2022, a year of struggle and strong resistance, set the ground for 2023, which will be a year of an even harsher, deeper, and multi-faceted struggle that might also bring important changes, said Duran Kalkan, one of the executive committee members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Friday.
“The start of 2023 is apparent from 2022,” Kalkan said, referring to a Turkish saying that has a similar meaning to the English idiom “April showers bring May flowers”, while answering the questions of the Fırat News Agency.
The situation in Syria and the wider Middle East as well as the war in Ukraine indicate a deep chaos and deadlock in the existing capitalist system, he said, when evaluating 2022, adding that the struggles of the democratic powers, especially the resistance of women and youth groups, will determine how things will evolve next year.
“2022 was a year of huge struggle, year of war, a year of resistance. It also created a serious accumulation in terms of women’s liberation, the resistance of the guerrilla, and the resistance of the people as it is the case in Iran,” Kalkan said, adding that the residue of 2022 will be transferred to 2023.
“Then 2023 will be a year of harsher struggle, a year of deeper and multi-faceted struggle, both the struggle will progress and the accumulation made in 2022 will try to stay as a power for durable solution,” Kalkan told ANF, adding that next year might witness a move from resistance to revolution.
“Important gains could come in terms of women’s revolution, the resistance of people in Iran, and, more importantly, the freedom struggle of the Kurdish people led by the guerrilla,” the commander, who is also among the founders of the PKK, said.
One should take into account two dimensions of 2023, according to Kalkan. The first dimension is the exacerbating struggle he had mentioned, and the second dimension is the durable outcomes it might generate. “In fact, one should not take lightly the results of the war in Ukraine. Some events can suddenly create fundamental changes nobody takes into account,” he said.
Another important change in 2023 will be the collapse of the Turkish government, led by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), according to the commander. The Turkish people will go to the polls in 2023 to elect their new president and lawmakers.
“The government in Turkey should be changed next year. We have entered such a process. How this change will happen? That is the question everybody is trying to answer and it is not easy to find one. Lots of powers are in a situation of contradiction and conflict,” Kalkan told ANF, adding that in 2023 those conflicts will get deeper, creating a Turkey that is open to all kinds of scenarios, including plots or civil, military or fascist coups.
The struggle in Turkey and Kurdistan will be decisive on how 2023 will progress, Kalkan continued, adding his wishes for a year during which the current fascist regime in Turkey will collapse and the Kurdish question will be solved on the basis of freedoms and democracy.
