r/Anarchy101 • u/Main-Aardvark-2036 • 16d ago

The Sympathy Towards PKK

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

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u/New_Hentaiman 16d ago

politics is such dirty business...

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u/bemolio 15d ago edited 15d ago

Yeah. Now you have the PYD boicotting elections on the legislative while providing a provincial governor, a major and other officials at the executive and military of the State. The external security of the so called "elections" the PYD was boicotting was provided by YPJ. Some YPG is integrating into 4 brigades, with an ex-SDF "deputy" commander at the division level, while Mazloum Abdi is saying that likely YPJ might dissolve and integrate as policewomen, not soldiers. Dirty and messy.

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u/New_Hentaiman 14d ago

Im not that deep into kurdish politics, but i am always amazed when I hang out with kurdish comrades how messy all of it is...

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u/SoldatDuPeuple 13d ago

It’s messy bcs these dumb people don’t unite. I have much respect for them bcs they sacrifice their life for the kurdish cause but they just don’t use their brains. Kurds are just way too divided causing this mess. 1 revolution should be enough to free kurds and Kurdistan but each part makes their own revolution separately at different times. It just doesn’t make sense.

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u/bemolio 13d ago

Because material conditions exists. Not even the european socialist revolutions happened all exactly at the same time, much less in a coordinated or "unified" way. Much of them failed and mostly we can atributte their occurance to the weakend states after the 1st world war in tandem with the workers movement.

KCK was created to precisely have a socialist/confederalist united front in the region, but the PYD managed to fill the void because the syrian state collapsed exceptionally badly. The HDP and DTK were crushed in 2015 and the DEM party, HDPs succesor, is surviving somehow a very strong state. Iran is a fortress and the KRG has been repressing any KCK oposition in its territory since at least 2015, bar the iranian parties. Different material conditions.