women have become the most free-thinking women not only in the Middle East but in the world. These are expressions of where the Kurds have come from and where they are now.
THROUGH THE PKK STRUGGLE, KURDS HAVE BECOME ABLE TO OWN THEIR VALUES
The PKK has brought the Kurds from a position of being marginalized and belittled to a position today where they are a people who are honorable, proud, passionate about freedom and democracy, and an example to the world. Kurdish society has achieved its democratic revolution. In fact, the Kurds have made very important progress in terms of democratic revolution. It is wrong to equate democratic revolution with statehood. There is no connection. There is no connection between statehood and democratic revolution. Democratic revolution expresses the great dynamism and change in society. In the 1990s, the serhildans, women, and young people filled the squares. There was not a single city, town, or village left without uprisings. The old traditional authorities were destroyed. The entire people gained willpower. The people were no longer under the control of the aghas, beys, and others as before. In the past, control and hegemony were established in Kurdistan through the collaborating, ruling classes. Now, the genocidal colonialism and the ruling powers have weakened, and society has become powerful.
THE PKK STRUGGLE ALSO CREATED A NEW STRATEGY AND TACTICS
It was 50 years of struggle, after all. Of course, the world has changed, the Middle East has changed. The aggressiveness of capitalism is evident, and we have reached the point of artificial intelligence. The struggle for freedom and democracy among the peoples of the world has reached new dimensions. In this environment, the PKK also needed to undergo a change. It needed to undergo a strategic change, a tactical change. In this respect, the PKK played its historical role. It created great values. It secured the Kurdish existence. Yes, it is still not recognized in Turkey. It is not recognized in Iran either. There are still problems in Syria and Iraq. But it brought the Kurdish existence to the fore. In this sense, it was best for it to remain in history as it is, to take its place in history as it is. The struggle needed to be carried out with a new approach, a new strategic and tactical approach. In this respect, the PKK was dissolved. In this respect, the dissolution of the PKK was not abandoning a struggle, abandoning a cause, or giving up on a goal. Struggles always change their path and methods. There were strategic changes in the PKK. It was decided to pursue a strategy not through armed struggle, but through more democratic politics. In this sense, when our people talk about the PKK, when they talk about a new strategy and new tactics, it was these 50 years of struggle that created the new strategy and tactics. Without these, we could not say that we would now carry out this struggle with democratic political struggle and achieve results.
THE PKK SHOULD BE CELEBRATED ON EVERY ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FOUNDING
Now, ideologically, we have abandoned real socialism. We have abandoned its understanding of the state. We have demonstrated that socialism cannot exist with the state, that socialists cannot be statist. Now we have entered a new period of struggle. Our people should always celebrate the PKK on its anniversaries. It is a party holiday, a holiday of resistance. It has achieved both its revival and its existence. Without understanding this, without grasping the consciousness of the fifty-year struggle waged by the PKK, without understanding the reality of the leadership that spearheaded this struggle, the reality of the PKK, the Kurds cannot look to the future with hope, they cannot build the future. They cannot achieve freedom and democratic life. In this regard, celebrations should take place everywhere on this party anniversary. Everyone, everywhere, should celebrate within this framework, discussing what the PKK has created, what it has given us, what values it has created, and that we need to be aware of this. Celebrating it every year should be an approach to becoming more aware of the values created by the PKK, to understand them more deeply, and thus to strive to win the future.
YOU CANNOT BE A REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALIST WITHOUT BEING AGAINST VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
I remember the Mirabal sisters and all women who have been subjected to violence and murdered with gratitude and respect. The struggle for women’s rights is the struggle for humanity. The struggle for women’s rights is the struggle for freedom. The struggle for women’s rights is the struggle for democracy. The struggle for women’s rights is the struggle to create society. The struggle for women’s rights is the struggle to embrace all human values. In this sense, violence against women is actually an attack on humanity, an attack on society, an attack on freedom. It is an attack on all positive values. We must see it this way.
Women are the most fundamental gender that creates society. In this sense, when we see women as the root cells that create humanity and society, violence against women is not just violence against a woman. Nor is it merely an attack on the female gender. It is an attack on the whole society, on humanity, on everyone. Everyone, all 7 billion people in the world, should see an attack on a woman as an attack on themselves. Those who do not see it this way do not know themselves. They are far from knowing themselves. They do not understand what a human being is, what a society is. In this sense, opposing violence against women is a very important stance.
