Mustafa Karasu, member of the KCK Executive Council spoke about the first anniversary of the ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’ uprisings in East Kurdistan and Iran, as well as the isolation of Öcalan.

It is the first anniversary of the ‘Jin Jiyan Azadî’ Serhildan that started in East Kurdistan and Iran and spread all over the world. These Serhildans had a great impact. How do you evaluate this Serhildan?

First and foremost, I can say that the most valuable struggle in the world and in the history of humanity is the struggle of women. It is a very valuable and meaningful struggle. On this occasion, I would like to respectfully commemorate both Jîna Amînî and all women martyrs with gratitude. With the murder of Jîna Amînî, women rose up. Because women want freedom. That this occurred in Iran is actually related to the history of the country. The uprising of Kurdish women today is also related to Kurdish history. Kurdistan is the territory of a neolithic society and Iran is also part of it. Kurdistan and Iran are the territory where women have played an important role in human history. In this respect, women in Iranian society have always been more inclined to freedom than women in other parts of the Middle East. It has a history open to free life.

Kurdish and Iranian peoples have such a characteristic. This is actually a very valuable feature of Iranian history and society. Those who are involved in politics in Iran, those who deal with sociology, those who are part of the reality of Iranian society, those who are connected to Iranian history, should respect and value this women’s uprising. To oppose the women’s uprising is to oppose Iranian history, to oppose Iranian reality, to fight against its own reality. The Islamic Republic of Iran is actually fighting with its own reality. A negative approach against the women’s liberation system should be considered as a negative approach against its own history.

The women’s revolts in Kurdistan and Iran are based on socialism. It is not an understanding of freedom based on individualism, based on the petite bourgeois, like in Europe. The women’s liberation line is a line of freedom that is based on society, that defends society, that embraces not individualism, not materialism, not the values created by capitalist modernity, but the socialist values that capitalist modernity has destroyed. It is also meaningful in this respect. It is the beautiful, bright face of the Middle East. Therefore, all the peoples of the Middle East should be honored. The peoples of Iran should also be honored. The Iranian regime should approach the women’s issue differently. No one can prevent women rising up in Iran by suppressing them. Iran will change, it has to change. With the women’s liberation line, it has become inevitable for Iran to change. It is a mistake for the Iranian state to attribute this uprising to the influence of foreign powers. It is necessary to produce the right policies and solutions by addressing the situation of women with the right approach.

The isolation of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan continues. The campaign called ‘Time to end isolation, fascism and occupation, time to ensure freedom’ with the aim of breaking the isolation and ensuring Abdullah Öcalan’s physical freedom, has completed its 3rd year. What would you like to say about the progress of this campaign?

Before evaluating the issue, I would like to express my condolences to the people of Morocco and Libya for the thousands of people who lost their lives due to the earthquake in Morocco and the floods in Libya.

I would also like to respectfully remember and thank Beytocan who has made big efforts for the survival of the Kurdish people’s culture and in the struggle against colonialism. He will not be forgotten by the people of Kurdistan. His place in Kurdish culture and art will always be remembered. People in the field of culture and art are really valuable to Kurds. In this respect, the Kurdish people should value their artists, support them and provide opportunities for the development of art. For a people and a nation that has been subjected to genocide, culture and art are the most important activities. In this respect, cultural and artistic work expresses a great struggle against genocide.

Our people are struggling against the captivity and isolation of Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan], and are trying to ensure his physical freedom. It is necessary to see that the Turkish state follows a genocidal and colonialist policy. In this respect, also the policies against Rêber Apo are genocide policies. I want to emphasize, that it would be a mistake to compare our struggle against this state or the state’s policy against the Kurdish people to the national liberation struggle anywhere else in the world.

Our people are waging a struggle for freedom against this state. Ensuring the physical freedom of Rêber Apo is the most important part of this intertwined struggle. The Kurdish people and their internationalist friends seem to grasp this reality better every day. While struggling for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo, there is also a development of consciousness. The struggle for freedom on the right basis is developing more and more every day. Not only the Kurdish people, but also the peoples of the world, the democratic forces, socialists and revolutionaries realize what the physical freedom of Rêber Apo means for humanity. They are also making great efforts and labor, which we see as very valuable.

Recently there were several concerts in Italy, in which we saw how Rêber Apo has affected the peoples. Because all humanity wants to get rid of capitalist modernity and Rêber Apo shows a possible way for this. First and foremost, he shows the way to get rid of the capitalist system on the basis of women’s freedom. This, of course, opens a new era in the struggle against capitalist modernity led by women, youth and ecologists, and reveals new horizons. It will develop further, as no one can isolate the thoughts and ideas of Rêber Apo. They are trying to minimize his impact on the Kurdish people and humanity through imprisonment, but this is futile. Rêber Apo’s thoughts have already spread all over the world.

In this respect, Rêber Apo’s struggle for freedom is getting stronger. As a matter of fact, in a recent big meeting of world trade unions, they called for the freedom of Rêber Apo. They said they would make efforts to ensure his physical freedom. These are very valuable statements that we pay respect to. Everyone now realizes that the Kurdish people are of great value to humanity. It will become difficult to keep Rêber Apo in captivity and isolation for a long time. The democratic forces, the peoples of the world and the Kurdish people together will definitely ensure the freedom of Rêber Apo.

Another historic action against the system of torture imposed on the prison island of Imrali took place in Mersin last year. How should the action organized by Sara Tolhildan (Dilara Ürper) and Rûken Zelal (Emel Feremez Hisên) be understood?

First, I would like to commemorate comrades Sara and Rûken with gratitude. Actions like theirs have great meaning. There were police officers killed in the action, but it is insufficient to see the action only in this aspect. There, in the person of Sara and Rûken, Kurdish women showed what the reality of Kurdish society is, what kind of a struggle they are taking part in against genocidal colonialism, how insistent they are on freedom, and how they will sacrifice everything for the sake of a free life. This is the stance of the Kurdish people and the guerrillas personified in Rûken and Sara. Of course, their stance is not an individual one, it is part of the guerrilla fighting in [the south Kurdish regions] Zap, Metîna and Avaşîn today. The same spirit of sacrifice is fighting against colonialism in the Medya Defende Zones [areas controlled by the guerrilla forces].

In the Medya Defense Zones, we also see how the self-sacrificing fighters fearlessly go against the enemy, but the action of comrade Sara and Rûken was different, as it was in an area completely dominated by the enemy. It has great value that they did this action without fear and sacrificed their lives. This is very meaningful and valuable. All Kurdish women and youths should look at this militant stance, this militant spirit. Everyone should reflect on themselves by fighting against the colonialist state. Also, how the colonialists can be defeated should be seen in the person of these martyred friends.