Amed Dicle
“My name is Mohammed Hamid, I was burnt when Turkey attacked Serêkaniyê with phosphorus bombs in 2019. I am not Palestinian Mohammed, I am Mohammed from Serêkaniyê. It was not Israel that burned me, but Erdoğan’s army. I am now in the Washokani camp for the people of Serêkaniyê.”
Mohamed’s story is of course longer than what he tells. He was burned with phosphorus, which the Turkish army used in its attack on the northern Syrian towns of Tel Abyad and Serêkaniyê in 2019. The images of Mohammed being burned are horrifying. Unfortunately, no one paid attention, no one listened to the cries of Mohammed and the other children in his street. Because the agreements and alliances with the Erdoğan regime demanded it. The men of ISIS that the world complains about changed their names and clothes and destroyed these Kurdish and Arab towns with Erdoğan’s army. And even now the camp (Washokani) set up for them near Hasakah is being bombed by the Turkish army. Mohammed’s story is one of thousands in Kurdish geography. It is a burning story in every sense of the word.
It’s not just the wounds on Mohammed’s body that are burning. It is the fact that humanity is turning a blind eye. What’s more, Erdoğan, the head of state who did this, pretends to be “interested” in the human tragedy in Gaza today. The one who burns a child pretends to feel sorry for another child. And the world does not see this hypocrisy.
Political interests shaping Western democratic values
Mazlum Abdi, general commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, stressed that the Turkish government is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the region.
Turkish occupation targeted Internal Security academy in Derik. As a result, 29 heroes of anti-narcotic forces martyred.
It is a brutal crime and blatant violation of human rights that cannot be disregarded.
Internal Security Forces is a civil institution supported by Global…— Mazloum Abdî مظلوم عبدي (@MazloumAbdi) October 9, 2023
And in fact, in a message to congress on 13 October, United States President Joe Biden stated that the Turkish government’s attacks in northern Syria were hampering the fight against ISIS and endangering civilians. It is an important development that President Biden said this, although the situation is worse than he described.
The Kurdish view is that Biden’s statement was in response to Erdoğan’s criticism of the US over the Gaza issue. They are not wrong. Kurdish or other people’s lives should not be the subject of political negotiations or mutual rests. Unfortunately, the Kurdish people are used to this. They are used to it, but they do not accept it. The US government is aware of all the war crimes committed by the Turkish government in northern Syria. If it is not, then it means that it is a weak government. But if it knows this and ignores it, or talks about it only when it suits it, then it means that US and Western democratic values are being shaped by political interests.
A cloak for Erdoğan’s war on Kurds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaIVke33cAo
Erdoğan sees and knows this double standard and does not hesitate to do the same. Of course, Erdoğan does not care about Palestine and the innocent people dying in Israel. Yes, of course Erdoğan is in agreement with Hamas. They have the same ideological motives. If it is necessary to prefer one of them, Erdoğan will surely prefer Hamas, which is the case. The main reason for Erdoğan’s “interest” in the situation in Gaza is to consolidate his power in the region and to cover up his war against the Kurds. On the one hand, he kills women and children and on the other hand, he pretends to be against the killing of women and children. While he talks about civilian lives in his speeches, behind the curtain he is carrying gunpowder to the front.
The same Erdoğan wants Hamas to appear strong. He also demands that Israel and the US, through Erdoğan, keep Hamas in check. In this way, he wants to strengthen his hand against Hamas, Israel and the US. This is a third-rate tactic. It is a political manoeuvre incompatible with the reality of the region, but it appeals to Erdoğan’s commercial acumen. And we can already see that it is not working.
The Kurdish people believe that Erdoğan is using the Palestinian issue as a camouflage for the war he is waging against the Kurds. What hurts the Kurds is the world’s failure to see that.
Denouncing immoral wars
On the one hand, the Kurds resist these brutal attacks, this indifference which goes to the limits of humaneness; on the other hand, they are not indifferent to the tragedy on the Palestinian-Israeli line, they are very worried about it.
In fact, the Kurdish women’s movement gave the message that “No side in an immoral war can claim legitimacy” in a statement immediately after the 7 October attack, referring to a woman who was murdered by Hamas and whose body was exposed. The following remarks in the same statement are quite striking:
“Today, the practice of massacres, which have been exposed without exception of women and children, has revealed that even if wars last for a long time and there are no equal conditions, the main principle that preserves the state of ‘rightness’ is ‘morality’. The main determinant of wars and the ultimate winner is morality itself. In this sense, today this form of war, which has lost the talisman of morality from the just cause of a nation, is essentially fuelled by sexist, nationalist, religious, sectarian masculine mentality and shows the practice of genocide through women and children. The prevalence of sectarianism in today’s Middle East has turned into misogyny, muddying the waters of justice and peoples’ struggles in the whirlpool of deceit of the times and buttering the bread of capitalist hegemony. We do not accept the wars that the hegemons are imposing deliberately, willingly and by design. We are not in favour of a war that has no regard for the defence of women, children and the elderly. We appeal to the rulers; we call for the correct practice of just causes contaminated by religionists and sectarians”.
Advocating for a Democratic Nation Model
The Kurds define the two most important problems in the Middle East as the Palestinian-Israeli dilemma and the Kurdish problem.
Kurds recognise the Palestinian and Jewish peoples as realities in the region. Accepting one is seen as rejecting the other, as the basis of the problems.
The political structure representing the Kurds rejects all forms of nationalism, religionism, sectarianism and sexism. It wants every people, every faith and every identity to live freely and equally with their own colours and identities. Kurds want this for themselves and for the other peoples of the region.
As a matter of fact, they are currently trying to realise this model in the north of Syria. And this is one of the reasons why the model is being attacked by the Erdoğan regime. Kurds call this model the “Democratic Nation Model“. The ideological founder of this model is Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held in solitary confinement in İmralı prison for 25 years.
The Democratic Nation Model is an alternative framework for social organisation that challenges the conventional nation-state model. It rejects the idea of rigid political boundaries, a single language, a single culture, a single religion and a single interpretation of history as defining characteristics. Instead, it promotes a more inclusive and democratic society by emphasising diversity, multiple communities and the co-existence of free and equal citizens in solidarity.
With Öcalan’s own words, the idea of a democratic nation “embraces a model based on democracy instead of a model based on state structures and ethnic origins. Turkey needs to define itself as a country which includes all ethnic groups. This would be a model based on human rights instead of religion or race. Our idea of a democratic nation embraces all ethnic groups and cultures.” [Abdullah Öcalan, War and peace in Kurdistan, 2008]
The path forward for Israel and Palestine
With regard to the Israeli-Palestinian issue, Öcalan stresses that both peoples are the ancient peoples of the region and that they should make a joint decision for coexistence. It has to be said that this is the only solution, although it is a remote possibility under the current circumstances.
These days, Kurds go to bed and wake up to the sound of bombs in the streets where they are living. But they also hear the sound of bombs and people screaming in the streets of Israel and Palestine. And their demand is to have the world’s ear.
Amed Dicle was born and raised in Diyarbakır (Amed), Turkey. He has worked for Kurdish-language media outlets in Europe including Roj TV, Sterk TV and ANF. His career has taken him to Rojava, Syria, Iraq and many countries across Europe. Follow him on Twitter.