Without opposing violence against women, without taking a conscious stance against violence directed at women, no one can be a libertarian, a democrat, or a socialist. It is such an important issue. Raising a hand against a woman is raising a hand against humanity. It is raising a hand against everyone, not just any woman. In other words, raising a hand against a woman is also striking oneself.
In this respect, it is necessary to understand the issue of women very well. Leader Apo made a truly historic move, a historic breakthrough on this issue. He revealed the reality of women in depth. He put it before women, he put it before people. It is a truly sacred work. One of the most sacred works in history is Leader Apo’s breakthrough on women’s freedom, his work of evaluation for women’s freedom. It is very, very important. Its value will be understood even more in the future.
There are still those who do not understand the line of women’s freedom. Even socialists have not fully understood it. Even democrats have not fully understood it. Understanding women’s freedom means being a true socialist, a true democrat, a true freedom fighter. That is the way forward. This needs to be stated and emphasized. This is certain.
Now, violence against women… What does violence against women mean, especially today? Women have risen up, and there is fear of women’s empowerment. Fear of women’s empowerment is not just a man’s fear. It is a fear of the system. It is the fear of this hegemonic system, the capitalist system, the capitalist modernist system, the statist system. If women become empowered, women’s empowerment, women’s freedom, means general freedom, means general democracy. There is a systemic attack against women’s struggle for liberation. There is an attack by states. It is not crude like before; they are carrying out very subtle attacks. All kinds of methods. Of course, they fear women’s empowerment. Men see that if women become empowered, the concept of male domination, which has been ingrained in their genes for thousands of years, will be destroyed. Men have a complex of domination, all men have it. It has been created over thousands of years. It is not related to the characteristics of certain individuals. It is not related to being born a man, it is not related to growing up here. This male dominance mentality has been ingrained in their genes over thousands of years of history, human history, and social history. So, there is a dominance complex. That’s why they see women’s liberation as an attack on that dominance complex. They think they will lose something.
That complex, that hollow complex, that hollow understanding of dominance. In this respect, we must address violence against women. Violence against women is multifaceted. Violence against women manifests itself in a thousand ways; it is multifaceted. It is not just physical beating, not just killing, although that exists too. They can actually kill with ease. How many men have killed women? How many women have killed men? Compare the numbers. Why do men kill women a thousand times more, or ten thousand times more? Why don’t women do such a thing? This needs to be questioned.
MEN OWE A LOT TO THE WOMEN’S FREEDOM STRUGGLE
Raising your voice in front of a woman is violence. Men easily raise their voices in front of women. Women don’t raise their voices unless they are really pushed or cornered. They approach things emotionally, they swallow their feelings. Only when things get really bad do they perhaps react. But men can easily raise their voices whenever something happens, whenever they see a woman in front of them. That is also a form of violence. There are all kinds of violence. There is social violence, cultural violence, economic violence.
Women say, we can’t go out at night. Men walk around freely. Why? Women walk around too. There is a traditional understanding. In this respect, women are truly organized and stand up against violence. We salute their attitude and their actions. We salute them. Opposing male violence is actually opposition to all kinds of war. It is opposition to all kinds of violence. Because that is the root, the source of all violence. Saying no to war without saying no to violence against women is meaningless. It has no value. It is fake, it is a lie.
In this sense, opposing violence against women is very, very important. On this occasion, we salute the leadership once again with respect. The leadership has raised awareness in all of us on this issue. It did not just work for women’s freedom. It did not just ensure the development of women’s freedom. It freed us and men from our own slavery. We were also slaves to the male complex, the dominance complex. In this respect, women are of course indebted, but men must also see that they are indebted.
No one should resort to violence against women. If violence is inflicted on a woman known to them nearby, they must oppose it. Freed from slavery, that is, freed from the male dominance complex. Men must also oppose violence against women. They need to create this culture in society. In this respect, it is not only women who should take action against violence; it is not only a women’s issue, but essentially a men’s issue. We are talking about men’s violence. If we are talking about men’s violence, then men need to break free from this culture of violence.
