The West’s distinction between the Kurdish movement in northeast Syria and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) needs to be broken, Italian cartoonist Zerocalcare told Medya Haber’s Erem Kansoy on Wednesday.
Participating as a speaker in a solidarity event in Milan, the world-renowned cartoonist known for his graphic novel ‘No sleep till Shengal’ revealed that he drew inspiration from the Kurdish movement and PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan’s ideas.
“After discovering and loving these ideas and this philosophy, I decided that I could make these ideas more known through my drawings and contribute to their spread. That’s when I started working in this way,” Zerocalcare remarked.
Highlighting the importance of international solidarity, Zerocalcare argued that the Western perception of the Kurdish movement fighting against ISIS in Syria versus their stance on the PKK was fundamentally flawed. He emphasised the need to convey to the West that the movement combating ISIS in Syria is a product of Öcalan’s ideas.
“If we can show that the Kurds in Rojava are actually influenced by Öcalan’s philosophy, which is what I am trying to do, then maybe we can create a bigger movement,” the cartoonist stated.
