BEHDİNAN – KCK Executive Council Member Xebat Andok answered ANF’s questions about the Democratic Confederalism system.
What is Democratic Confederalism?
Democratic Confederalism is the system in which a democratic society becomes organized. In this respect, it is not a movement or a party, but a social system. It can be valid for Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria as well as for Kurdistan. If we generalize it further, it may also apply to the Middle East, Europe, America and Africa. KCK is Kurdistan Democratic Confederalism. The same is possible for Iran, Iraq, Syria or any other country. All peoples, ethnicities, cultural structures, religious beliefs, etc. in the Middle East. In short, if all of the society and peoples want to take such a system as a basis, then it is possible to establish such a confederalism throughout the Middle East with the Middle East Democratic Peoples Confederalism or another name. It is possible to set up something similar in America, Europe, Africa or another continent. If it is established all over the world, it will be the World Democratic Peoples Confederalism. It is a system in which all segments of society, from local to universal, small to large, organize themselves and carry out their self-management.
Although Democratic Confederalism is defined in this way, what is its content?
Since it is an alternative system to the existing nation-state and the ruling statist system in general, it is based on and defends that the people and the society should be fully organized. If we pay attention, it consists of two basic words. One is democracy/democracy and the other is confederalism. Confederalism is a very flexible relationship system based on volunteerism. There is no written constitution in it. There is no obligation in it. Togetherness is on a voluntary basis, so is separation.
Who is coming together on the basis of this flexibility and voluntariness?
Demos, that is, the people. The society includes all ethnic groups, religious beliefs, cultural structures, men and women, any organization that has come together to solve any problem of the society, etc. it could be. In short, all segments of the society, on this basis, Demos, that is, the people govern themselves. It manages itself. Foreigners are not ruled by sovereigns. There will be a system in which all social segments come together in the context of confederal relations on the basis of self-management. Two fundamentals emerge here;
- All segments of society should be organized once.
- This organized society should be in a relationship with each other.
Confederalism is the form of relationship. There is no relationship based on oppression, coercion or ideological hegemony. A union founded on an equal and free basis. This becomes its confederal dimension.
Another must be an organized community. All segments of society can be these smallest units, and all identities and ethnicities can be all affiliations as we have stated. They organize themselves autonomously on the basis of the understanding of local democracy and come together on the basis of a confederal relationship in order to establish a stronger unity in these organizations. Therefore, Democratic Confederalism is a system in which all social segments in Kurdistan, the region and the world organize themselves and at the same time organize themselves as a society outside the state, in relation to each other. It is a local as well as a universal system of social organization. For Kurdistan as well as for the region as well as for the whole world, all the peoples of the world,
How does this democratic form of organization and organized democratic society take place?
It is not an organizational system based on a centrally administered parliamentary system. It differs from all forms of government that exist from head to toe. It starts from the smallest unit, for example a village, from the street, street organizations, village organizations, factory organization, house organization, in short, all the associations in which people have been together, base itself on the organization.
FROM THE COMMUNITY TO THE CONGRESS OF THE PEOPLE
The smallest organizational unit is the commune. Commune also means living in a commune with all the dimensions of that place, on the other hand, it is the smallest unit of direct democracy in which people directly govern themselves. The commune is the smallest assembly. Therefore, in the KCK Convention or the existing theory of Democratic Confederalism, the commune corresponds to the village councils in street and village organization. Let’s say many villages come together on one of them, a town council for example is formed above them. Since they, the whole society, must be together at the same time, because all problems are common and it is necessary to find common solutions to all problems, at that point, for example, district organization through village and town organizations, provincial organization over this, regional organization through provincial organization. Over this, for example, the people’s assembly of a country. For example, internationally. Therefore, there are assemblies in the regional context. If it is for a people, it becomes the people’s congress, which is the decision-making body on behalf of that people at the highest level. The gathering of different peoples is the people’s congress. In the most general sense, let’s say if it is valid for the world, this is the congress of all peoples of the world.