THE DECISION TO VISIT İMRALI IS IMPORTANT
Of course, we view the decision to visit the leadership positively. This was our request anyway. Leader Apo already said in 2012 that a commission should be established. He said he would consider joining that commission. The leadership wants to explain the situation to the parliament, the parliament that is said to represent the Turkish people. Why did we rebel, why did we fight? If this rebellion, this struggle is to end, how will we become brothers? Naturally, he wants to explain this. He wants to explain it to the parliament, to the parliamentary commission, to the Turkish people, to Turkish society.
Of course, what is important is that so many meetings have been held. Meetings have been held with everyone. Finally, a meeting is being held with Leader Apo. Of course, a meeting will be held with Leader Apo; he is the interlocutor. Without meeting with Leader Apo, every meeting remains inadequate, incomplete. It cannot represent the Kurds.
This meeting is, of course, important. In fact, with this meeting, a new process will naturally begin. After meeting with Leader Apo, the old process cannot be repeated. It cannot be repeated. The leadership listened to everyone, the leadership listened. Now, as a result of these discussions and evaluations, legislative changes and certain steps need to be taken. Otherwise, it would be beating around the bush. First and foremost, the Leader’s conditions of freedom must be ensured. He must be in a position to work freely and healthily. If such a historical problem is to be solved, of course, Leader Apo must meet with various people and circles.
TRANSITION LAWS MUST BE PASSED
On the other hand, of course, certain laws need to be passed. They were called transition laws. Yes, the PKK was dissolved, weapons were burned, many steps were taken. Now, what will the legal framework for this be? What will the legal framework be? Democratic politics will be practiced. Can democratic politics be practiced freely now? Thousands of democratic politicians are in prison. Democratic politics is still under threat. Therefore, a situation must emerge where democratic politics can be practiced freely. Let’s call these freedom laws. In this regard, of course, after the new leadership speaks, a new process must begin. The commission will prepare a report. In this respect, if the state is really going to solve this problem, if the parliament, which represents Turkish society, is going to solve this problem, it needs to take a serious approach. It should not be approached tactically, it should not be instrumentalized. A serious approach is needed.
Interview with Mustafa Karasu: The PKK is a turning point in Kurdish history
Interview with Mustafa Karasu, founding member of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and a member of the Executive Council of the KCK (Community of Societies of Kurdistan) on the anniversary of the PKK’s founding:
On the occasion of the 47th anniversary of the PKK’s founding, I salute Rêber Apo, the founder of the PKK. I also remember the martyrs with respect and gratitude. It is Rêber Apo and our martyrs who fought in his footsteps who brought the PKK’s 50-year struggle to where it is today.
The PKK is truly a turning point in Kurdish and Kurdistan history. These are the most meaningful years in Kurdish and Kurdistan history. These 50 years have brought about a development and dynamism in Kurdistan history that is worth 100 years. In a way, these 50 years have recreated the reality of Kurdish society. They have added very important values to the Kurds. The most important feature of the struggle led and spearheaded by the PKK is that it has given the Kurds new values, freedom-loving values, democratic values, rights, law, that is, human values, women’s freedom, ecological sensitivity… These have been gained by the Kurdish people through the PKK. We can say that the Kurdish people of 50 years ago are not the same as the Kurdish people of today; they have changed. It has undergone significant change. Experiencing great dynamism, it has changed in thought, changed in behavior, and a new Kurdish identity has emerged. Undoubtedly, this has been shaped on the basis of the Kurdish existence dating back thousands of years.
The PKK, however, has been resisting for 50 years. It waged a great war, a great struggle. It waged a great struggle not only against the Turkish state, but also against regional reactionaries, international powers, and Kurdish reactionaries. It created great values in the midst of such a struggle. In this respect, when evaluating the PKK today, it is particularly necessary to reveal what it has created. How did the PKK create a Kurdish reality, create Kurdish culture, create Kurdish morality, give the Kurds moral values, give them national values, give them democratic values? All of these need to be examined thoroughly.
