Besê Hozat, co-chair of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council, spoke to Medya Haber TV about the ongoing process and the public announcement of the 12th Congress of the PKK.

In the second part of this interview, Hozat underlined the leading and central role of women. The first part of the interview can be read here.

In the course of the current process, the situation of the state opposition must also be assessed. They are currently facing serious attacks. How do you view the state opposition’s approach to the trial? What is the connection to the attacks on the opposition and democratic forces?

Regardless of the contras and war barons who have founded parties such as the Zafer Party or IYI Party and call themselves opposition but have nothing to do with opposition politics, we are mainly concerned with the CHP, which is approaching the process positively, supporting it, and has made several positive statements to this effect. The approach of the CHP to the process has not been too bad so far, but the question is if this really is enough. There are some in the state opposition who are uncomfortable. There are those who criticize the process. Some say that the Kurds and AKP have made a deal, that they will liquidate the Republic, that they will liquidate secularism. These evaluations are really irrational. One marvels at those who think like this. If their intentions are not evil, if they are not after different calculations, then they are really ignorant. Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan’s struggle, the initiative he has developed, and his ‘Call for Peace and Democratic Society’ all aim at the democratization of Turkey as a whole. It aims to build a Democratic Republic. It aims for Kurds and Turks to live together as brothers and sisters on an equal and free basis. It aims for a common life, a democratic coexistence of peoples. It is laying the groundwork, the cornerstones, for the CHP and the other opposition parties to freely oppose, struggle, and even make great achievements in this struggle for power. It creates the ground, atmosphere, and climate for this. In fact, this process makes the biggest contribution to those who struggle for freedom, democracy, justice, and law.

CHP’s program is expressing that they are also striving for this. It supports this process with its cornerstones. Now the CHP is trying to present itself as an apostle of democracy. It is pontificating. How is this relevant? Today, if the CHP can speak boldly, organize demonstrations, rallies, marches, and protests, this is the result of the indomitable resistance and struggle of the Kurds and the democratic forces against all kinds of fascist attacks. One must never forget this and give credit where credit is due. In that sense, of course, the opposition’s approach is not very negative, but it can be much more courageous. It can conduct more radical politics. It can put forward a strong program for the democratization of Turkey. It can put forward a stronger approach and take practical steps towards the democratic solution of the Kurdish question and the construction of a Democratic Republic. For example, it can take stronger practical steps for the organization and establishment of a commission in parliament. Yes, they support it in words; their approach to this issue is positive, but this has to turn into practical steps. Again, on the issue of the Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan, the CHP and the state opposition can take a more courageous approach to the complete elimination of isolation, the abolition of the Imrali torture and isolation system, and the provision of conditions for the Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan to work freely, to be able to move freely in the conduct of this process, and to be able to meet with all kinds of individuals and groups. They should accept Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan’s interlocutor status. Because this is the only way this process can develop. The Kurds have long decided on the Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan, as the chief negotiator. If the CHP does not accept Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan as an interlocutor, if it does not support him gaining free working and living conditions, and if it does not support him to carry out this process, how well will the CHP embrace this process, and how well will it participate? Its approach is incomplete. Statements and attitudes are positive but insufficient. The development of this process will benefit the CHP and the opposition the most. A democratized Turkey brings the democratic rule of law, the separation of powers, justice, freedom, and equality, which the CHP also expresses and defends a lot. If they sincerely and sincerely defend these values, this process will bring about all these results. Then the opposition needs to participate much more strongly. It needs to frustrate this plan, this policy that the government has developed on the opposition in this way. It needs to be extremely conscious, political, and broad-minded. It must not fall into the trap and play the games of the government. This is very important for the opposition.

Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan has initiated this whole process by his ‘Call for Peace and Democratic Society’. Within it, and also before and after, he always highlighted the cruciality of women participating in this process. How do you assess the participation and level of responsibility taken up by women within this process so far?