IT IS THE SYSTEM OF DIRECT AND RADICAL DEMOCRACY
In short, it is a system of assemblies. It’s not an assembly. For example, there is only one parliament in Turkey. Everything is assignment. It is completely different from that. For example, in terms of Turkey or in terms of Northern Kurdistan, it is a parliament, not a 2-3-5 parliament. Again in Germany, for example, there is federalism, there is more than one parliament. America etc. not so. It is a system in which thousands, maybe tens of thousands of communes and assemblies are involved, where they all discuss all their problems in their own living space, try to find solutions, but at the same time, they are all interconnected. Therefore, to put it in another way, Democratic Confederalism is also a system of assemblies. It is the system of direct democracy. It is a system in which no one rules anyone. It is a system where everyone manages themselves and each other. It is not a system in which someone is in charge and someone is managed, someone is in charge and someone is managed. It is a system in which everyone contemplates the problems of the society in accordance with the definition of a political and moral person, seeks and finds solutions, speaks, discusses, takes decisions in this respect, and has commissioned someone to implement the decisions they have taken. It is a system in which all the authority and power are in the people. It is a system of direct democracy. It can also be defined as a radical democracy because it is non-state. It is a system in which it takes decisions and has commissioned it so that someone can implement the decisions it has taken. It is a system in which all the authority and power are in the people. It is a system of direct democracy. It can also be defined as a radical democracy because it is non-state. It is a system in which it takes decisions and has commissioned it so that someone can implement the decisions it has taken. It is a system in which all the authority and power are in the people. It is a system of direct democracy. It can also be defined as a radical democracy because it is non-state.
EQUALITY AND FREEDOM OF DIFFERENCES IS UNITY
It can also be defined as communal democracy because it has a communal mentality and life. The perception of democracy here is not just in the form of raising one’s hand or speaking a word while making any decision. His soul and life are also different. His life is based on free, equal relations. Again, if a person wants to express it in a sentence, it is a system in which differences are equally united. There is a unity. Because society should be together. Unity of who and what, unity of differences. All differences retain their differences. As in nation-state structures, no one is more important or unimportant than the other. One is the object and the other is not the subject. Someone ruled, someone is not ruled. Here, everyone maintains their existence with their own difference and their own uniqueness. On the other hand, the form of relationship is also equal. No one has any superiority over another. It can also be defined as the equal unity of differences.
Why Democratic Confederalism?
It was Leader Apo who formulated Democratic Confederalism in this way. He is a people’s leader. He is a person who has fought and continues to struggle to solve the existence and freedom problems of the Kurdish people. We are the people who believe in this project and believe that the existence and freedom problems of the Kurds can be solved in this way, we are waging a struggle. We know; Throughout history, there are people like us who have been fighting for equality, freedom, democracy and existence. This struggle has always been there. This struggle is being waged in every aspect. According to our reading of history, if we include the hierarchical stage, the next stage after the neolithic is the hierarchical stage, and there is a period of approximately 7 thousand years from the emergence of the state in the known sense to today. The first one or two thousand years of this has been the incubation period of the social process problems that people are currently dealing with, the main reason. It is a period in which the state has not yet been formed, but the male-dominated mentality and ideology are increasingly woven, in which powerism and individualism are gradually developing. In any case, the period that will give birth to the next state and classification is also that period, but there is no slavery in the known sense yet. After a while after that mentality, the state emerged about 5,500 years ago.
THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEMS IS THE STATE SYSTEM
In Uruk, the state emerged on the territory of today’s Iraq. We want to say: This system is the source of all the social problems that people are currently dealing with and cannot adequately solve due to their mentality. For example, powerism, nationalism, oppressor oppressed, class contradictions etc. If we pay attention, today’s problems are huge and the current mindset cannot solve these problems. From the day these social problems emerged, we have been doing a history reading. We say that there were problems and they were removed by the sovereigns. Their spirit is not communal. They want to dominate. They want to make it their own. They are realities that have been detached from the communal essence of society and being human. They are individualists, they always want to rule and dominate. Human nature, on the other hand, reacts against it because it is libertarian and egalitarian. Those who have ceased to be human have always been a struggle for equality and freedom, from the time they tried to practice this type of tendency. The history of sovereignty is also the date of the freedom struggle against them. Before, people lived freely under natural social conditions, but after they gave up freedom, they fought and resisted against those who made them live.
WE ARE THE CONTINUATION OF THAT FIGHT
This struggle for equality, freedom and democracy has been going on ever since. Now we are its continuation. In this respect, we will neither be the first nor the last. As long as there are formulations based on sovereignty, domination, sexism, subject-object mentality that divides society, there will be a struggle for freedom against them. On this basis, we are doing a history reading. We say; So many struggles for equality and freedom have been waged since then, but at the current stage, the world is still unequal, there are still problems of justice and democracy. There are still problems of existence and freedom. For example, which experienced this the deepest; Kurds, women, youth are all oppressed. In fact, such a world that many peoples perished. He had to migrate. Therefore, there is such a reality, but on the other hand, there was also a struggle. No one can speak of the low cost of the oppressed as the reason for their failure. Millions of people die in just one war. Kurds have been subjected to genocide for a hundred years. If we add up in this hundred years of genocide, tens of millions of Kurdish people have been destroyed. Armenians were destroyed. But the struggle for existence was waged. So the problem is not a matter of little struggle. It’s a matter of how you fight. When we look at this point, now the sovereigns have made themselves very organized in the form of a state; They do not allow the emergence of different mentalities and thoughts, as they monopolize and hegemony in all areas of life, ideologically, politically and militarily. Even when you are fighting against the system, you seem to be fighting the argument of the system. From his perspective, You look at things with his mentality. You want to achieve your goals with his tools, but this is not possible.
