IZMIR - Pointing out that the Kurdish freedom struggle, which is wanted to be liquidated by an international conspiracy, has made new intellectual breakthroughs under the leadership of Abdullah Ocalan, journalist Halit Ermis emphasized that the only solution to the multiple crises in the Middle East is the "Democratic Nation" paradigm.
The international conspiracy against PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan will enter its 26th year next February 15. The start of the conspiracy against PKK Leader Ocalan was given when he was expelled from Syria on October 9, 1998. The conspiracy continued with Ocalan being brought to Turkey on February 15, 1999. Ocalan has been held in absolute isolation in İmralı Type F High Security Closed Prison since the said date.
In his later evaluations, Ocalan described the conspiracy against him as the "conspiracy of the 21st century." Ocalan said: "If the conspiracy had gone as he wanted, it would have meant Anatolia being covered in blood."
Emphasizing that he would make efforts to create peace and a democratic ground despite the conspiracy. Despite these efforts of Ocalan, the Imralı isolation has continued every period and there has been no news from him for 35 months.
We talked to journalist Halit Ermis about the conspiracy and its effects, which is described by many as "the first step of intervention in the Middle East".
The international conspiracy is entering its 26th year. What was planned with the conspiracy developed under the leadership of the USA?
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the socialist front entered a period of serious disintegration in the world. The Islamic front, which was reshaped through the nation states developed in the region, also became stronger. However, a new revival and resistance front was spreading with the PKK in Kurdistan, whose 'death' was declared in the First World War. PKK's socialist line and Kurds’ Leader Abdullah Ocalan's escape from its traps by reanalysing real socialism and his thoughts were creating a risk for western hegemony. The development of the PKK line could have become a source of inspiration not only in the region, but also for the oppressed nations and peoples. An attempt was made to prevent this situation.
Abdullah Ocalan's thoughts were creating a risk for western hegemony. An attempt was made to prevent this situation. However, the uninterrupted struggle of the Kurds and Abdullah Ocalan's style in Imralı frustrated the plans.
There were also growing nation states in the region. Iran came out of the control of US hegemony after the 1979 revolution. These events could pose a danger to the interests of western hegemony in the region in the long run. Therefore, they found it necessary to re-draw the region to borders that would be manageable for them for a long time. The development of the international conspiracy in the person of the Kurds’ Leader and the attempt to liquidate the Kurdistan freedom struggle was since they saw the Kurds as the real danger. Because capitalist modernity tried to exist throughout the century mainly by fighting against the socialist front. The Islamic front they developed in the region was essentially against this. Therefore, socialism, which they prevented from entering the region, was emerging from the heart of the Middle East in the person of the PKK and through the analysis of great world experiences.
This conspiracy envisaged the construction of a new system of exploitation by reintegrating the region into the wheels of the system, minimizing the forces and integrating them into the system, and eliminating movements outside the system. But the plans did not proceed as they were made at the table; The organized, conscious and uninterrupted struggle of the Kurds prevented this and exposed the plans. The second was the Kurds’ Leader's struggle in Imralı. He analysed the system and developed new tactics and methods in the struggle of the Kurds. He analysed the system and the Kurds moved to a new phase of struggle with this perspective. Therefore, in fact, the first stage of the regional design was wasted in this way. This was the reality that determined the direction of all subsequent developments.
How did the intervention you mentioned reflect on the Middle East?
The intervention of the hegemonic powers created complete chaos in the nation states in the region, which became uninhabitable. Dictators who created nation states have now begun to face the reaction of the people. National, religious and sectarian conflicts began to be fuelled again. In fact, the hegemony wanted to restructure itself by resurrecting historical contradictions. However, in this chaotic environment, the new social system and common life perspective of the Kurdistan freedom struggle began to gain serious popularity.
After the conspiracy, the Kurds’ Leader's analysis of history, society and system opened a new era in the struggle of the Kurds. This was not such an ordinary thing. Kurds tried to compare history with the present. While they were developing their own struggle strategy and tactics, they also began to establish stronger dialogue with the people of the region. Therefore, a situation of continuous interaction began to carry the struggle to wider segments. PKK, which was tried to be liquidated, found the opportunity to spread further among the people of the region. Societies have now begun to give meaning to history and society from their own perspectives, not from the memorization of given ideologies and dominant systems.
For example, the Rojava Revolution is exactly the embodiment of this. There has been no power in the history of the Middle East that has ensured the voluntary and conscious unity of the peoples. Even great emperors subjugated the people through conquests based on force and violence. In the nation-state era, complete marginalization, genocide and assimilation prevail against the dominant nation. Peoples and colours have been turned into sources of conflict. The dictatorship of the rulers was built through these conflicts. The tool of the nation state's monopoly of exploitation in the region is precisely the conflict of these differences. These two opposing mentalities and understandings are still in conflict. Iraq and Syria are very clear examples of this reality.
