A-Infos (en) Italy, Sicilia Libertaria #462 - The PKK's historic turn for peace and a democratic society (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

From June 30 to July 3, I took part in Istanbul, Turkey, in the 
"International Conference for a Peaceful Solution to the Kurdish 
Question and Ending Isolation," and I saw firsthand the advanced 
political process launched with the "appeal for peace and a democratic 
society" issued by President Abdullah Öcalan on February 27, 2025. ---- 
The Conference was held in a hotel on Taksim Square, a historic 
gathering place for popular demonstrations in the Turkish metropolis.

The political climate we found in Istanbul, however, was far from ideal. 
Precisely on central Istiklal Avenue, during the days of the Congress, 
there were large and violent demonstrations by Islamist extremists (well 
tolerated by the police) who, shouting "Allahu akbar," besieged the 
offices of the Turkish satirical weekly Leman, accused of publishing a 
cartoon in which Muhammad greets Moses with a typical Muslim salutation 
(Selam aleykum) and Moses replies with a typical Jewish salutation 
(Aleikhem shalom), while the two shake hands. A grave offense, a 
sacrilege! The building housing the satirical weekly's editorial staff 
was attacked several times with stones, breaking windows and attempting 
to force the door. The diligent Turkish police merely contained the 
Islamist assailants and arrested the author of the cartoon and three 
other journalists, including the editor-in-chief and two section 
editors. The statements by Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya were very 
worrying; announcing the arrests of the journalists, he said: "I once 
again curse those who try to sow hypocrisy by drawing caricatures of our 
Prophet." Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunç declared: "Disrespect for our 
beliefs is never acceptable." The Istanbul Prosecutor General's Office 
opened a criminal investigation for the offense of "public insult to 
religious values." The tragic story of the French weekly Charlie Hebdo 
repeated itself, albeit fortunately in a less bloody way.

The Turkish state underscores its radical Islamist tendency and presents 
itself as a police state.

This was the climate in which the "International Conference for a 
Peaceful Solution to the Kurdish Question and Ending Isolation" took place.

About forty politicians, activists, and trade unionists from Europe and 
beyond attended the Conference, organized by the DEM party (Party of 
Equality and Democracy of Peoples). DEM was represented by its current 
co-chair Tuncer Bakirhan and vice chair Ebru Gunay.

The conference was followed by the major Turkish mass media, which 
highlighted the importance, for Turkish society as a whole, of the 
pacification process set in motion by the PKK.

In a Middle Eastern context inflamed by wars, marked by the 
extermination of the Palestinian people, by Islamic fundamentalism, and 
by intolerant and genocidal Zionist extremism, the decision to end, 
after a full 41 years, the armed struggle in Turkey represents a clear 
sign of a revolutionary turn to push Turkish society toward 
democratization and respect for all ethnic minorities. The PKK's 
decision to lay down arms tends to disrupt the games of war and 
domination and to launch a process that can serve as an example for 
resolving the conflicts that are setting that part of the world ablaze.

While war has once again become the mantra of capitalist modernism, the 
PKK-by changing its form of struggle-breaks with the bellicose paradigm. 
A step that is anything but easy or guaranteed, a step that inspires 
fear, opens critical spaces, and prompts judgments from those who prefer 
to repeat a present already defeated rather than risk an uncertain future.

The Istanbul Conference accelerated the process of peace and democratic 
transformation of the whole of Turkey; the PKK is doing its part-now it 
is up to the government and the parliament in Ankara to take the steps 
necessary for pacification, starting with the release of all political 
prisoners, first and foremost President Öcalan.

On July 11 in Sulaymaniyah (Iraqi Kurdistan), the "Group for Peace and 
Democratic Society," formed to accelerate the process of Change and 
Democratic Transformation, attended the ceremony of disarmament and 
destruction of weapons by PKK fighters. In Sulaymaniyah, in the presence 
of witnesses, observers, and international media, disarmament began with 
the surrender of weapons by thirty PKK fighters. A clearly symbolic 
gesture aimed at accelerating the political process underway between the 
PKK and the Turkish government. In this way, the PKK seeks to speed up 
the debate within the Ankara Parliament to reach broad consensus on the 
bill that would legitimize the "process of peace and democracy."

"To ensure the practical success of the process of 'Peace and Democratic 
Society,' to conduct our struggle for freedom, democracy, and socialism 
with legal and democratic political methods on the basis of enacting 
laws for democratic integration, we voluntarily destroy our weapons 
before you as a step of goodwill and determination. We hope that this 
step brings peace and freedom and has auspicious outcomes for our 
people, for the people of Turkey and the Middle East, and for all 
humanity, especially for women and youth." ... "Given the growing 
fascist pressure and exploitation around the world and the current 
bloodshed in the Middle East, our people need a peaceful, free, just, 
and democratic life more than ever. In such a context, we fully feel and 
understand the magnitude, righteousness, and urgency of the step we have 
taken."

"The stage reached requires the adoption of new, concrete measures," 
said Kurdish leader Öcalan regarding the peace process, which envisages 
the dissolution of the PKK, referring to the role that Parliament must 
play in developing a resolution of the Kurdish question in Turkey.

In an international context marked by wars, destruction, and massacres 
of defenseless civilians-from the heart of Europe to the Sahel to 
Palestine-while we witness the rearmament of Europe and NATO in support 
of present and future wars, in a bleak picture of confrontation between 
global imperial powers (USA, Russia, China) and regional powers (Turkey, 
Israel, Iran), with the arrogance of warmongering leaders such as Putin, 
Trump, Khamenei, Netanyahu, and von der Leyen, the policy "for peace and 
a democratic society" launched with Öcalan's appeal represents a 
decisive paradigm shift, a genuine revolution that should be supported 
by libertarians and all internationalists.

Renato Franzitta

https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
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