At the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s, the Kurdish reality was on its deathbed. There was still a Kurdish reality, but it was a Kurdish reality that was gradually disappearing under genocidal colonialism, under both physical massacres and cultural genocide. In this sense, the emergence of the PKK was a struggle that, in a way, turned the Kurds away from the precipice or propelled them from the edge of the precipice into flight.
Considering the conditions of that period, initiating such a movement was truly not easy. The Kurds were running away from their own reality. There was no international support for the Kurds. Since Turkey was a NATO member, the Turkish state received all kinds of support. In this sense, the emergence of the PKK is historic. It is an act of great courage. It is overcoming great barriers. It was breaking the circle around them.
THE PKK STRUGGLE AFFECTED EVERY PART OF KURDISTAN
This struggle has grown over not just six months, but over four or five generations. Almost everyone in Kurdistan today has grown up witnessing this struggle and becoming familiar with the values it has created. This is how it should be seen. In this way, a new culture has been created, a new culture of struggle has emerged. There is a social reality, a political reality, a culture created by not a six-month, not a one-year, not a ten-year, but a decades-long struggle. In this sense, a cultural awakening emerged from cultural genocide. Yes, genocidal colonialism continued. In particular, all kinds of tools of cultural genocide were applied. But the Kurds, everyone became aware of their own identity. Kurdish identity emerged not only as an authentic, innate identity, but as a conscious appropriation of identity.
Kurds used to be seen as a backward people in the Middle East. Many stories were invented about the backwardness of the Kurds, their thoughtlessness, and so on. In other words, a culture has developed in the Middle East that mocks the Kurds, belittles them, and trivializes them. Is that still the case today? Now, with the freedom struggle waged by the PKK, the Kurds are currently the most enlightened society in the Middle East. Today, the Kurds are the society with the highest level of democratic consciousness in the age of democracy.
Women’s freedom… Women, who created the first society and created humanity, have been subjected to tremendous pressure in the Middle East, and the women who created Middle Eastern society have been relegated to a very backward position. But today, in line with the Leader’s ideas, Kurdish women have become the most free-thinking women not only in the Middle East but in the world. These are expressions of where the Kurds have come from and where they are now.
THROUGH THE PKK STRUGGLE, KURDS HAVE BECOME ABLE TO OWN THEIR VALUES
The PKK has brought the Kurds from a position of being marginalized and belittled to a position today where they are a people who are honorable, proud, passionate about freedom and democracy, and an example to the world. Kurdish society has achieved its democratic revolution. In fact, the Kurds have made very important progress in terms of democratic revolution. It is wrong to equate democratic revolution with statehood. There is no connection. There is no connection between statehood and democratic revolution. Democratic revolution expresses the great dynamism and change in society. In the 1990s, the serhildans, women, and young people filled the squares. There was not a single city, town, or village left without uprisings. The old traditional authorities were destroyed. The entire people gained willpower. The people were no longer under the control of the aghas, beys, and others as before. In the past, control and hegemony were established in Kurdistan through the collaborating, ruling classes. Now, the genocidal colonialism and the ruling powers have weakened, and society has become powerful.
THE PKK STRUGGLE ALSO CREATED A NEW STRATEGY AND TACTICS
It was 50 years of struggle, after all. Of course, the world has changed, the Middle East has changed. The aggressiveness of capitalism is evident, and we have reached the point of artificial intelligence. The struggle for freedom and democracy among the peoples of the world has reached new dimensions. In this environment, the PKK also needed to undergo a change. It needed to undergo a strategic change, a tactical change. In this respect, the PKK played its historical role. It created great values. It secured the Kurdish existence. Yes, it is still not recognized in Turkey. It is not recognized in Iran either. There are still problems in Syria and Iraq. But it brought the Kurdish existence to the fore. In this sense, it was best for it to remain in history as it is, to take its place in history as it is. The struggle needed to be carried out with a new approach, a new strategic and tactical approach. In this respect, the PKK was dissolved. In this respect, the dissolution of the PKK was not abandoning a struggle, abandoning a cause, or giving up on a goal. Struggles always change their path and methods. There were strategic changes in the PKK. It was decided to pursue a strategy not through armed struggle, but through more democratic politics. In this sense, when our people talk about the PKK, when they talk about a new strategy and new tactics, it was these 50 years of struggle that created the new strategy and tactics. Without these, we could not say that we would now carry out this struggle with democratic political struggle and achieve results.
