Experiences from an European youth delegation to North Kurdistan
From the 20th of march to 6th of april 2024 I visited Bakur, the region mostly inhabited by Kurds in the southeast of Turkey, as part of an internationalist youth delegation. Young internationalists from Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Finland took part in the journey, which was organised by the „Ronahi – Youth Center for Public Relations“ and the youth assembly of the DEM-Party. The delegation was organised to get insights in the culture and political organisation of the Kurdish Liberation Movement in these areas that are controlled by the Turkish state. As well as to share the knowledge with our political organisations in our home countries. In the two weeks we've been there we travelled through many parts of northern Kurdistan and got to know many politicians and representatives of civil organisations, for example families of political prisoners, women associations or lawyers. Everything we've seen, heard and learned would not fit into this text, so I will only focus on a few experiences that impressed or influenced me the most.
The first day after our arrival was already unforgettable. We had the unbelievable chance to experience the Newroz celebrations in Amed, the „capital of Kurds“. There could not have been a better place to celebrate this day. On Newroz day, the Kurdish people show that their culture and their political conviction of the democratic self-administration is as vivid as ever, despite of the massive repression. Although the Turkish state showed it’s presence and tried to demonstrate its power by the employment of water canons in every part of the city and uncountable police officers, as well as soldiers with weapons, thousands of Kurds surged to the celebrations. The happening on the stage, where representatives of the DEM-Party were holding speeches and singers performed, was almost modest in comparison to the crowd that was building big Halay circles and singing the whole time. We as internationalists felt warmly welcomed by the people. We were invited to dance, taught to sing several songs, were offered cigarettes and we were given flags to wave. To be able to feel at home, to feel deeply comfortable, although in a completely alien and new environment, was a totally unusual experience for me. Not only did I get the chance to observe, but also to be part of another culture – I will forever carry this atmosphere with me.
Secondly, I was impressed by the way experiences of being imprisoned seemed omnipresent – and also the immense resistance in prisons. For instance in Bakur thousands of Kurds are currently imprisoned due to political reasons. Because of the fact that most politicians and activists we met had already been in prison, it became obvious that everyone who is part of the movement must sooner or later decide between exile or prison. The Turkish state tries to intimidate the Kurdish population with systematic repression, in order to either silence them about the issues in turkey or pressure them to leave. Because there are so many people whose children, siblings, parents or friends are in prison, the reality of imprisonment is very much integrated into the consciousness of the people. The prisons there are not comparable with the stigmatised concept of prisons in Germany, it is a loathed place, but still a place of great political relevance and part of their organisation. For this reason, Not surrendering to repression, often even torture, silently and alone, but maintaining a common organization and solidarity support for prisoners in prison is enormously important for morale and further organizing after prison stays. There are also still actions like hunger strikes perpetrated: Right now in Bakur, there are a lot of political prisoners in hunger strike, since November 2023, for the physical freedom of Abdullah Öcalan and for better conditions of imprisonment for all political prisoners. The prisoners in hunger strike are exposed to situations of different measures such as isolation from the other prisoners as punishment for their actions. Medical examinations are also often refused or delayed – which is why doctors often train prisoners' lawyers in what possible signs of health problems they should look out for during visits.
We had a special meeting as a delegation with the "Peace Mothers", the mothers of political prisoners or martyrs who organize together and support their children in prison. The group we met consisted of mothers of hunger strikers who meet every day during the hunger strike and regularly carry out actions such as marches or sit-ins. Their strength and determination of these women had a great impression on us.
And finally I wanted to mention the great impact the ethics and moral of the comrades in the Kurdish movement had on me. By this I do not only mean the fierce way of resisting state repression, but also their approach to community work or their interactions with the Kurdish families: As Apoists their approach is to change the society, the personalities, to break with the thousand year old patriarchal structures in families and to overcome patriarchal behaviour. How they behave in that case is never didactic or instructing, but always with great respect for people and is rather characterized by drawing them step by step on their side. What inspires me above all is the approach of the cadres to express their values not in long words but in a consistent approach in all actions: In every action, every interaction, whether with comrades or non-organized Kurdish families, there is a strong ethic and morality, a special kind of propaganda of the deed.
-David Fontaine
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