This process is a process of the women. The whole process towards ‘Peace and Democratic Society’ as a whole is a process in which women express themselves freely, live freely, and establish their own lives and systems. Democratic society is the expression of all the communal and social values created by women over thousands and tens of thousands of years. A democratic society is a women’s society. Women as a whole are at the center of this process. The woman is the subject of this process, the motor of this process. In the words of our leader, she is the pioneer of this process. That is why women embrace and have to embrace this process so strongly. They must lead it and mobilize for it wherever they are. This is crucial. There is a certain sensitivity on this issue. Especially among Kurdish women and Turkish women, but this still needs to be strengthened.

It is decisive to explain this process as a whole to women from Turkey, to explain it to the women’s movement in Turkey, to make them comprehend it, and to make them a part of this process. The Kurdish women’s movement must work more strongly on this issue. All over the world, in the region and the Middle East, the Kurdish freedom and Kurdish women’s movement must intensify and strengthen its work in this direction. It must pave the way for the participation of all women in the region and the world in this process. This can only be achieved through struggle, by conveying the process of ‘Peace and Democratic Society’ to all women in a strong, comprehensible, and understandable way. By organizing them and involving them in the process.

Otherwise, the current world is really a world of hell for women. War, violence, and chaos are everywhere. This male-dominated civilization, culture, and mentality have destroyed our planet. It has destroyed and desertified life. It has alienated women from themselves. It has alienated society from itself. The democratic society, on the other hand, means a reconstruction of free and democratic politics and struggle, of free life. In this regard, women, youth, workers, laborers, and all democratic forces are the most fundamental components of democratic society. They are its pioneers. This life is their life. It is the life of the peoples. It is the life of women and youth. And for this reason, they should embrace this process strongly, and everyone must mobilize for the success of this process. This cannot be done by waiting for the government or waiting for the state. They are after games. They are after a distraction. This process is too precious and valuable to be left to this government. If left to the government, this process will be wasted. The result will again be violence, war, chaos, blood, pain, and tears. In order to prevent this, society as a whole must embrace this process; all social dynamics must mobilize, work strongly, organize, and struggle everywhere and draw the government into the process. This is possible through organized struggle.

The war in the Medya Defense Zones is still continuing, and the way the statements of the Turkish state’s war ministry are being read, it seems like they intend to continue their attacks. The HPG is showing in their daily statements to what extent these attacks continue. Could you describe to us the latest situation on the ground?

The clashes continue in the areas of the Medya Defense Zones where the Turkish army is locked. And as you’ve mentioned, generally speaking, their attacks continue. This shows that there is a persistent state of war. As long as these attacks continue, of course, legitimate defense is being developed against this.

We have responded to this process with a unilateral ceasefire. The sensitivity to the political developments was expressed by this, and it will continue to be expressed. We leave it to public opinion to evaluate this insistence on war and constant attacks after the decision to dissolve the PKK was taken, after the decision to put an end to the armed struggle, and after a unilateral ceasefire was initiated. And everyone should evaluate this situation. Who wants what? Who wants war, and who wants peace? Who wants a democratic Turkey, and who wants a rent-seeking Turkey that feeds on war, chaos, and rent? It is in front of everyone’s eyes.

And I underline that as long as there are attacks, of course, legitimate defense is being developed against them. There are clashes. Maybe there is not such an intense attack and war like in the past. Maybe there is a decrease in the intensity in this regard. But war still continues. There are still daily clashes on the front lines. There are still constantly UCAVs hovering over all Medya Defense Zones. There are still UCAVs hovering over Qendîl, although not as frequently or intensely as before.

There is pressure and attacks on Kurdish politics at various levels. Part of this is the attacks by the Iraqi state on the Mexmûr refugee camp. Most recently, people from the people’s council were arrested, against which there is resistance from the camp’s residents. The German state has also imprisoned the former co-chair of KCDK-E, Yüksel Koç, for his political activities. What is the intention behind this pressure and these attacks?

There are various such approaches at the moment, and the attacks by the Iraqi state on the Mexmûr refugee camp are currently just one example. These targeted attacks on the camp began mainly in the wake of the al-Sudani – Erdoğan rapprochement. That is something that is remarkable. The Turkish state still insists on such attacks and war, and it is trying to involve every force in this. It is trying to bring every power to its policy. We have criticized the Iraqi state for giving in to this from the very beginning. It is not acting on the basis of its own interests, the interests of its people. It is acting on the basis of the interests of some circles in Turkey that feed on war. This is of no benefit to Iraq.