THE PKK SHOULD BE CELEBRATED ON EVERY ANNIVERSARY OF ITS FOUNDING
Now, ideologically, we have abandoned real socialism. We have abandoned its understanding of the state. We have demonstrated that socialism cannot exist with the state, that socialists cannot be statist. Now we have entered a new period of struggle. Our people should always celebrate the PKK on its anniversaries. It is a party holiday, a holiday of resistance. It has achieved both its revival and its existence. Without understanding this, without grasping the consciousness of the fifty-year struggle waged by the PKK, without understanding the reality of the leadership that spearheaded this struggle, the reality of the PKK, the Kurds cannot look to the future with hope, they cannot build the future. They cannot achieve freedom and democratic life. In this regard, celebrations should take place everywhere on this party anniversary. Everyone, everywhere, should celebrate within this framework, discussing what the PKK has created, what it has given us, what values it has created, and that we need to be aware of this. Celebrating it every year should be an approach to becoming more aware of the values created by the PKK, to understand them more deeply, and thus to strive to win the future.
YOU CANNOT BE A REVOLUTIONARY SOCIALIST WITHOUT BEING AGAINST VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN
I remember the Mirabal sisters and all women who have been subjected to violence and murdered with gratitude and respect. The struggle for women’s rights is the struggle for humanity. The struggle for women’s rights is the struggle for freedom. The struggle for women’s rights is the struggle for democracy. The struggle for women’s rights is the struggle to create society. The struggle for women’s rights is the struggle to embrace all human values. In this sense, violence against women is actually an attack on humanity, an attack on society, an attack on freedom. It is an attack on all positive values. We must see it this way.
Women are the most fundamental gender that creates society. In this sense, when we see women as the root cells that create humanity and society, violence against women is not just violence against a woman. Nor is it merely an attack on the female gender. It is an attack on the whole society, on humanity, on everyone. Everyone, all 7 billion people in the world, should see an attack on a woman as an attack on themselves. Those who do not see it this way do not know themselves. They are far from knowing themselves. They do not understand what a human being is, what a society is. In this sense, opposing violence against women is a very important stance.
Without opposing violence against women, without taking a conscious stance against violence directed at women, no one can be a libertarian, a democrat, or a socialist. It is such an important issue. Raising a hand against a woman is raising a hand against humanity. It is raising a hand against everyone, not just any woman. In other words, raising a hand against a woman is also striking oneself.
In this respect, it is necessary to understand the issue of women very well. Leader Apo made a truly historic move, a historic breakthrough on this issue. He revealed the reality of women in depth. He put it before women, he put it before people. It is a truly sacred work. One of the most sacred works in history is Leader Apo’s breakthrough on women’s freedom, his work of evaluation for women’s freedom. It is very, very important. Its value will be understood even more in the future.
There are still those who do not understand the line of women’s freedom. Even socialists have not fully understood it. Even democrats have not fully understood it. Understanding women’s freedom means being a true socialist, a true democrat, a true freedom fighter. That is the way forward. This needs to be stated and emphasized. This is certain.
Now, violence against women… What does violence against women mean, especially today? Women have risen up, and there is fear of women’s empowerment. Fear of women’s empowerment is not just a man’s fear. It is a fear of the system. It is the fear of this hegemonic system, the capitalist system, the capitalist modernist system, the statist system. If women become empowered, women’s empowerment, women’s freedom, means general freedom, means general democracy. There is a systemic attack against women’s struggle for liberation. There is an attack by states. It is not crude like before; they are carrying out very subtle attacks. All kinds of methods. Of course, they fear women’s empowerment. Men see that if women become empowered, the concept of male domination, which has been ingrained in their genes for thousands of years, will be destroyed. Men have a complex of domination, all men have it. It has been created over thousands of years. It is not related to the characteristics of certain individuals. It is not related to being born a man, it is not related to growing up here. This male dominance mentality has been ingrained in their genes over thousands of years of history, human history, and social history. So, there is a dominance complex. That’s why they see women’s liberation as an attack on that dominance complex. They think they will lose something.
