In the midst of a turning point in history, during an uprising against a State with deeply rooted fascism, what must we make of the current happenings regarding Kurdistan’s political climate?
Firstly, when interpreting the political situation, we must understand the true importance of the hunger strikes and death fasts, but even more importantly, we must look at how we have arrived to where we are today. The aforementioned actions were started by the pioneering Leyla Guven, as a protest against the isolation of the Peoples Leader. This is clear. But the real question is why an officially elected member of Parliament was in prison, along with everyone else in her Party; why someone who plays an important role in the politics of the Turkish State in finding a solution to the Kurdish question has been hungry for almost 200 days, to try to draw attention to the leader of 20 million people.
We cannot begin to list the amount of Kurdish blood that has been shed over the past 100 years, and we say 100 years because that’s how long it’s been since the fascist regime of the Turkish State has been officially, and lawfully torturing and massacring Kurds.
Şark Islahat Planı (1925): “Our mission is to make Turkish people in the Turkish homeland. We will cut off the elements that will oppose Turkishness and Turkism. The qualities that we will seek in the service of the motherland are, above all, that the man is Turkish and Turkist”.
When we understand the weight of the fascism that has been placed on the shoulders of the people, only then can we apprehend the importance of The Peoples Leader, and naturally, why 7,000 people are on hunger strike and death fast. In short, the fascism of the Turkish State is not new, we have seen every face of it. And we continue to do so today, just as we receiving news that The Peoples Leader has met with his lawyers for the second time in 8 years, we must evaluate this period very critically.
As the Turkish State feeds the people with hope of a peaceful solution, one must weigh how genuine these approaches really are. A wall is being built around Afrin as we discuss this possibility. The children are being taught the Turkish national anthem in schools, they are reciting “my existence is for the service of the Turks and the Turkish State” every morning. There are attacks in Halfeti every day, with soldiers knocking on people’s doors, torturing and taking the youth and their locations remain unknown. The mothers who are showing solidarity with their own children are being hit on public roads. The protestors on hunger strike and death fasts are being tortured and then made to stare at food posters. Kurdish bodies are not allowed to be washed in Mosques because they are the property of the State. We don’t need to look back to history, these are short summaries of todays attrocities.
And instead we choose to overlook all of the tragedies that are being committed, because the Turkish State has decided to enforce its own laws, after Erdogan has lost control of the biggest cities in the recent elections.
It hasn’t been long since the officials of the AKP State were threatening to “hang [Kurds] on to the nearest flag poles”.
This is not to say that the resistances and uprisings of the people are not powerful; in actual fact it has brought the Turkish State to its knees. Hence why its fascism is becoming more aggravated. But we most also not fall into positivist expectations and be sensitive to all the games of the fascist state. This wouldn’t be the first time the solution stage has been reintroduced, just when Erdogan is losing power.
