My health is closely linked to our social reality.

Abdullah Ocalan, 07 January 2011

My health is closely linked to our social reality. Look at the state that Turkish society is in now! The situation of university youth, the way they have been depoliticised can be seen. The left is in shatters and can't come together. They used the MHP to finish off the left. As for the CHP nothing shall become of them. They still cannot even understand Mustafa Kemal. In Turkey the only oppositional dynamic left is the Kurds but they cannot do sufficiently and achieve what is needed and hence are not influential. This is really the root of what puts my health in difficulty. For the past 12 years I have made such analyses, I have been making proposals for a solution but we are unable to make a real breakthrough. Of course I also have physical problems, especially in relation to my breathing. It never seems to end. I am in some way able to handle it. But the real issue that puts me in difficulty is the fact that the deep social problems are not resolved and that the social reality is not understood.

I am trying to follow up the Hizbullah issue. How can this happen, how can they do this to Diyarbakır! How could the people from Diyarbakır permit this to happen? They set these killers, murderers, those who monstrously murder, free – they dug up people's bodies and some were found in bags – and there are celebrations held to that end! All this is taking place in Diyarbakır. Diyarbakır saw thousands of its children fall. They savagely butchered many of our youth there. I fail to understand, how this can be allowed to happen in Diyarbakır. You have 80% of the votes in Diyarbakır then how can this happen? The people of Diyarbak�r are patriotic and aware, but it must be that they are not getting organized, so there must be a problem in leading them!

It is not a coincidence that they were set free in such a manner, they may be preparing for something else.  They are not ordinary criminals. They cannot let these murderers go as if they are ordinary criminals. If there are such persons among our people who have committed savage acts they should not set them free either. The incident of Konca Kuri� are still fresh in our memories, everyone knows how they killed the woman. I think she was feminist minded as well. In fact they meant to kill all the women when they savagely killed Konca Kuri�.

I wrote often about the woman's issue, everyone is aware of how I approach the issue. I made a significant stress on this issue in my defences as well. The woman's issue is the source of all other issues. The resolution of woman's freedom in general would mean that a solution has been found for the freedom struggle in society in general. When I talk about woman I do not say this in a sexist way. I read the book of an American author, a female author, I agree with all the points she makes. She is quite objective. She makes a distinction between biological feminism and cultural feminism. And of course there is also the political dimension. It is really important that woman takes her place in the political struggle. This is where woman's struggle gains a lot more importance. A liberated woman, but not alone, should also involve man and they should fight against the male dominated mentality and power together. There is a need to end this rape culture which has continued for thousands of years. One should overcome the rape culture in order to be able to create the liberated woman. I don't want to be misunderstood. I am not against marriage but unequal marriages as well as those that are done under male dominated conditions only lead to the abuse of one another. Indeed femininity and masculinity of today are a given understanding. Woman is being exploited for thousands of years in accordance with this created identity. She is unable to get full reward for her labour. For example, this Hizbullah and similar religious outlooks are shutting off women and isolating them from society. Leave the headscarf issue aside for a while, they are shutting her off in a burka. They are covered from head to toe, one cannot even see their faces. This cannot be an understanding of freedom? Can putting the woman into such a condition be passed off as liberation? There is no such thing in real Islam, their mentality has nothing to do with Islam either.

The other day an interesting piece of news caught my attention. I think this happens in a village of Mardin. In this Mardin village men are flying in women from Morocco to be their brides and as a second wife. Some of these women apparently know a few languages, there are those who are teachers. They arrive to become a second wife to men who already have a wife and eleven or twelve children. An interesting situation, they were talking about around seventy to eighty marriages. Morocco is under the influence of the Arabs but there is also a Jewish domination there. And all this may be done according to a plan. They may be using women in this way. In this manner Zionism is trying something out in Mardin. Previously also in Urfa, if I am not wrong, the former mayor of Harran remarried although he had four other wives and his fifth was a woman from Ankara. Later this woman became an MP on the AKP list. This is another example of how woman is used. It is also said that Israelis have bought thousands of hectares of land in Urfa. If one remembers they had given Israeli firms the contract to clean minefields. They settled in Palestine in a similar manner and then established their own state. The Arab states kept silent. I would like to especially underline something so that I am not misunderstood; I am not anti-Semitic. The Jewish people, just as all the other peoples, have the right to live in peace in the Middle East. Of course, they can come and buy land in the region as well, but they should do this openly. They should not have ill-intentions and a secret agenda.  Similarly we have no problems with the Arab people; we have many Arab friends. I don't want to be understood wrongly, I have lived in Damascus for years but Arab states, for example, the Saudi Kingdom supports Israel and hence they keep quiet.

