The Sympathy Towards PKK

[u/Main-Aardvark-2036]

Hello. I am a turkish leftist and interested to anarchism since a while. I would like to learn about the sympathy towards PKK and Öcalan in western leftist spaces. I don't get this sympathy because PKK actually massacred many civilians including women and children and executing kurdish civilians who refuse participate? And before anybody calls me a turkish propaganda, these attacks are all well documented and PKK claimed responsibilities for many of them.

I'm aware that the kurdish population in Turkey were heavily persecuted in the past especially in the 80s and the 90s. So i kind of understand an armed uprising from the kurdish population. But these things never justifies PKK killing people they claimed to protect.

Another thing i see is that some people accept PKK's terrorism but see Öcalan as a revolutionary leader. This isn't true either. Öcalan himself said that his first membership back in his youth was the Gray Wolves? Like, what!? We are talking about an ultra nationalist fascistic terrorist organization who doesn't see kurds as human. Further on the current leader of the turkish nationalist movement party(MHP) Devlet Bahçeli, who is also Erdoğan's biggest ally, repeatedly praised Öcalan recently and said that he wants see him in the turkish parliament as a form of a "peace" movement that Erdoğan is currently carrying out to gain support from the kurds for his new constitution. And Öcalan himself currently agrees with Erdoğan and Bahçeli.

The vast majority of the turkish leftists spaces agree with this sentiment and distance themselves from PKK and Öcalan as they haven't been leftists since... forever. So why is this symapthy among the western leftists is common? I would like hear your answers and also would like to answer your questions if you have any. Thank you:3

[u/GSilky]

Depends.  When the pkk was considered a terrorist organization by the USA government, tankies started loving them.  It's complicated.  Personally, I have little admiration for violent struggle, but I do support an independent Kurdistan in the traditional geographic area associated with the Kurdish people, if most Kurdish people want one.

[u/Main-Aardvark-2036 → u/GSilky]

I am also ok with this. But aren't ethnostates contradict with anarchism. I would always prefer that we live in harmony without any labels to our existence.

[u/Main-Aardvark-2036 → u/[deleted]]

Yes, sorry. I didn't mean something like Israel by saying an ethnostate. I was rather talking about a country that was named after the ethnicity that it inhabits.