INTENDED THE STATE THAT BELONGS TO THE Dominant
The oppressed want equality, justice, freedom and a humane life all over the world and in all histories. No sovereign wants this, because it is the sovereigns who bring up such problems. Both think differently. Because they think differently, their dreams, social projects and utopias are different. They also produce vehicles accordingly. This individualistic, selfish, self-dominating spirit and thought of the sovereigns gave birth to the state. The state is the most organized institution of all ruling classes, all classes that want to be monopoly and dominate. There may be exceptions throughout history, but in general, almost everyone who has been fighting for equality, freedom, democracy, humane life and justice has similarly aimed at the state belonging to the sovereigns. Ethnicity, in the tradition of the prophets, 20th century. We saw this clearly in the national liberation struggle of the 20th century. We have seen this in all three versions of Marxism, which tries to establish the world of the oppressed as a class exit. You see, he is the oppressed, normally he wants justice, equality, democracy, but his tool is a tool that is not at all suitable for himself, his spirit, thoughts and demands. A vehicle owned by someone else. A tool that has emerged from the individualistic, selfish, domination of another; state. The state is something that normally belongs to the sovereigns. It doesn’t have to be yours. Since you can’t think of anything different, because there is ideological hegemony, mentalities are almost seized, the opportunity to think differently is taken from you, you look at it as an opinion, even though you have a different spirit, so you think like a sovereign. You see, he is the oppressed, normally he wants justice, equality, democracy, but his tool is a tool that is not at all suitable for himself, his spirit, thoughts and demands. A vehicle owned by someone else. A tool that has emerged from the individualistic, selfish, domination of another; state. The state is something that normally belongs to the sovereigns. It doesn’t have to be yours. Since you can’t think of anything different, because there is ideological hegemony, mentalities are almost seized, the opportunity to think differently is taken from you, you look at it as an opinion, even though you have a different spirit, so you think like a sovereign. You see, he is the oppressed, normally he wants justice, equality, democracy, but his tool is a tool that is not at all suitable for himself, his spirit, thoughts and demands. A vehicle owned by someone else. A tool that has emerged from the individualistic, selfish, domination of another; state. The state is something that normally belongs to the sovereigns. It doesn’t have to be yours. Since you can’t think of anything different, because there is ideological hegemony, mentalities are almost seized, the opportunity to think differently is taken from you, you look at it as an opinion, even though you have a different spirit, so you think like a sovereign. It doesn’t have to be yours. Since you can’t think of anything different, because there is ideological hegemony, mentalities are almost seized, the opportunity to think differently is taken from you, you look at it as an opinion, even though you have a different spirit, so you think like a sovereign. It doesn’t have to be yours. Since you can’t think of anything different, because there is ideological hegemony, mentalities are almost seized, the opportunity to think differently is taken from you, you look at it as an opinion, even though you have a different spirit, so you think like a sovereign.
EQUALITY CAN BE FOUND FROM ANY STATE
The tool you use to solve your problems is not a tool that belongs to you, but a tool that belongs to someone else. You think it’s yours. When looked at in this context, our Leader said, “Liberty requires clean vehicles as well as its aims”. The state is dirty, oppressive, rapist, cruel, monopoly. If we take it together with the government, it is one of the causes of all social problems. Therefore, equality does not come from any state. There are so many states in the world that call themselves democrats and libertarians. Which state has solved the problems of justice, freedom, equality and democracy within its borders? None of them have. It can’t be because his chemistry is broken. It is existentially, inevitably evil. It can’t be good in someone’s hands. History has shown us enough that even the best are not good in their hands.