After there was the statement of the PKK, Iraq announced that it supports this process. Iraqi officials said that they attach great meaning and importance to Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan’s call and that they will make the necessary contribution to this process. If Iraq is going to contribute to this process, then it should not be a party to such games. The way to support this process is not to put pressure on Mexmûr or to arrest and detain members of the Mexmûr people’s council. On the contrary, the way to support this process is to put an end to all these pressures. It is not to be a tool for Turkey’s pressures, its dirty interests, and its policies. Because these dirty policies lead to sabotaging this process. Iraq must be part of the solution; it must be part of peace; it must be part of the process towards ‘Peace and Democratic Society’. In order to be part of it, it has to remove all these pressures and not be a tool for these things.

What do they have against Mexmûr? It is a refugee camp with a status under the responsibility of the UN. There is constant pressure on this camp. Turkey has bombed heavily in the past. Many civilians lost their lives. There were serious attacks by ISIS. In 2014, ISIS attacked, and Mexmûr was completely evacuated. It suffered serious losses. Today, there still is the danger of ISIS. Why is it being problematized that the residents of the camp are making preparations to defend themselves against possible renewed attacks by ISIS? Why are they using this as an excuse to take action against the camp and its residents? We strongly reject this; we do not find it right, and we criticize this policy of the Iraqi state and government seriously. This does not help the new process. It is damaging. If it really wants this process to develop from the Iraqi side, it should give up on this.

The same accounts for the German state. Germany has been a main power of NATO, and in this war against the Kurds, in the war waged by the Turkish state, Germany has been on Turkey’s side from the very beginning. It provided all kinds of support. Germany provided crucial support for the invaders when they attacked Rojava and North and East Syria. Germany’s tanks entered Afrin; Germany’s tanks entered Serêkaniyê. It provided all kinds of support. It is the same in North and South Kurdistan. Germany has been carrying out something extremely dirty and evil against the Kurds from the very beginning. Germany has to give up on this. Now, what does it mean to arrest Yüksel Koç, to arrest a person who has been the co-chair of a civil-democratic organization, who is engaged in a democratic struggle, who puts his life on the line for democratic rights, while such a process develops? What does it mean to arrest Kurdish patriots at this specific time? This reveals the approach of the German state to the process. Both Germany and Europe do not want this process to develop. They also feed on war. They make Turkey accept their policies by keeping Turkey in instability, by keeping it at war, and by weakening it. They sustain themselves by constantly getting concessions from Turkey. This needs to be struggled against.

Ahmed al-Sharaa visited Turkey and had a meeting with Erdoğan. What do you want to express in regard to this meeting?

There was a meeting between Trump and Prince Salman in Saudi Arabia. Erdoğan probably attended for the framework. Then al-Sharaa had a meeting with Macron. Now, immediately after the Saudi meeting, he went to Turkey. The US has made a decision. It lifted and eased the sanctions on Syria and Damascus for six months. There is an international policy to legitimize and strengthen the current Damascus government. This policy, and the policy of gradually bringing the Damascus government closer to Israel, normalizing relations with Israel, and shaping and designing a government in Damascus, a Syria under the guidance of Israel, is currently underway. The influence of Israel and Saudi Arabia is increasing in Syria. In this respect, a policy is being carried out. Turkey still wants to participate in this design. It is trying to maintain and increase its influence in Syria.

Let me make this clear: As long as Turkey continues its Kurdish-hostile policy, particularly in Syria, Turkey will have no place in Syria. If Turkey wants to be influential in Syria, if it wants to take a place, if it wants to be a part of this design, if it wants this influence to be permanent, it has to make peace with the Kurds. That is the way through. No matter how much it struggles, no matter how much it tries, no matter how much it meets with al-Sharaa, the result will not change. Syria will be under the hegemony and guidance of Israel.