Is the Kurdish movement leftist or nationalist?

19.10.2011 Vatan
Translated by: Daily News / www.hurriyetdailynews.com/is-the-kurdish-movement-leftist-or-nationalist.aspx?pageID=438&n=is-the-kurdish-movement-leftist-or-nationalist-2011-10-19
Orjinal Metin (tr-10/19/2011)

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was a Marxist-Leninist organization, coming from the Turkish socialist left that had adopted Stalinist methods in its organization and activities, aiming for an independent and united socialist Kurdistan.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was a Marxist-Leninist organization, coming from the Turkish socialist left that had adopted Stalinist methods in its organization and activities, aiming for an independent and united socialist Kurdistan. Its name contained the word “worker” and it had hammer and sickle in its emblem. PKK claimed it was definitively not nationalist as other Kurdish leftist groups but it had difficulty convincing the Turkish left. Yet again they were assessed in a category named “nationalism of oppressed people.”
Years passed by and the Turkish left became extremely marginalized when it was only a total of a number of legal and illegal small parties and fractions. On the other hand, the Kurdish political movement led by the PKK became the unique power challenging the current political power in Turkey. Additionally, it became influential in other geographies where Kurds lived. As a matter of fact, some components of the socialist left are trying to maintain their existence today under the roof of the Kurdish political movement.

All the colors of the spectrum
I want to convey an interview I did with a mayor in the Southeast at the end of 1990s. I’m not sure, but his party must be the People’s Democracy Party (HADEP). He said, “I am politically in the center, almost liberal. But, as you know, leftist views are in the majority in the party. Actually, there are many people like me in the party who happen to be at different ends of the political spectrum. If one day the Kurdish problem is solved, then each of us will be in our own parties.”
These words were key to my understanding that the primary color of the Kurdish political movement was not “left” but “nationalist.” I know that PKK leaders like Duran Kalkan and Cemil Bayık and outstanding figures of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) talk with the old leftist jargon. And also that Marxism-Leninism are the principles in training activities of the movement in legal and illegal fields.
But with the collapse of the socialist system, the PKK first said goodbye to its hammer-sickle and I know that it shifted its direction, if not its language, to “Kurdishness.” In other words, the left is a nostalgic ornament in the Kurdish movement.
As a result, both the strength and the weakness of the Kurdish movement today come from nationalism. We see that the militants of this movement who make the most of those opportunities provided by nationalism call themselves patriots for the sake of protecting themselves from the disadvantages of it and voice an impossible target of embracing all of Turkey.

Islamic factor once again
Going back to the relationship between the Kurdish movement and Islam, it is wrong to assume that it is only a tactic of the PKK that the Kurdish political movement is affiliating with the Islam religion, consequently with religious Kurds. This is an extremely natural, actually, despite the opposition of several influential people inside the movement - a self developing process to a great extent. Just how the religious conservatism is a dominant factor in Turkish nationalism, it was inevitable that a similar synthesis emerged from the Kurdish nationalism, even though those who look as if they are leading the movement do not want it. And I think, we are witnessing exactly this these days.
Well, here is where the new Kurdish movement is pressuring the PKK the most. Because those who can harmonize today with nationalism in the movement are ascending; those who cannot are gradually becoming inactive. It is extremely usual that a resistance exists against this major ideological transformation and that it leads to internal conflicts and even clashes.
We see that the more the Kurdish movement proceeds on the nationalist road, the more inclusive, popularized and legitimate it gets. As a natural result of this, arms and terror activities block this movement instead of clearing the way for it. I assume the new Kurdish movement will end its relationship with arms as soon as possible. In the case of the intervention of the state and the Turkish public, this disarmament process will be quicker and less painful.

Destek olmak ister misiniz?
Doğru haber, özgün ve özgür yorum ihtiyacı
Bugün dünyada gazeteciler birer aktivist olmaya zorlanıyor. Bu durum, kutuplaşmanın alabildiğine keskin olduğu Türkiye'de daha fazla karşımıza çıkıyor. Halbuki gazeteci, elinden geldiğince, doğru haber ile özgün ve özgür yorumla toplumun tüm kesimlerine ulaşmaya çalışmalı ve bu yolla, kutuplaşmayı artırma değil azaltmayı kendine hedef edinmeli. Devamı için

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