STOCKHOLM – The Erdogan doll that was previously hung outside the city hall led the way for Saturday ‘s anti-NATO demonstration. PKK flags fluttered in the wind, protesters trampled on a picture of Erdogan’s face and slogans such as “Erdogan upside down – no to NATO , yes to peace!” was chanted. This has upset many, not least Erdogan himself who no longer wants to let Swedish politicians come to Turkey to negotiate on NATO.
Ung Vänster Greater Stockholm participated in the demonstration, and we proudly stand behind the waving of PKK flags.
In 2019, Turkey, led by Erdogan, invaded northern Syria. It was a clear violation of international law, and Swedish politicians condemned the invasion and suspended all arms exports to Turkey. Why did Turkey invade? They claimed that it was a matter of self-defense, as they believed that it was PKK supporters who were being shot at. In fact, it was Kurdish freedom fighters in the YPG and YPJ, the same freedom fighters who held back IS in Syria.
The terrorist labeling of the PKK was used by Erdogan to be able to invade under the pretext of self-defense, while at the same time supporting the advance of fascism in Syria. However, when Sweden’s government submits a (in no way democratically anchored) application for NATO membership in 2022, everything changes.
All the critics who had warned that NATO membership does not come without counterclaims were proved right, and Erdogan began demanding that Sweden help him crush the Kurdish independence movement.
Through demands for deportations, through constitutional amendments and through arms exports. Quite rightly, the government is also relenting and in September opened up arms exports to Turkey , despite having stopped it three years earlier for humanitarian reasons. In November, Turkey launched a new military offensive in northern Syria, an aggressive attack that Foreign Minister Tobias Billström cannot condemn.
The PKK, also known as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, is an organization that works for the Kurdish people’s right to self-determination in Turkey. Ever since the founding of modern Turkey, the Turkish state has had a nationalistic goal of creating a Turkish people, which has led the state to attempt to deprive Kurds of both their culture and their language through racist assimilation policies. When Kurds have tried to resist, it has been met with brutal and deadly violence from the Turkish state. The PKK is by no means an organization with a spotless history, and has previously used highly dubious means to achieve its goals.
However, we do not consider the organization PKK to be a terrorist organization today, something that the Supreme Court in Belgium has also concluded.
The terrorist labeling is political, and it benefits Erdogan as he can say he is using self-defense when he fires at Kurdish freedom fighters. At the same time, it benefits both the EU and the US as they can dismiss socialist organizations as terrorists rather than people coming together in the fight against state oppression. We cannot join an alliance with Erdogan. We have already seen how his demands have come to govern our politics; through constitutional amendments, through demands for deportations and through the export of weapons to an invading power.
We in Ung Vänster Greater Stockholm will continue to work in solidarity with the struggle of the Kurdish people, and we will continue to wave PKK flags as long as our government fails the Kurds. We are all PKK, and tomorrow it might be you they terrorize.