I think the things I said in relation to self-defence have been understood wrongly. I cannot understand our politicians either. They also do not understand me. They cannot do what is necessary at the right time and place. They do not know how to engage in politics. Because they cannot do politics as required of them I am in difficulty here. They are not good at politics. Look at how they released these killers, savages. One cannot predict what they shall be up to. On the other hand they are establishing a 50 thousand-man private army. For whom and for what purposes are they doing this? They say they do it because of “terror”, for military operations and they will get money for each military operation they participate in. Who will they carry out these military operations against? What they call “terror” is simply the Kurds, the Kurdish people. They intend to fight with the Kurdish people. They shall apparently be all sent to the region! Why would they establish such an army? On the one hand they say that they would like to resolve the issue through dialogue, but on the other hand they are making such preparations. Those from Hizbullah are released. I do not understand; can't our politicians see all this, why don't they ask, when and with whom this army shall fight? They shall wage war with our people. In the case that such a thing happens then the Kurdish people shall take up self-defence and they shall have the right to legitimate defence. And then when I talk about self-defence it is understood wrong. It is enshrined in international law and in the constitution. The right to legitimate defence is a constitutional right. Why do I insist on the establishment of city councils? Legitimate defence is the ability to understand the dangers and to protect oneself in accordance. The Congress and the Amed Council should gather and discuss legitimate defence. The members of Hizbullah are released, a private army is being established, there are massacres committed since the beginning of the Republic, the cultural genocide continues, and on top of it all religious organizations are rapidly spreading in the region. They are talking about around ten thousand imams being sent to the region and to top it all there are religious communities. One should think about all this in its entirety. The Congress and Amed City Council should convene and discuss all this. This is what I mean by legitimate defence. One should gather together and discuss the issues and be aware of the dangers. When required our people are demonstrating but why are they so silent when these murderers are released? Why aren't they organizing meetings and demonstrations? Everything should not be expected of me, do I have to remind you of everything? They should think for themselves. On the one hand the state and on the other the organization expects everything of me. And myself in turn finds it difficult to breathe here. This is what puts my health in danger. I had said it before, all sections of Diyarbakir can come and take their place within the City Council and discuss everything freely. One can talk to these members of Hizbullah, get in touch with them; if they have made a self-criticism and they shall not continue with their old ways, if they have learned their lesson from their mistakes and if they shall express themselves legally, then they could also be called upon and they can then represent themselves both in the Council and in the Congress. But if they shall continue in their former manner then self-defence shall come into play and they should not be given any room in Diyarbakir for themselves. Similarly chambers of industry and other business circles should take their place within the Congress and Council. They should participate in the discussions and the taking of decisions. They cannot just bid for contracts from the state and take money.

I would like to say a few things in relation to democratic autonomy, since it is also not understood well. Although I insist that our solution model is not a statist solution model. We are not aiming at a state. It is either the case that some commentators do not understand me or they distort it intentionally. I have a different perspective. I view the history of society and state separately. The system that we proclaim is a model of democratic society, it is not a state model and it rests upon the society being organized. Ever since there is hierarchy and state emerging within the society there has also been the existence of the civil society organizations in parallel and against it. Both, that is state-power and civil society, have been in conflict to date. I at times call those against state-power the political and moral society or at other times democratic society. I sometimes call the system we propose, Democratic Autonomy and at other times Democratic Confederalism. Contrary to what some people think it does not aim for a federative structure. We are concerned with society's democratic organization and democratic administration. I have spoken about these issues in detail in my defence. In the 20th and 21st centuries the power and state structures have been realized in the form of nation-states. It has passed through various phases until it has reached the form of a nation-state. But all the phases are linked to one another. If you scratch the surface of nation-state structures you shall find the theocratic state of the Middle Ages beneath it. In a similar manner beneath that, one shall find the slave-owning state of Antiquity. Fundamentally, there is really not much of a difference between the nation-state system of today and that of these past state structures. As is always the case, there is a dominant class, power and state and on the other hand there are the masses of people who are exploited. The slave of the past is now the paid slave. Today many people work like wage earning slaves, indeed some are even worse off as they cannot find employment at all. Unemployment is the worst situation of all to be in. Therefore our proposal for a solution cannot be centred on the state or power because these structures do not solve but generate problems. Hence, in our system the dynamic and resisting structures since the beginning of time are fundamental. Our aim is to strengthen the democratic society.

If my defence statements are read, these issues are addressed in more detail there. Because our approach is totally different they cannot understand it. Because they do not think outside the boundaries of classical approaches they cannot envisage that there can be a different model. They are far behind, they do not read our paradigm nor do they study it. For years now we have been saying that our paradigm has changed and that a new nation-state cannot be the solution to the problem.