What role was Turkey given in this conspiracy?
Previously, Kurds’ Leader Ocalan stated that it was given a 'guard role'. Now it is necessary to understand what the 'guard role' is. Guards are adjutants who practically implement the instructions of the ruling powers. They perform the duties assigned to them. They only keep the condemned under control and enforce their orders on behalf of their masters.
Turkey was given a 'guardian role'. The Turkish state, in the person of Ocalan, pursued cheap plans such as liquidating the gains of the Kurds.
The time that has passed with the implementation of this role of the Turkish state. During this period, the Turkish state worked hard to liquidate the Kurdish freedom struggle and rebuild its new century through it. This is exactly what Erdogan said was 'our 2023 goal'. Since the global powers were trying to liquidate a force like the PKK that would create a renaissance in the Middle East, they also supported any initiative of the Turkish state towards this end. They even encouraged it.
In the context of its tactical relations with Kurds' Leader Abdullah Ocalan, the Turkish state pursued cheap plans such as liquidating the Kurdish freedom movement and the gains of the Kurds in the person of Ocalan. Turkey was afraid to continue even its tactical relations when it saw Ocalan's approach to transform even these tactical relations into strategic gains for the Kurds. It further aggravated the isolation imposed on Ocalan and implemented the policy of absolute isolation. Ocalan also identified this process as the 'beginning of the Third World War'. As a matter of fact, wars have not ended in the Middle East for 25 years, crises have deepened.
What were the results of the conspiracy, what did it lose?
Conspiracy or global intervention in the Middle East has created complete chaos in the region. The question 'Why is chaos occurring' is important; The world was dragged into a structural crisis after the hegemonic powers were divided into two poles. In the age of technological development, communication and informatics, the system and its mentality have become unsustainable. As such, intervention and redesign have become a necessity for the sustainability of the system. Was this really necessary? Of course not. But the mentality and system that built itself on hegemony would either collapse because it did not foresee anything other than this mentality, or it would make such an intervention to overcome this structural crisis. Therefore, the intervention took place. But those who were intervened were no longer the same. Neither the nation states of the region were in the situation they were in at the beginning of the century, nor were the oppressed and colonized peoples in the region, especially the Kurds, like they were at the beginning of the century. Therefore, this deepened the crisis experienced by hegemonic forces in the region and therefore in the world.
For example, Kurds, far from being liquidated, turned to new searches and exits. The intervention in Iraq also enabled the emergence of new dynamics in the region. These dynamics were not in a position to surrender when it hit them like that. The reality of Iraq is the clearest example of this. But many structures that emerged as self-resistance forces later came under the control of different forces. Iraq is a clear example of this. In this respect, the correct analysis of the situation in Iraq will be the correct analysis of the impasse experienced by both the people of the region and the dominant regional states and global powers.
If we ask what the region lost; Dominant nations and hegemons maintained their sovereignty as monopolies of exploitation. From this perspective, in my opinion, it would not be an accurate conclusion to conclude that the people of the region lost their freedom with this intervention. But they are again experiencing more conflict at the hands of the dominant powers. However, the absolute dominance of dominant nation states and global powers in thought has been broken. In this respect they lost. The rebellion of the people against the dictators, which we call the Arab Spring, is the result of this. Of course, time will tell exactly where this process will lead. But this is the current situation in my opinion.
Abdullah Ocalan put forward important ideas against the issues in the Middle East under absolute isolation. The thesis of democratic modernity versus capitalist modernity is an example of this. Can crises be overcome with this solution model?
To overcome a crisis or chaos situation, it is necessary to first look at the reasons that led to the situation and therefore build a way out of it. Here, the way and method of the solution are as important as the causes of the issue. The reason for the crisis of capitalist modernity is that it assumes that everything can be used to establish hegemony. Kurds' Leader Abdullah Ocalan described this situation as 'objectification of everything'. There is a situation where the hegemonic power, which sees itself as a subject over what is an object, is entitled to all kinds of disposal. Any means that leads to the goal is considered permissible. This being the case, it can use everything, consume everything, eliminate it, when necessary, alienate it from Itself and exploit it to the fullest. This is the real impasse. This is how the crisis was created. For example, it sees the right to use nature recklessly as long as it serves its power. This is how global warming appeared. Colonialism and absolute domination are justified. This is how nation states emerged. It sees conflict as justified. This is how the endless conflicts of different religions, sects, cultures and nations arose. The individual-society imbalance was built on this. Liberal ideology was shaped through this.
