KCK Executive Council Member Mustafa Karasu took part in a special programme broadcast on Medya Haber TV, where he offered important assessments of the “Framework Law” prepared as part of the Peace and Democratic Society Process and how the process should move forward.
Part one of this interview can be read
here
.
The framework law will be enacted unless an unexpected situation arises. As you have noted, this framework law is a starting point. So, what is the duty and responsibility of the Kurdish people, the peoples of Kurdistan, and their allies?
When it comes to the success of this process, it is not the right approach to simply wait and see what the state will do or what steps will be taken. In the latest notes of meetings in Imrali, Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] consistently refers to a democratic society and a democratic republic. He speaks of a movement for a democratic society and a democratic republic. He emphasizes that this must be realized. The people must be involved – and they must be organized and take an active role. Under what program and for what purpose will they be involved? The primary goal of this process is to achieve a democratic republic. And this democratic republic can only be achieved through a democratic society. A democratic society can realize a democratic republic. In this regard, the Kurdish people must organize themselves into a democratic society. They need to transform themselves into a democratic society through communes and councils.
A democratic society is a society with political power. And this is decisive. The self-organization of this people is extremely important. Of course, this is not something that will happen solely through the organization of the Kurdish people. Rêber Apo stated that we can build the democratic republic together with the peoples of Turkey and the democratic forces. The democratic society does, indeed, primarily address the Kurdish society, but of course, a democratic society must also be realized in Turkey. The people of Turkey must also become organized. To this end, it is necessary to form an alliance with the broadest possible segments that will play a role in resolving the Kurdish issue and advancing democratization – including Kurdish democratic forces, democratic forces in Turkey, leftist forces, those who adhere to a democratic understanding of Islam, and Muslim democrats. In this regard, the new phase of struggle represents a new strategy. The new strategy will lead to results not through arms or people’s war but through the people’s democratic struggle – through democratic political struggle.
Rêber Apo has defined the strategy for this new era as a democratic political strategy. Consequently, this is not a situation that will be realized solely through the organization of Kurdish society. The organized Kurdish community must work together with the democratic forces in Turkey to build a democratic republic. For this process to be successful, the work of the democratic society movement and the democratic republic movement must be carried out in tandem. In this respect, there is a debate with the state. There are responsibilities that the state or political forces must fulfill. But we know that everywhere in the world, the democratization of the state and politics develops only through the struggle of democratic forces – through the struggle waged by democratic forces. Democratization does not emerge as a favor but as a form of compromise achieved through struggle. A very important task falls to the Kurdish people and Turkey’s democratic forces during this period. In short, they must not remain mere spectators.
From the very first day, opponents of the process have sought to provoke the process and the atmosphere by exploiting every possible point of tension. They did not hold back from this even during the framework law process. However, there are primarily criticisms directed at the ruling party’s media, which is a party to this process. At what point does the ruling party’s media fail to abandon its anti-Kurdish stance?
There are warmongers, there are enemies of the Kurds, and those who openly oppose this process on the basis of anti-Kurdish and anti-democratic sentiments. It was once said that the “Apo racket” and the “PKK racket” are political movements that seek to exist within this environment of conflict and war. They truly want war. The moment this process breaks down, conflict will erupt, and war will follow. And it’s …