Journalist and writer Veysi Sarısözen warned that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) plans to launch an ideological offensive in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority regions in a recent interview with Mezopotamya Agency released on Friday.
http://mezopotamyaajansi35.com/tum-haberler/content/view/210848
Collaborating with the Free Cause Party (HÜDA-PAR), the AKP will aim to dissolve the Kurdish freedom movement and promote a Barzanist tendency while continuing the de facto war, he argued, urging the Kurdish freedom movement, especially the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) or the Green Left, to strengthen and restructure based on Abdullah Öcalan’s paradigms to counteract these plans. He also discussed Turkey’s dual stance on NATO membership, the economic crisis, and negotiations over Kurdish gains and autonomy with Western states.
Insights for the new era
Following the successful resistance against the Islamic State offensive in Kobanê by the Kurdish forces in 2015, Turkey has gradually been pushed towards collapse, according to Sarısözen. He predicts that Turkey’s involvement in the “Third World War” (referring to Abdullah Öcalan’s view that it started with the US invasion of Iraq) will ultimately lead its “surrender to one of the two global powers that have yet to defeat each other, and it is currently leaning towards being influenced by Western global powers.” He connects the appointment of Mehmet Şimşek, a figure in the international financial oligarchy, as the Treasury and Finance Minister to this situation. Stoltenberg’s acceptance of the invitation suggests progress in persuading Erdoğan regarding Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership, and Turkey will pay the price for its war defeats.
The Kurds and Turkey’s economic crisis
Regarding Turkey’s economic crisis, Sarısözen argues that it is primarily caused by the war in Kurdistan, burdening the people. He suggests that Turkey’s negotiations with NATO aim to target the gains made by the Kurds, possibly bargaining over Kurdish autonomy in North Syria in talks with Western states. Sarısözen draws a parallel to the Treaty of Lausanne, stating, “While Western countries granted Turkey legitimacy as a state, they also used North Kurdistan as a bribe for assimilationist and genocidal attacks. I believe a similar situation may arise again.”
HÜDA-PAR’s role and the Kurdish freedom movement
Sarısözen highlights the government’s intention to use HÜDA-PAR for an ideological attack in Kurdistan, aiming to dismantle the Kurdish freedom movement and strengthen a Barzanist tendency. “Their objective is to resolve the Kurdish issue through these insidious plans. The logical response to this is to support the Kurdish freedom movement with full force, especially the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) or the Green Left. They should quickly disengage from the election process debates, restructure, and strengthen themselves. They need to expand their areas of alliance, eliminate all ideological ambiguities, and undergo a radical ideological restructuring based on Abdullah Öcalan’s paradigms. If this is achieved, the Barzanisation tendency will be prevented, and the plan to dismantle the Kurdish freedom movement will be thwarted,” Sarısözen says.
Third Path strategy and Öcalan’s paradigm
Sarısözen emphasises that aligning with Turkish politics without Öcalan’s paradigm and ignoring the Kurdish issue would have dangerous consequences. Turkishisation (Türkiyelileşme*) without Öcalan results in assimilation, while Kurdishisation without Öcalan diverts the freedom movement and leads to extinction along a Barzanist, pseudo-nationalist path. He urges the adoption of Öcalan’s principles to foster cooperation between Kurds and Turks on a democratic basis.
Restructuring and future preparations
Sarısözen encouraged the HDP and the Green Left Party to set aside election results and criticisms, and to focus on restructuring. He also highlighted the importance of making timely preparations for local elections.
* “Türkiyelileşme” refers to moving away from a single-issue focus, primarily the Kurdish issue in this case, and broadening its scope to encompass all democratic issues in Turkey.