The left in Turkey was crushed and marginalized by using the nationalism of the MHP. This is why the left is in the state that it is in. At present they are attempting the same thing with the Kurdish movement by using political Islam against it. One should realise this and act in accordance. This is quite clear. The fact that the Hizbullah members were released, the imam cadres that number in their thousands, the religious communities in the region, the establishment of private armies, are all deliberate policies to finish off the Kurdish movement by using political Islam against it and they are all interrelated. One should ask where the money that backs Hizbullah is coming from?
The former classical colonial methods are no longer used, global finance is now ruling the whole world and re-designing it. I believe it was an English saying, of post-World War I; “There is no longer a need to occupy a country using military might and other classical methods. There is now a need to find other ways to do that”. This is what global finance is doing today. Turkey in this context is a country that is exploited the most in the world. Is international capital investing in Turkey in vain? They say that production has increased in Turkey, this is not realistic.  The main components of what is produced in the country come from outside Turkey and they are only assembled in the country and then sent abroad again. Indeed the real profit is made by international capital. The workers in Turkey are working for their survival and there are millions who cannot even find work. Similarly there are the HES which are built in the region and which are supported by international capital. They both seize the land of the citizens in return for modest prices and then make them economically dependent. As a result they gain enormous economic profits. Fertile land is left under dams and can no longer be used. This also makes agriculture disappear and results in unemployment in return. The dams that are built at such huge expenditure are then left in an unusable state in about fifteen to twenty years because they are filled with soil. The real damage is due to environmental destruction that is done. There is the Illisu dam as well as the dams that are tried to be built in Dersim and other regions. The nature and heritage are being destroyed, the valleys are being destroyed. Our region Halfeti and similar fertile land were all left under water. The beautiful Black Sea shores and its nature are also being destroyed and left under water.  The Mediterranean shores are also being left at the disposal of certain holders of capital in the name of tourism. There are no longer many beaches left, for example, Antalya. Well off people from around the world go there to entertain themselves. But the natives of that region work like slaves and only for their own survival. The people who live in Turkey are not able to benefit from what they have been blessed with. For example, the situation of Sarıkeçililer is quite clear; they can no longer find any meadows and winter quarters to live in nor can they find fields to feed their animals. They describe all the things that have been taking place in Antalya, investment in the name of tourism. But tourism cannot be considered a tool of investment and development. All these can be given as examples of the damage inflicted by capitalist modernity. Capitalist modernity tries to disguise all these through four methods; nationalism, sexism, religion and scienticism and hence enslave the peoples. Nationalism is a method used by global finance and we shall not fall into this trap. This is why we are against nationalism and have no place for nationalism in our paradigm. In the same manner the other method used is sexism. For many thousands of years the woman is being imprisoned at home and exploited. We reject this as well. Similarly religion is another method used; it is used against us in the region. AKP is using it very well.  As I have said they have nothing to do with real Islam, these are policies implemented in accordance with the interests of global capital. Scienticism on the other hand is used to disguise them all. Their secularism is only in words. Have a look at how religious affairs are clinging tightly to state in Turkey. The state is using religion through religious affairs according to its political interests.

I shall make one more important evaluation. This is a historical as well as a self-critical analyse. To date it was claimed that gladios JITEM-like structures within the state were being eliminated with the Ergenekon trials. I also thought along similar lines. But this is not entirely true. I think continuously on this topic. I discussed it with our friends in here as well the other day. Why is it that we have not noticed it until now? This is the reason why I say self-criticism. I think it is may be mentioned in Hanefi Avcı's book. He was also apparently supportive of me being talked to in order to find a solution and he was proposing this and now he is imprisoned and is being tried for Ergenekon. Similarly in the past there are those who met with me with the intention to solve the issue are also being tried for being a member of Ergenekon. Indeed there are some who are being tried for being a member of Ergenekon who are supportive of finding a solution. But the real sections of Gladio who do not want a solution are left out and they are still free and AKP has cooperated with them. They are eliminating those people who wanted a solution by relating them with exposed people like Veli Küçük who are obscure, murderers and are in favour of military coups. In the past there were similar events, for example, Cem Ersever, he was himself the founder of JITEM, he led the way for thousands of extraordinary killings, but later when they said that the issue cannot be resolved through these means, they were eliminated. At times people may learn from the mistakes they make.  Under today's conditions the AKP is the party that is against a solution and has co-operated with the Gladio and Ergenekon members who are still free, but is eliminating those who are pro-solution by relating them with Ergenekon. The efforts of the AKP to establish a private army and to release Hizbullah members cannot be thought of as independent developments.

Legitimate defence is a natural, legal and constitutional right. It is even enshrined in the present constitution. One should convene the Congress and Council and discuss the issue in great detail and then declare the desire to make use of their constitutional right. In addition the separation of individual and collective rights is not the right thing to do. Should the Kurds not defend themselves in the face of attacks against themselves? Can anyone think in such a way? Of course they shall defend themselves, this is the most natural and legal thing to do.

There are letters from prison. I send my greetings to all our friends in prison.

I extend my greetings to our people in Çınar and Urfa. The work done in Urfa should be speeded up. They should establish City Councils and neighbourhood assemblies. They should not delay in establishing them, they should work seriously.

A child from Yüksekova with the name of Beritan Baban has sent a new year card written in Kurdish. I thank her. Through the person of Beritan I send my special greetings and affection to all the children in Yüksekova and Hakkari and I wish them a happy new year.