Co-Chair of the Executive Council of the Union of Communities of Kurdistan (UCK) Bese Hozat made an extensive statement in which she analyzes the various situations that the Kurdish people are facing today.

Isolation of the leader of Apo (Abdullah Ocalan) is part of the policy of the Turkish state, in fact – genocide, against the Kurdish people. The largest of these neo-fascist manifestations in Turkey is the imprisonment of the president of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) Abdullah Ocalan on the prison island of Imrali, where Apo has been under an incredible system of torture for 21 years. What the Turkish government wants today is to force people who resist its hegemony to surrender – and it will be easy for them to do this if they succeed in completely breaking Apo, the leader of the Kurdish resistance. For many years, he has been waging an incredible fight against the inhuman and illegal methods of the Turkish state, which every year becomes an increasingly authoritarian, following neo-fascist course of nationalism. Apo has one dream: he wants every ordinary person to fight the manifestations of genocide and fascism in Turkey. The isolation in Imrali of many of those who turned to political repression is one of the most frequent manifestations of the neo-Nazi methods of the Turkish government against the multinational population of Turkey, against women seeking equal rights …

Modern Ottoman fascism in Turkey is based on the denial of all Kurds and the elimination of political activists – leaders of the revolutionary liberation struggle. The policy of fascism is best manifested in the long-term isolation in Imrali, which is imposed on all dissenters, – we can say that the island of Imrali is an image that extends to all of Turkey. Imrali’s repressive system has become widespread politics and practice. It is more important than ever to say today that the isolation of political prisoners in Turkey, on the island of Imrali, the leader of the Kurdish resistance Apo and other political prisoners, is the isolation of all democratic forces, all women, all peoples and humanity today.

World War III entered a new and final phase

The Third World War, locally waged in many regions of humanity, in the Middle East entered a new and final phase. At this stage, national states and the balance of political forces in the region are undergoing reformation. The region is being rebuilt based on interests with global capital. Starting with the Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991, and even earlier – with political repression, abduction on October 9, 1998, and Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan.

This permanent third world war destroyed the systems of nation states in the Middle East region. The current situation in Syria and Iraq is the result of a war undertaken by the international capitalist class. The civil war and chaos in Afghanistan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen, Sudan and many other countries are also the result of this war. On the other hand, a state of deep economic and social crisis, reaching chaos in Turkey and Iran, is also the result of a permanent third world war.

The fascist systems of nation-states in the region face resistance from the most civilly mature part of the population, while in foreign policy these nation-states face a conflict caused by the interests of global capital.

The peoples of the entire region rebel against the neo-fascist system that their national governments practice. These peoples do not want to accept and resolutely reject the fascist national-state system of capitalist modernity. They know that behind them are the interests of the international capitalist class, protected by a hegemonic country, which is again trying to establish a colonial order in the region. Capital is trying to eliminate from its path the progressive democratic social dynamics that began after the Third World War, when mankind coped with the forces of fascism threatening it.

Coronavirus: an example of the crisis and collapse of capitalist modernism

It can be considered a fact that is difficult to dispute that the capitalist modernist system has survived a deep crisis and is now in a period of decay. The global coronavirus pandemic is one of the most telling examples of this breakdown. The massive pandemic has shown the incredible confusion and insecurity of mankind in front of the aggressive forces of nature. The crisis of the capitalist healthcare systems, when decent medical care is not the norm, but a privilege that has exhaustively shown itself here.

Capitalism is a wild socio-political formation that opposes society, motherhood, women’s hopes for their political rights. More than once this wild system puts our planet on the brink of destruction. There is no more ecological balance. The ecological balance of our planet is fatally violated, unable to withstand the powerful pressure of industrialism that goes beyond that – it is a production model of capitalism, where the rules that can be used to get the maximum benefit are appreciated. The weapons industry leads humanity to constant regional wars. Deforestation is intensifying in all corners of the planet, in the name of the interests of Trans-national corporations, and at the same time, not only the natural habitats of millions of animals and plants are being destroyed. For all living things, for most working people, soon there will not be a single type of natural food or drink: in many regions, people also need clean drinking water. The meaningless increase in production capacity is increasingly destroying nature, leading the planet to the phenomenon of global warming. Wars, biologically modified food, polluted air and water created a carcinogenic environment that violates human biology and its mental and psychological structure, affecting the social sphere as well.

The energy of democratic modernity

We cannot evaluate isolation on Imrali regardless of these events in the world and in the region. The international conspiracy of reactionary forces is trying to make new attempts to form a new political mind and a new structure in the region. Today, the capitalist classes, together with the national governments that have rolled to neo-fascism, are in conflict with the situation of women who have just begun to gain independence. The paradigm of democratic confederalism, which was developed in our region by people like our leader, is being put under attack. By supporting the isolation imposed by the Turkish fascist state against the leader Apo, the reactionary forces in the world are trying to hinder the development of the region on the basis of independence and a democratic system. The reaction is damaging the values of democracy and freedom that Abdullah Ocalan and the Kurdistan Liberation Movement have upheld for the past 46 years. The government requires that our leader’s isolation continue because they think that Apo is an obstacle to their plans. The international dimension of prison isolation in Imrali shows that the regional reaction, building a new neo-fascist order, is a tool for supra-regional forces; based on the recognition of the priority of interests inherent in the political forces – hegemons in the world.

