Duran Kalkan on the meaning of the conflict in the Middle East and the perspective of the Apoist movement to reach a solution
The situation in the Middle East is evolving rapidly. In the midst of this chaos it is difficult to understand what is happening, what interests are behind it and what dangers and opportunities are present at the moment. The Apoist movement is the main democratic force present in the region, so we have decided to reproduce excerpts from a recent interview with Duran Kalkan, a member of the KCK leadership, where he clarifies the current situation in the context of the Third World War and the movement's position on the solution they are building to achieve peace. The full interview can be found here.
Kurdistan is at the center of the Third World War in the Middle East. The status quo created in the 20th century is crumbling. What kind of phase lies ahead for the Kurds regarding the creation of a new status quo? What are the aspirations of the PKK in the new year of its struggle? What role and responsibility has the Kurdish freedom movement identified for itself in this phase?
Kurdistan is the center of the struggle for democracy and freedom, the center of the siblinghood of the peoples on the basis of women’s freedom. The center of the women’s liberation revolution. In the ongoing war for the new division of the world, various regional and global forces are in conflict with each other to seize the treasures of Kurdistan. Kurdistan is one of the centers of this war, but it is not the only one. The more the war develops, the more these centers develop and change. It has been over 30 years, approaching 35 years, that a world war is taking place between the nation states that strive for the creation of a new status quo. This is the Third World War.
The monopolist capitalist order wants to restructure the Middle East through this war. One hundred years ago, during and after the First World War, the Middle East was created on the basis of the nation state system under the leadership of Turkey and Iran. Now it is wanted to restructure the Middle East within the framework of a new energy route project based on the Arab-Israeli reconciliation, which envisages faster, easier movement and more exploitation of capital beyond the borders of nation-states. The war waged by the system has the power to change the old. The status quo cannot withstand these attacks. It is being hit and will eventually be overcome. The global capital system, with its logic of maximum profit, will succeed if it is not prevented by an alternative. Nation state status quo will not be able to prevent this. It is resisting, but it certainly cannot prevent it. While there is still resistance for the status quo, the system prepares the change for more exploitation, for more profit.
There are many centers of these attacks in the Middle East. It started in Gaza; now it is Lebanon, Syria; tomorrow it will be Turkey. Turkey is at the center of this. They want to make the Kurds responsible for this, but there is no such thing. Turkey has dozens of problems, like the so-called Kurdish problem. The Kurdish question is an important issue, but Turkey should review its own structure. It has no place in this system. It is now at the center of the attacks of the monopolist capital. Kurdistan is the center of the alternative. The center of the freedom struggle, the center of the war for freedom. It is not the center of the world war; it is the center of the struggle to stop the war. It is necessary to correctly define what Kurdistan is the center of. Kurdistan is the center of creating an alternative that will end this world war. It is the center of the struggle for an alternative. As the alternative, democratic modernity, develops, it will eliminate and limit these wars that arise from the internal contradictions and conflicts of capitalist modernity and the struggle for interests. There lies the main creative force of peace. Rêber Apo is the leader of world peace. There are calls that the Imrali system must be dismantled urgently, that Rêber Apo must intervene in the situation, that he must make the lead for an alternative in Kurdistan more effective, and that he must create and lead the developments that will stop the war. These are right and appropriate calls.
How are the conflicts between the forces whose interests lie in the Third World War developing? We discuss this and try to understand. We want to benefit from it in terms of our own struggle. There is no doubt that opportunities and possibilities arise for us, and this will also expand. That goes without saying. The US and Europe are part of the Israeli attack. It is not only Israel that is attacking; it is attacking on behalf of a system. They will shrink Iran and Turkey even further. At the forefront, they are dealing with Iraq and Syria, but this should actually be seen as a struggle against Iran and Turkey, as representatives of the nation state status quo. They will have the most difficulty. But of course, there is also the alternative struggle to create a democratic Turkey, democratic Syria, democratic Iraq, and democratic Iran based on Kurdish freedom. This is also a force for change, the most fundamental force for change, for the benefit of the peoples, women, workers, and laborers. Who is the struggle between? There is a war between the monopolistic circles of interest within the system of capitalist modernity. One side is the current status quo; the other side wants change. But there is also the struggle of the forces for an alternative, the forces of the democratic modernity to change this status quo, and the struggle for the change to be in the interests of women, workers, laborers, and peoples, based on the democratic Middle East confederalism.