There is a social resistance against capitalist modernity and its ideology. Middle Eastern cultures, which they see as "backward", resist this. In the current situation, the only solution to the crisis is a democratic nation solution.
Now there is a social resistance against this ideology. Middle Eastern cultures, which they see as 'backward', resist this the most. It does not give up on its essence. However, global powers evaluate the issues of freedom and existence of a whole people within the scope of individual rights. Or nation states are setting the path. Which will definitely bring conflict between nations. For example, the Israel-Palestine issue is a concrete example of this. Only if it divides it into pieces like this can it exploit and rule.
The main form of Middle Eastern sociality that opposes the impositions of liberalism are tribes, religions and sects. Be careful, this tribal culture dates back thousands of years. Even during the period when the capitalist system was at its peak on a world scale, tribal structures constituted the main vein of social existence in the Middle East. System owners also see this. Tribes, sects and beliefs constitute the social form of this geography. That's why it tried to establish the political system and state administration in Lebanon and Iraq based on these structures. But it doesn't hold up because they are secretly fuelling the conflict. Of course, it is not only the global hegemonic powers that fuel the conflict here, but also the regional nation states. This being the case, no solution is developed.
Based on this; The democratic nation solution developed by the Kurds' Leader stands out as the only way to democratically solve historical society and system issues. A democratic nation is a structure where people come together under the leadership of their legitimate representatives, express themselves within the system through democratic methods, live freely and form voluntary associations. This is a situation where there is no superiority, oppression, rejection and exploitation of one nation over another. In that respect, the only solution to the crisis in the current situation is the democratic nation solution.
Can we evaluate the "Freedom for Abdullah Ocalan, solution to the Kurdish issue" campaign, which was started by the supporters of the Kurds at the global level, in this context? Again, how do Ocalan's ideas resonate in the world?
We touched upon its importance for the Middle East a little, and it is also the same for the world. Because the global hegemonic mentality and paradigm that shapes the Middle East is also trying to shape the world. Liberal ideology refutes sociality. This is true whether it is in the Middle East, Europe or anywhere in the world. Viewing everything as usable and expendable is valid everywhere. Although liberal ideology reflects itself as a libertarian, it is essentially the ideology that is most worthy of using and consuming the individual.
If sociality is the essence of humanity, the most important ideology to alienate the individual from his society is liberalism. The individual who is alienated from himself becomes lonely and naturally becomes defenceless against the system. An example of this is experienced in the West itself. I'm not saying that this has definitely yielded results, but this is the essence of it. Because there is no such thing as the absolute victory of liberal ideology. Because it does not exist, it experiences chaos and falls into structural depression. It attacks human nature, so people react after a while, and this reaction organizes and creates a new sociality. People from different parts of the world, from different peoples and cultures, come together through the teachings of Kurds' Leader Abdullah Ocalan, and this teaching appeals to them. This is because they find the answer to the contradictions they experience with the system. In that respect, wherever exploitation, monopoly, alienation and injustice are more developed, I think democratic modernity and its system, the democratic nation, will have the chance to develop the most there. Contradiction will create such a situation with itself.
There has been no news from Ocalan for 35 months. What consequences will this absolute isolation have?
The Kurds will gain greatly as they develop their struggle in the region and the world and include large segments of society. The Turkish state laid the groundwork for such a rupture. It had already laid this foundation with a century of occupation and massacres and with the war it waged against the Kurdish freedom struggle for the last 45 years. But if you do such a thing to the person whom a people calls their 'leader', you will completely sever the thin ties that remain between them.
The isolation situation creates a historical and social questioning for the Kurds. Because they are questioning more and more what kind of world those who see this practice as appropriate for their own leaders see as appropriate for themselves. This is where the rupture occurs. This also creates qualitative leaps. Maybe under extreme pressure at the moment, this qualitative leap does not make itself felt much, but it is increasingly pushing it.
For example, in Northern Kurdistan, the politicization of the society and the organization and resistance against all kinds of coercive and violent practices of the state are a sign of this. Politicians who are imprisoned now develop their defences based on history and social analysis theses. They analyse the system and do not engage in simple, event-based defences. This is the result of the teaching of Kurds' Leader Abdullah Ocalan. Because he was the first to do it. He developed his defence in the form of historical analysis of historical society, class classification, and all kinds of exploitation systems. In other words, instead of defending, he questioned and started to judge the system and the rulers. This gradually created awareness among the Kurds. It created a radical change in their perspective on history, the dominant state, and themselves. These are the results. Kurds will now either live freely or they will not accept a colonial life.
MA / Delal Akyüz