The liberation paradigm developed for our people, led by Abdullah Ocalan, includes both democratic values ​​and the protection of the environment and women’s rights. The project of democratic confederalism put forward by Apo is a real solution that can put an end to the permanent Third World War, and the dangers of its global version. Having built a society on the basis of such a liberation paradigm, which was developed by the leaders of the Kurdistan movement, we will take a huge step towards the prevention of global wars, as well as the opportunity for mankind to defeat and overcome any possible emerging natural onslaught, such as the coronavirus pandemic.

If the liberation paradigm begins to dominate, this will mean that our region and all other problem regions in the world, suffering from local wars and interference with alien transnational interests in their existence, will live on the basis of friendship with nature in conditions of democracy, freedom and peace.

Democratic Confederalism and Women

The Confederate-Democratic system opens up space for democracy, freedom and equality for all women. This is the only system in which women can express their thoughts freely and on an equal footing. This is the main reason why progressive women view and value the isolation imposed on the Leader Apo as isolation from themselves.

The leader Apo has done a great intellectual work and has experience in the issue of the liberation of women. Abdullah Ocalan actually destroyed the 5,000-year-old male paradigm and created a new one based on participation in the lives of free women. Thus, the Movement for the Liberation of Women acquired an ideological and theoretical basis not only for Kurdistan and the Middle East, but also for the whole world.

The struggle against the isolation of the leader of Apo is directly related to the struggle of women for liberation. The end of his isolation in Imrali would strengthen the democratic struggle, including for the free life of women, and would be affected by the cessation of violence by men. It is very important for women to multiply their efforts in the fight against the isolation of our leader. Bearing in mind that opposing the conclusion of Apo in isolation is a struggle against the system of male domination and modern fascism, women around the world should also intensify the struggle for their freedom by strengthening their unity and solidarity with the struggle of Kurdish women, because organized struggle and international solidarity have big influence. The solidarity and common struggle connecting women’s organizations in recent years have led to very important events.

The struggle of women against the isolation of political prisoners in Turkey, the Middle East region and the world as a whole should be carried out through a variety of actions.

Turkish fascism of the government AKP-MHP

The fascist government, supported by the parties AKP-Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi and MHP – Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi, confiscated the municipalities controlled by the People’s Democratic Party (HDP – Halkların Demokratik Partisi), arresting or firing their elected mayors. Such a colonial policy is pursued by the Turkish government and legislation in Kurdistan. In fact, this is genocide by the fascist ruling force, which does not recognize the will of the Kurds and is trying to change it through violence.

Today, there are thousands of political prisoners in Turkish prisons. Tens of thousands of people protest and oppose the neo-fascist policies of forces that have not been democratically elected. Behind the bars were not only politicians, but also journalists, intellectuals, scientists, artists, lawyers and activists. The voice of Turkey is imprisoned. The government turned the country into a prison. Undoubtedly, all this goes back to the lack of a solution to the Kurdish problem. A government conducting genocide against the Kurdish people cannot guarantee the freedom and democracy of other national minorities and sectors of society. The government, which has been isolating people for 21 years, clearly cannot implement the law and justice in the country.

HDP – Real Democratic Power in Turkey

People’s Democratic Party – is one of the most progressive forces in Turkey, a real guarantor of democracy. The HDP represents the democratic will of the peoples waging an organized struggle against modern fascism.

HDP is a political party in which oppressed workers, women, youth – people of all faiths, ethnic groups, social cultures can find their place without violating their identity. This is a project for a new society, a party that so consistently defends the free and democratic life of the people of Kurdistan and the Alevi community, which the Turkish state tried to destroy by assimilation, oppression and persecution for a century.

This is one of the main reasons why the fascist government of AKP-MHP attacks the HDP and declares it to be its enemy. HDP plays a huge transformative role in politics and in society. Party women who participate in the democratization of society and in the transformation of politics strive for liberation, thanks to a free understanding of the social democratic internationalist party program paradigm. As a result, the space for male politics, the fascism of AKP-MHP, decreases, and the state is forced to respond to democracy.

The HDP grew in a very short time with the support of the people and gradually strengthened to become the great hope of the people of Turkey. Although the HDP has been subjected to massive attacks since its inception, and especially in recent years, it has survived thanks to the support of ordinary people; women and workers. The Kurdish people and the people of Turkey are very well aware that the HDP is of great importance when it comes to working on political change and progress in Turkey. In fact, HDP is the only source of hope for democracy in Turkey.

The weakening or elimination of the HDP also means the elimination of the entire democratic opposition in Turkey, which will lead to the final institutionalization of the fascist dictatorship. The main reason the AKP-MHP’s fascist government attacks the HDP so much is because it still hasn’t allowed the fascist dictatorship to become legalized. If the fascist dictatorship AKP-MHP today has entered into fierce and stagnant, this is due to the struggle of the Kurds and the political line of HDP. The battle continued, despite all its shortcomings.

Bese Hozat
Co-Chair of the Executive Council of the Union of Communities of Kurdistan
Specially for Resistentiam.com