excerpts from the “Manifesto of the Revolutionary Youth Movement of Kurdistan”
1. Democratic Youth Confederalism is not an umbrella organisation, not a platform nor an alliance of different fronts, but a comprehensive social system. There may be organisations, platforms, associations and alliances within it, but Democratic Youth Confederalism goes beyond all that. It is a youth system in which the social, political, cultural, and all fundamental activities of the youth find their expression.
We can describe Democratic Youth Confederalism as a non-state structure for the organisation of daily life for all youth circles in society.
It is the foundation of an anti-state way of living for the youth. The youth front organises environmental, educational, health, sports, political and cultural activities in Democratic Youth Confederalism. We speak of Democratic Youth Confederalism in relation to the structure in which the social life is built by the youth front. In this sense, it is a comprehensive and profound project in which the youth from the districts, the pupils, the working and unemployed youth, and the young students come together; in which dozens of federations, hundreds of associations, thousands of communes and councils, various press organs and cultural centres can find their place.
It is one of the central goals of Democratic Youth Confederalism to transform broad masses of young people into conscious subjects.
It is not possible to organise the entire youth and society with one type of organisational model. For this to be possible, society and the youth would have to be homogeneous, which they have never been. It is therefore necessary to provide the space for many different types and formats of organisation. The youth must be given the opportunity to grow in the democratic-confederal system. The ideological vanguard, like the cadre organisation, must be open to flexible units that address different areas of interest, ability, and need. From cultural, artistic, social and industrial organisations to temporary or permanent units, every type of youth organisation must be represented.
Society is complicated and multi-layered, it would be useless and wrong to approach this diversity with only one form of organisation.
As with society in general, so too is the youth a diverse layer, and as such it can only be organised by a broad variety of approaches. With this way of organising, the state can be overcome and left behind, and people can find their place in the social fabric and institutionalise themselves. If the youth does not establish such a confederal system for the organisation of their fundamental activities, they will not save themselves from making the same mistake as the statist left. As a consequence, this is a task that cannot be postponed.
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2. The Komalên Ciwan, as the leading confederal organisation of the Apoist Youth, aims to develop organisations in all areas that transform the potential of the youth into a force, overthrowing class-based state structures and building democratic- communal society.
It recognises colonialism and capitalism as the main problems of the youth.
It is trying to gain the strength to fulfil its pioneering mission in the building of the democratic-communal society through transforming, above all, the youth of Kurdistan, but also other youth circles in neighbouring societies into an effective force for freedom by bringing them together in organisations. It is their central goal to make these organisations effective in all areas of life. It expresses the policy of the Komalên Ciwan to develop youth academies of free thought as a counter to the educational institutions of the capitalist system, which dazzle the consciousness and are based on memorisation; to develop worker co- operatives, in which the understanding of collective production and equal distribution form the basis, as a counter to the management of the economic dependence of the youth; as well as to develop spaces for democratic-communalism to create a new society by spreading political organisations in which the youth makes and implements decisions concerning itself. Under the organising structure of Democratic Youth Confederalism, the problem of becoming the masses must also be dealt with. It is the most important factor that will determine the success or the failure of Democratic Youth Confederalism’s degree of organisation. We know very well from the lessons we have learned from the history of our struggle that being a force means organisation.
The degree of organisation makes the individual and society a force.
This applies all the more to the youth. The organisation of the youth movement is its source of strength. The better the youth is organised, the stronger it is and the more consciousness it has. On this point, it is important that all of the youth participates in some way in Democratic Youth Confederalism, that everyone is organised and that nobody is left behind.
This ideal, to not leave a young person unorganised, should not be seen as a Utopian approach.
Democratic Youth Confederalism – with a determined praxis – can include all young people once the way in which different circles are organised has been determined, and once the problems and contradictions of these circles have been analysed. Such an organisational potential exists.
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3. It is important that, with the creativity and suggested solutions for Democratic Youth Confederalism in the Middle East, the youth’s regional uprising attains a system of continuity in institutions to secure the regional unity of the revolutionary youth.
This structure allows the revolutionary youth movement in Kurdistan to form alliances with the youth organisations of their neighbouring societies.
Especially with the left socialist Youth movements in Turkey, and start building up its own affiliations. In order to form a common platform, it can unite with other left-wing youth structures, and with all the Gezi-Park fighters who distinguish themselves from the left, that is close to the Kemalist army. Through the pioneering role of a Democratic Middle Eastern Youth Conference, it can increasingly turn to the quest for a confederal unity in the whole of the Middle East. At this point, the emergence of a search for escape from capitalism, and the resistance of the youth in the Middle East, especially with the Arab Spring, can be used as an advantage. It is an undeniable reality that a good assessment of this advantage and this opportunity could be ground-breaking and create new foundations.
There are also plenty of such foundations for alliances at the international level.
The growing intensity of the student movement in Chile, the youth organisation of the landless movement in Brazil, the youth movements in Argentina, Cuba, Venezuela and Paraguay, the Zapatista Youth in Mexico, the FARC Youth in Colombia, the activities of the Anti-Fascist Youth widely spread throughout Europe, the Basque and Catalan Youth in Spain, the Corsican Youth in France, the Anti-Fascist Youth organisations in Ukraine and the growing intensity of the youth movements against globalisation all over the world, contain a potential – that is not to be underestimated – for an international revolutionary youth.
This is the greatest utopia for the revolutionary youth movement of Kurdistan, never to be separated from its dreams, to come together with all these countless oppositional movements and groups, with an emphasis on anti-capitalism, to create the international revolutionary youth spirit with a second 1968 revolution.
If such a stance and organising effort is shown with sincerity, then the Apoist Youth of Kurdistan will be the driving force of the democratic-revolutionary youth struggle, and a prime example with of the potential of youth movements, not just throughout the region, but across the world.