THEY FAILED TO HAVE A VEHICLE SUITABLE FOR THE FIGHT AND THE PURPOSE
When we go from such a history reading, we see this; The oppressed, all social segments, those who fight for equality and freedom, all segments who want to live equally and freely have fought throughout history. It has not been able to find a vehicle, a form of social organization suitable for its own demands, dreams and utopias. Our claim is: Democratic Confederalism is a model that is suitable for the demands of all social segments and all the oppressed. It is non-state because it is the product of the oppressed, it conforms to their will. May the struggles of all the oppressed throughout history reach a goal. All the revolutions are made by the people, but there is always someone, because they cannot channel it outside the state. The perception that there can be no organization outside the state is so dominant that he desires the state. Therefore, without going into such a deviation, completely remove yourself from the mental codes of the sovereigns, and obtain a vehicle suitable for your egalitarian, libertarian spirit and demands. That tool becomes the Democratic Confederalism tool, its system. In this way, it is a self-sufficient system in which society is self-organized outside of states. This becomes a historical dimension.
IT IS A HISTORIC ACCOUNT
This framework put forward by Leader Apo, democratic communal values throughout history; Equality means that all the costs that have been incurred within the scope of the freedom struggle have somehow come to fruition. To the extent that this happens, the aims of the struggle for democratic communal values, equality and freedom throughout history are realized and systematized. It’s a historical showdown. It is the establishment of a system on behalf of the peoples against the 7,000-year-old hierarchical statist system, against the system of the sovereigns. It has such historical meaning.
WE BELIEVE THE SOLUTION IS OUTSIDE THE GOVERNMENT
We are Kurds. We have problems of existence and freedom. We are a people trying to be destroyed. The Kurds have been fighting against it for at least a century. It can even be taken back to the 19th century. The Kurds gave tens of thousands of martyrs in this struggle for existence and freedom. If they do not solve these problems of existence and freedom, they may be subjected to genocide. Whether or not I suffer a genocide depends entirely on how well the Kurds organize themselves. Otherwise, the hegemonic forces of colonialism and capitalist modernity have made a genocide decision about the Kurds. In fact, all practices are based on this in the present.
The PKK, as the leading force of a people who have a problem of existence and freedom, is also waging a struggle. There are tens of thousands of martyrs in this struggle. He has very strong values that come from the core of the society he has created. Just as it does not want its own struggle to go to waste, the PKK does not want its own struggle to go to waste, just like all social segments that fought before it. In the current situation, the PKK focuses on how to solve the Kurdish problem outside the state so that its 50-year struggle can get results. In this context, the formula he found is Democratic Confederalism. Based on the democratic autonomy system, it is a system of their own in which the Kurds maintain their existence in a democratically autonomous manner in the four parts of Kurdistan and have the freedom of expression and association. Where is the government taking you? We do not see this only in the example of the Kurds. We see this also in Real Socialism and Vietnam. We see it in everyone who has waged a national liberation struggle. We see it in everyone who has turned to power. Regardless of our potential to establish a state or not, whether there is such an opportunity or not, we act by believing that the solution to the problems, the solution of the Kurdish problem, is outside the state, not the state.
GET THE RESULT SUITABLE FOR THE FIGHT
So what do we replace? As we mentioned, it is based on the Democratic Confederal system based on democratic autonomy. This means that we do not melt into the system, so that rulers, landlords and oppressors do not emerge among the Kurds. The Kurds waged a struggle for equality and freedom, they demanded justice. They struggle so that their existence is acknowledged and they have the opportunity to live as Xwebûn. So in the end it should be appropriate. Otherwise, there is an example of Bashure Kurdistan. There, too, the Kurds have problems of existence. So much struggle was waged there, now everything is seen. A dynastic system has been established, it is called election but it is a fraud from head to toe that someone/a family has been put into all the values of Kurdistan; all Kurds to capitalist modernity, colonialism, genocidal, It is known that he tried to make it collaborative. With such a situation, so that such cancerous cells do not appear among the Kurds, so that the struggle of the Kurds will result in equality and freedom in accordance with its purpose. Let the relations be equal, free. Let’s move towards classlessness. No classification. Let there be justice. Let all people be active. Let all people rule each other. Let all people be accountable to each other. In order to reach a result like this, on this basis, Democratic Confederalism, that is, Democratic Autonomy, Democratic Confederal organizational system and social system is the solution option for us in terms of Kurds. be free. Let’s move towards classlessness. No classification. Let there be justice. Let all people be active. Let all people rule each other. Let all people be accountable to each other. In order to reach a result like this, on this basis, Democratic Confederalism, that is, Democratic Autonomy, Democratic Confederal organizational system and social system is the solution option for us in terms of Kurds. be free. Let’s move towards classlessness. No classification. Let there be justice. Let all people be active. Let all people rule each other. Let all people be accountable to each other. In order to reach a result like this, on this basis, Democratic Confederalism, that is, Democratic Autonomy, Democratic Confederal organizational system and social system is the solution option for us in terms of Kurds.
To be continued…
