On February 2025, from the Turkish island of Imrali where he has been held in solitary confinement since 1999, Abdullah Öcalan, “Apo” (uncle) as he is affectionately known to the Kurds, called for the dissolution of the Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê (PKK – Kurdistan Workers' Party) and an end to the armed struggle in Turkey. The stunned reaction of some international opinion showed the extent to which the PKK's political evolution had been ignored.
  • KnownUnknownKnower [any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    10·
    4 days ago

    I keep reading the 6 brief paragraphs and can’t find any evidence of political evolution. What conditions have changed in Turkey to make them more amenable to negotiations with the Kurds? The only change has been in syria, “The jihadist offensive that toppled Assad changed all that” and there the response has been to negotiate and integrate with a group actively hostile to federalism.

    “Will the economic stakes be enough to secure an acceptable political settlement to the Kurdish question? The ball is in Ankara’s court, as it has still not released a single one of the 12,000 political prisoners it is holding, a prerequisite for serious negotiations.”

    Uhh given that conclusion, I’ll say no. Why dissolve before any concessions have been made, seems to be capitulation rather than negotiation? It’s the vote blue argument, once you’ve dissolved any notion of armed struggle, what’s the incentive for Ankara to give them anything?

    • woodenghost [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      3·
      3 days ago

      I admit my knowledge about this subject is patchy, but wasn’t the main impact of Kurdish activity in Syria on the US empire two things? US military bases build in Kurdish held area and Syria’s oil fields exploited lucratively by US firms. And aren’t these exactly the main goals of US imperialism? Odd coincidence, that the second another, stronger group provides the exact same services to the empire and they are no longer needed, they self disband.