So far, the global capital system has given all kinds of opportunities to the status quo forces, especially the AKP-MHP fascism, to destroy and liquidate the PKK in order to prevent an alternative. They have attacked the PKK for ten years without listening to any rules, measures, or morals, especially on the basis of the so-called ‘plan to force them on their knees’. This is the isolation system in Imrali; this is the full-blown attack on the guerrilla, and this is the massacre of the people. They calculated that they would first weaken and neutralize the PKK, and then they could better wage the war of interests among themselves. But no matter how much they attacked, they failed. Their attacks on the PKK were frustrated. They were rendered unsuccessful. The Imrali torture and isolation system could not create even an inch of weakening and regression in Rêber Apo’s resistance. Now they are in a deadlock. They cannot develop enough conflict among themselves, nor can they unite against the PKK for a longer period of time. Even if they did, they could not achieve results. They have no time left. They are and will be launching more attacks, faster and more desperate attacks. But this will not last for a long time. They cannot maintain their unity as they have done so far. Internal contradictions will gradually increase. The alternative, the democratic Middle East alternative based on Kurdish freedom, has the possibility to develop and spread faster and faster. They attacked with all their means but will end up seeking reconciliation.
We are in the 21st century and we see in Kurdistan that the PKK has become a center of internationalist struggle. Historically it used to be Palestine and Cuba, and today Kurdistan has become its source. What does this mean? How was it possible for Rêber Apo and the PKK to overcome the nationalist borders? What significance do these developments have for Kurdistan?
Globally, the search has not diminished. There is no normal life; on the contrary, the future of society and nature is in great danger. The earth is at stake. Rêber Apo was talking about “cancerization.” Capitalist modernity has become cancerous, threatening nature, society, and the earth. That is why nobody is comfortable with life. Women, youth, workers, laborers, and the peoples face oppression, exploitation, and persecution. May it be in Africa, in America, in Asia, in the Middle East, or in Europe, it is the same everywhere. That is why the people are searching. The people are widely seeking liberation from this situation. The search for such liberation has never ended, but it may have paused or dropped to a low level when Real Socialism, which they saw as a savior, dissolved. Their hopes were dashed; they couldn’t find a way out there either. They wondered how it should be done after this route had not worked either. But thirty years have passed, criticism has developed, new ideas have emerged, new theories developed, and many philosophers, intellectuals, politicians, and artists thought, researched, concentrated, and wrote. Rêber Apo developed the most comprehensive effort in this regard. With a very radical paradigm shift. He defined a new thesis of history along the lines of democratic civilization. He defined its modernity today as democratic modernity. He defined democratic civilization against the ruling and statist civilization, democratic modernity against capitalist modernity. He showed the path of liberation for all the oppressed.
The ideas of Rêber Apo, the idea of freedom, of Kurdish existence in the face of colonialism and genocide, when they were expressed courageously and valorously, affected everyone. It affected the youth in Kurdistan, especially the youth in universities, high schools, and women. It intensely affected workers and laborers. The PKK developed based on this, and the philosophy of Rêber Apo gained strength from this. The PKK developed in 1976; in 1978 it became a party; and in 1979 and 1980 it nearly organized its first serhildans (uprisings). It reached a point at which it was capable of raising society to its feet. Against September 12 fascism, it developed many uprisings and the guerrilla offensive. When small guerrilla units moved from the mountain to fight against the enemy, when they reached the society, they were embraced by the peasantry. The current state of the world is a bit like Kurdistan in the ’70s in terms of the search and the danger it is facing. Everyone is in search of salvation. Internationalism as a concept has not lost its meaning. There is no weakening in this regard.
So why is it said that solidarity and support for the various movements have declined and become weaker? The reason for this should be sought in the purpose of those movements. We need to look for it in their paradigm. It used to be said that there was a difference between the nationalism of the oppressed and that of the oppressors. That the nationalism of the oppressed was justified. The struggles in Vietnam, Cuba, and Palestine were supported on the basis of a national understanding. But what was the result? Today, Vietnam is one of Germany’s closest partners and sends its citizens to serve in Germany, as Turkey did in the past. Palestine did not receive the support of the Arabs because they were so fragmented among themselves. The goal that the internationalists were aiming for with their support and solidarity was not achieved. They were excited for a while, calling for independence, freedom, and liberation, but the paradigm they were based on, the nation-state ideology they followed, did not lead them to independence and freedom. It did not lead to liberation. Now, the only force that has truly realized the consequences of this is the movement of Rêber Apo. This is shown in Kurdistan and in the developments in North and East Syria. The PKK is the only movement left that has realized in practice what it aimed for and what it targeted, and therefore its thought and practice are one; its theory and practice are one. It does what it says and says what it does. It lives and works as it says. People see this all over the world.
With the global freedom campaign, there has been a consciousness raising. The Rojava Revolution brought some new realities on the agenda. With the Jin Jiyan Azadi revolution, women showed the way to real liberation. On this basis, the prison writings of Rêber Apo were translated into different languages, and his thoughts spread all over the world on the basis of the global freedom campaign. People got to know him and see Rêber Apo in the right way. They see the developments in Kurdistan, and they flow here. There are such clearly recognizable developments. We have to admit that we still have shortcomings in this respect and that we are late. We need to expand this even further. The translation of the prison writings into all languages must be accelerated, and they must be distributed to all women, young people, workers, and laborers.
