IMRALI, Northern Kurdistan–Imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan in his recent meeting with his lawyers stated that current era is great historical period that the Kurds are experiencing, and he stated that the mere solution to the Kurdish question is the democratic autonomy.
Kurdish leader continued his statement by identifying some points, which must be covered within the scope of the democratic autonomy project. Points which were highlighted by the Kurdish leader are: political, legal, economic, cultural, self-defense and diplomacy aspects.
“Everybody is expecting something from me, It is a hard time for the state as well as for the KCK, They have expectations from me” added Öcalan.
With respect to the Democratic Society Congress annual meeting in which some NGO’s did not take part Öcalan said: “There are some civil society organizations, which made a deal with the state officials, They were promised to be in charge once the PKK is eliminated. However we will discredit them and they will fail.”
In respect of the Democratic Autonomy Öcalan said while a democratic nation is the key purpose of the movement then democratic autonomy is necessary and autonomy is the concrete step of building the nation. Regarding democratic autonomies structure Kurdish national leader Öcalan stated
Political aspect: There will be an assembly or people’s congress. It is the democratic society congress. And there will be an executive organ of this congress.
Legal Aspect: The Catalans call is a “status”. We shall call it status too. It is important because it will determine the legal status of the Kurds. It should be made clear in the constitutions as well as other legislations. A law can determine the framework of democratic autonomy.
Economical aspect: The democratic nation also needs an economy policy. It will have policy regarding the dams and natural resources. In this respect we cannot accept a capitalism model. Maybe we cannot eliminate capitalism completely but we can change it and create our own alternative system. Public economy and private sector can be combined but it requires further discussions.
Cultural aspect: This aspect is more about language, mother tongue education, history and art. How will be the linguistic policy of the democratic nation, education policy and the status of the Kurdish language? They need to be discussed. It is also important to find a solution for the cultural genocide that the Kurds have been exposed.
Self-defence aspect: We may also name it security aspect. From security we shall understand reacting against genocide, both physical and cultural. I do not mean security with weapons but democratic structure in which the people will provide their security. I am talking about a democratic system in which people will safe. It can be discussed whether the Kurds do military service. How can the village guars system be dissolved? They all need to be discussed. And security is as important as bread and water for out people.
Diplomacy aspect: This means the relation of the Kurdish people with other nations and communities. It can be about neighbouring countries as well as the Kurds living in different parts of Kurdistan. What kind of relation do we want with other communities? How can we live together? These are the diplomacy aspect.
Öcalan further added that Catalan model is worth studying and Kurds can learn from this model. He also said that: “Creating a democratic nation should not be considered as building a nation stated. Self-determination does not necessarily means founding a state. It was also the mistake of real socialism. South Kurdistan and Palestine are also examples of this misconception.”