That complex, that hollow complex, that hollow understanding of dominance. In this respect, we must address violence against women. Violence against women is multifaceted. Violence against women manifests itself in a thousand ways; it is multifaceted. It is not just physical beating, not just killing, although that exists too. They can actually kill with ease. How many men have killed women? How many women have killed men? Compare the numbers. Why do men kill women a thousand times more, or ten thousand times more? Why don’t women do such a thing? This needs to be questioned.
MEN OWE A LOT TO THE WOMEN’S FREEDOM STRUGGLE
Raising your voice in front of a woman is violence. Men easily raise their voices in front of women. Women don’t raise their voices unless they are really pushed or cornered. They approach things emotionally, they swallow their feelings. Only when things get really bad do they perhaps react. But men can easily raise their voices whenever something happens, whenever they see a woman in front of them. That is also a form of violence. There are all kinds of violence. There is social violence, cultural violence, economic violence.
Women say, we can’t go out at night. Men walk around freely. Why? Women walk around too. There is a traditional understanding. In this respect, women are truly organized and stand up against violence. We salute their attitude and their actions. We salute them. Opposing male violence is actually opposition to all kinds of war. It is opposition to all kinds of violence. Because that is the root, the source of all violence. Saying no to war without saying no to violence against women is meaningless. It has no value. It is fake, it is a lie.
In this sense, opposing violence against women is very, very important. On this occasion, we salute the leadership once again with respect. The leadership has raised awareness in all of us on this issue. It did not just work for women’s freedom. It did not just ensure the development of women’s freedom. It freed us and men from our own slavery. We were also slaves to the male complex, the dominance complex. In this respect, women are of course indebted, but men must also see that they are indebted.
No one should resort to violence against women. If violence is inflicted on a woman known to them nearby, they must oppose it. Freed from slavery, that is, freed from the male dominance complex. Men must also oppose violence against women. They need to create this culture in society. In this respect, it is not only women who should take action against violence; it is not only a women’s issue, but essentially a men’s issue. We are talking about men’s violence. If we are talking about men’s violence, then men need to break free from this culture of violence.
THE DECISION TO VISIT İMRALI IS IMPORTANT
Of course, we view the decision to visit the leadership positively. This was our request anyway. Leader Apo already said in 2012 that a commission should be established. He said he would consider joining that commission. The leadership wants to explain the situation to the parliament, the parliament that is said to represent the Turkish people. Why did we rebel, why did we fight? If this rebellion, this struggle is to end, how will we become brothers? Naturally, he wants to explain this. He wants to explain it to the parliament, to the parliamentary commission, to the Turkish people, to Turkish society.
Of course, what is important is that so many meetings have been held. Meetings have been held with everyone. Finally, a meeting is being held with Leader Apo. Of course, a meeting will be held with Leader Apo; he is the interlocutor. Without meeting with Leader Apo, every meeting remains inadequate, incomplete. It cannot represent the Kurds.
This meeting is, of course, important. In fact, with this meeting, a new process will naturally begin. After meeting with Leader Apo, the old process cannot be repeated. It cannot be repeated. The leadership listened to everyone, the leadership listened. Now, as a result of these discussions and evaluations, legislative changes and certain steps need to be taken. Otherwise, it would be beating around the bush. First and foremost, the Leader’s conditions of freedom must be ensured. He must be in a position to work freely and healthily. If such a historical problem is to be solved, of course, Leader Apo must meet with various people and circles.
TRANSITION LAWS MUST BE PASSED
On the other hand, of course, certain laws need to be passed. They were called transition laws. Yes, the PKK was dissolved, weapons were burned, many steps were taken. Now, what will the legal framework for this be? What will the legal framework be? Democratic politics will be practiced. Can democratic politics be practiced freely now? Thousands of democratic politicians are in prison. Democratic politics is still under threat. Therefore, a situation must emerge where democratic politics can be practiced freely. Let’s call these freedom laws. In this regard, of course, after the new leadership speaks, a new process must begin. The commission will prepare a report. In this respect, if the state is really going to solve this problem, if the parliament, which represents Turkish society, is going to solve this problem, it needs to take a serious approach. It should not be approached tactically, it should not be instrumentalized. A serious approach is needed.