Fréderike Geerdink
Intense talks are ongoing between a Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party delegation and other political parties, about the visit DEM Party MPs paid to Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, late December. There is allegedly a peace process in the making. It’s all closely tied to developments in Syria, where the Kurdish-lead Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fights Turkish mercenaries of the Syrian National Army (SNA), which is best buddies with the de facto leader of Syria, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)’s Ahmed al-Sharaa [previously known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani]. Turkey wants all revolutionary Kurds bearing arms to lay them down. To follow events properly, here’s an essential dictionary:
Brotherhood
Meaning depends on who uses it. For nationalists, including Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his partner in crime Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, and also other mainstream politicians in Turkey, the brotherhood of Turks and Kurds has been celebrated ever since they can’t deny the existence of Kurds anymore. For them, it means Turks and Kurds share a common culture, religion, geography and history. Every Kurd who demands rights based on their ethnicity, breaks the brotherhood. Breaking the brotherhood is denying the unity of the state, which equals separatism, which equals terrorism. Which is why many politically active Kurds are being prosecuted for terrorism.
The Kurdish movement uses the word too though. Öcalan used it as well in the statement he issued via the DEM Party delegation, as he did in his lengthy speech at the start of the peace process in 2013. For Kurds, it means not being the same, but being equal in a shared land. Kurds enjoying all their cultural and political rights, is paramount to real brotherhood.
Call
Means many things, but the media always go berserk when Öcalan is expected to make one. Speculations will include that he will make a call for PKK’s withdrawal from the mountains, for disarmament (see Disarmament), for the end of the PKK as such, or for the demand to the SDF to integrate into a new Syrian army. But no such call will be made unless conditions are met. The exact conditions must include democracy and must be part of genuine negotiations.
Disarmament
The state wants PKK guerrillas to lay down their weapons, and the SDF – with the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) – to hand them over to Al-Sharaa, but it remains to be seen what those groups themselves, adhering to Öcalan’s ideology, mean with the term. After all, the concept of self-defence is central to the ideology, and for that, arms are (sometimes) needed. Transforming the guerrilla forces into a formal armed group defending Bakur (Kurdistan in Turkey) or to integrate the SDF into the Syrian army, could be an option at negotiating tables.
Freedom
Öcalan is already free, PKK co-leader Cemil Bayık said in the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) publication, prepared before Pervin Buldan and Sırrı Süreyya Önder visited Imralı, meaning his thoughts are free, and him having been in isolation for years has in essence meant that Kurds were isolated because they couldn’t have access to him.
In line with that assessment, his physical freedom is directly connected to Kurdish freedom. MHP leader Bahçeli has said that if Öcalan meets his demands (which is absurd to begin with because really, that’s not how it works), he may be placed under house arrest. But for the Kurdish movement, this is not key to a solution. Does Bahçeli really think that Öcalan would do concessions just to get out of Imralı prison? If that was what Öcalan was made of, he would have been free long ago.
Hope
There has been talk about the ‘right to hope’ and how it could lead to the release of thousands of Kurdish political prisoners. The ‘right to hope’ is a legal concept, tied to the right of prisoners serving a life-long prison sentence in Council of Europe countries, of which Turkey is one. Locking people up without any prospect of freedom, is considered an inhumane treatment and is therefore forbidden. After 25 years, a life long prison sentence must be re-evaluated. Öcalan has been in jail since 1999, so this is applicable to him now.
For other Kurdish political prisoners, it’s not applicable because they are sentenced to temporary prison time in the first place. This of course doesn’t mean that they couldn’t get amnesty. But the state just giving amnesty to Kurds who are sentenced on made-up terrorism charges? True, Turkey doesn’t always adhere to the European Charter of Human Rights, but it never expands rights of course.
For Kurds, hope is in the struggle.
Kurds
Kurds are people who consider themselves to be Kurds, a wise academic once told me. For Turkey, I refer to the entry Brotherhood above here, for Syria it’s another story. In the new political dynamic since the fall of Assad last month [December], assorted international actors are calling for the rights of Kurds (and other groups) to be respected. Great, but we must be very wary about how Turkey will use this against the democratic gains made in northeast Syria.
The Astana talks about a solution for the Syrian war are a good indication. They started in 2017 between Russia, Turkey, Iran and several Syrian opposition groups, a role being played by the United States and Jordan as well. Were the Kurds at the table? Well, representatives of Kurdish National Council (ENKS) were, a Syrian-Kurdish group supported by Turkey to weaken the revolutionary Kurds, who were much more relevant but explicitly excluded. It’s unclear if ENKS is involved in any talks now, but it’s possible that Erdoğan will push them forward as the Kurdish component in a new Syrian government. That wouldn’t be good news for real representation, democracy and equality.
Peace
When uttered by the Turkish state: absence of resistance. When used by the Kurdish movement: an ‘honourable peace’, meaning combined with justice and freedom. Keep in mind when the conversation is about a ‘peace process’: goals may differ.
Qandil
Written as Kandil in Turkish media because they can’t use the Q, it’s banned. Qandil (Qendîl) refers to the Qandil mountains, where the PKK has its headquarters. So Qandil means: PKK leadership in the mountains. Imralı is Imralı prison island, where Öcalan is locked up.
I predict a dirty game will be played by the state. Öcalan will likely make a call soon. But being a political thinker, he doesn’t speak in clear soundbites. The state will use that to manipulate his words, Justice and Development Party (AKP) Diyarbakır MP Omer Ensarioğlu explained in an interview. If Öcalan says, for example, that the time for armed struggle is over, the government will lie to the public and tell them he called for disarmament. Then Qandil will say, look, this is a call for negotiations, not for disarmament, so we won’t hand over our weapons now. The state will portray that as a rift between Qandil and Imralı – which it isn’t, but the public is uninformed so they’ll believe it.
Then the state will put DEM Party on the spot: who do you side with? DEM Party knows there is no rift between Qandil and Imralı, so what can they do? They will, I predict, be honest, and say, look, the esteemed Öcalan said the time for armed struggle is over so let us talk about democracy. Which the state will explain as siding with Qandil. Since Qandil is considered to be a ‘pawn of imperialism and Iran’, DEM Party will be labelled as such as well. Procedures to ban DEM Party will be opened.
I hope this dictionary serves you well while you follow the news in the coming weeks!
Fréderike Geerdink is an independent journalist. Follow her on Bluesky (or X) or subscribe to her acclaimed weekly newsletter Expert Kurdistan.