A new internationalism is emerging. It is not based on interests as in the past, but on democratic confederalism, on democratic unity in which everyone stands up for their own freedom. Knowledge of global democratic confederalism and its practical implementation is increasing. The world is moving towards democratic confederalism. Anyone who feels constrained by the fascism and nationalism of the nation state finds a solution in democratic confederalism. The existing system of the UN as a union of states is not a solution. It leads to war, bloodshed, new colonialism, hunger, and pandemics. Against this, the path of the unity of democratic nations and global democratic confederalism is opening up. People are giving it more and more importance and are moving more and more towards it. On this basis, recognizable developments are taking place. Nobody knew the Kurds. It seems that they were only discovered at the end. But now people are getting closer to the Kurds, and today there are many nations that support them because they see that the Kurds have done a great service to all nations through the struggle they are waging. Everyone now sees their own liberation in the paradigm of Rêber Apo and sees the experiences of the struggle in Kurdistan.
The PKK has created itself by evaluating the experience of the peoples of the world, the experience of the struggles of workers, laborers, and women. It came into existence in the seventies and eighties by drawing on the experience of struggles around the world. Now everyone sees the level that has emerged in the PKK as their own. The PKK also saw other peoples’ levels as its own. Because of this, those peoples also see what emerged in the PKK and what is happening in Kurdistan as their own and embrace it. This assumption of responsibility will develop more and more. A global consciousness will develop. It has to develop; otherwise, this system of capitalist modernity will destroy everything, and it will lead to even more decay.
What is the significance of democratic confederalism and the solution model of the democratic nation in a geography characterized by violence, conflict and war such as the Middle East? Why is this model seemingly so vital for the different peoples, beliefs and even the marginalized communities?
The Middle East, Kurdistan in particular, is a historically formed multilingual, multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, multi-sectarian geography. It is an area where many different societies are intertwined with each other, where many different social realities have developed alongside each other and have been shaped over a long historical process. It is the area where sociality and natural society have developed. It is also the area where power and state structures have developed and taken shape and ruled for the longest time. What do democratic confederalism and democratic nation mean in such an area? It means the free self-organization of all identities and their free participation in the unity of the democratic nation, in the framework of democratic confederalism. Within this unity, they can freely live their own uniqueness. All identities, religious identities, national identities, social identities, see their uniqueness in the freedom of the other in the democratic nation model, under democratic confederalism. They see their existence in the existence of the other. They see their life in the life of the other. However, religious, nationalist, sexist, ideological patterns, and liberalism express exactly the opposite. It is this thinking that to ensure one’s own existence, the destruction of others is needed, that to ensure one’s own freedom means the enslavement of others. As an example, Rêber Apo evaluated Israel, which is currently launching heavy attacks. It is trying to ensure its existence by destroying those around it. It follows a mentality that by enslaving those around it, the Jews will be free. As Rêber Apo said, this is impossible. By destroying others, the Jews cannot exist and be free. No one can.
But all these mentality patterns and currents of thought see their own future in marginalizing, destroying, oppressing, and enslaving the other and accept and foresee this as the truth. This is what is turning the Middle East into a bloodbath. So many religious and sectarian divisions, so many ethnic divisions, so many social divisions, and contradictions; if they all clash with each other, a deadlock emerges. The democratic nation, democratic confederalism, is a movement to set an end to this. It is a movement to eliminate the bloodbath, these contradictions and conflicts. And it does so through a change in mentality, through an important revolution of mentality. It means the elimination of the understanding that ‘others must disappear, everything must be mine’. It envisions a democratic, socialist, sharing, and communal life. It is not about saying, “Let me live!” but about saying, “Let everyone live!”. It is about saying, “For me to be free, everyone else must be free!” It envisages developing and ensuring freedom under democratic politics.
As the mentality and the concepts of democratic nation and democratic confederalism developed by Rêber Apo on the basis of the new paradigm are carried forward, they have a great impact on societies and the various ethnic structures in the region and in the world and thereby become a center of attraction. It becomes a way out, a way of salvation for everyone. The hegemonic system is hostile; they attack, but the societies see it as a way out. In the Middle East, states are preventing the spread of these ideas, but in different suitable areas of the world, they find the opportunity to spread more and to be more influential. If these opportunities are utilized, they will lead to very rapid developments. A new life, a new order of relations, a new existence for humanity. It starts a new era, a new history. Against the 5,000-year-old male-dominated mentality and system of power and the state, and against the 500-year-old male-dominated mentality and system of capitalist modernity, it envisages a new era of life, a new historical process that is compatible with natural society, that makes peace with nature, and that envisions humanity living freely and fraternally in happiness. It is clearly seen that it has already led to important developments and will lead to more.
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