59 Comments
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Egemen Pamukcu's avatar

PKK's decision to disarm was not the result of deep philosophical and feminist reflections of their leader. It had two much more salient causes: (1) PKK was pratically beaten in warfare, and its militaristic presence in Turkey is in the brink of annihilation. (2) PKK had lost the support of (most) Kurds in Turkey due to indiscriminate attacks often targeted at civilian gatherings and their overall ineffectiveness at furthering Kurdish interests in Turkish domestic politics.

What the PKK and Ocalan are now doing is to make an alliance with Erdogan. PKK are doing that because they practically lost the war and are ready to settle. Erdogan is doing that because his popularity has been declining sharply, and he needs the Kurdish vote to stay in power in the upcoming elections (it's unlikely this will be effective due to #2 above). It's merely a pragmatic deal struck between two parties trying to make the best out of their declining position.

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Emin Gürbüz's avatar

And frankly, expecting a pseudo-intellectual idiot like Žižek to understand these facts is downright ridiculous.

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Sidney Luckett's avatar

Your claims about the PKK are unfounded, excepting (perhaps) that it doesn't have the support of most Kurds in Turkey

I'm left wondering if you've ever read the books that Öcalan wrote?

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Egemen Pamukcu's avatar

What do PKK participating in terrorist activity, or them losing the battle, have anything to do with Ocalan's philosophical musings?

One doesn't need to have read Hitler's Mein Kampf to claim Nazis committed atrocities and they lost the war. Claims I made are related to facts on the ground, not philosophical inclinations of different parties.

PKK is officially acknowledged as a terrorist organization by the US, EU, UK, and more. Here's a list of some of their attacks from a US government website:

https://www.dni.gov/nctc/terrorist_groups/pkk.html

I didn't read Ocalan's books, but I was in Ankara and Istanbul during the attacks of 2016. Knew people who were killed or injured. Does any of that make it into Ocalan's books on jineology?

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AsreeEsreen's avatar

Your comparison of Öcalan’s writings to Mein Kampf is not only false but deliberately obscures the political reality.

The PKK today is not the same organization of the 1990s. It has undergone a documented ideological shift, embracing a democratic, feminist, anti-nationalist philosophy — a transformation recognized by scholars and observers worldwide.

The Turkish state, however, continues to weaponize the “terrorist” label to justify repression of Kurdish civil society. The so-called “terrorist lists” are political instruments — products of Turkey’s NATO leverage, not independent legal assessments.

You cite civilian deaths — yet ignore the thousands of Kurdish civilians killed by state forces. You also ignore that the PKK has repeatedly proposed ceasefires and peace talks, only to see them sabotaged by Turkey’s deep state.

The fact is: Turkey’s regime today is facing a geopolitical shift it cannot fully control. The era of the nation-state is eroding; international recognition of Kurdish identity and rights is growing. The PKK’s current move is not a sign of military defeat — it is an adaptation to this new reality.

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Matthew Mercury's avatar

Yeah, the PKK are Nazis to you, but the psychotic and often unmasked fascistic terror of the Turkish government gets a free pass? What a joke.

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Egemen Pamukcu's avatar

What makes you think they get a free pass? Current fascistic government in Turkey has done immeasurable damage to Turkey. I have been involved in numerous protests against them, where people were beaten senseless by the police. You obviously don't know who you're talking to or don't have any context on Turkish politics besides social media headlines.

My analogy was a Mein Kampf analogy about the confused necessity of reading books by someone to acknowledge facts about their deeds. Nazi analogy is more apt for the Turkish government. That doesn't mean PKK is not a terrorist organization as acknowledged by all Western governments and as suffered by the people of Turkey, including Kurds.

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AsreeEsreen's avatar

Your statement is both misleading and deeply rooted in a narrow state-centric narrative that ignores the broader geopolitical and ideological reality. First, it is not the PKK that has been defeated — rather, it is the Turkish regime’s deep state apparatus that is facing a shifting regional order where the era of hard nation-state dominance is coming to an end. The move toward democratic confederalism and dialogue is not a surrender, but a strategic and principled decision aligned with global trends toward pluralism and decentralization.

Second, to dismiss Öcalan’s philosophical contributions — particularly his feminist and democratic reflections — is to ignore the actual content of the PKK’s 12th Congress and Öcalan’s public writings, which are widely read and respected across academic and political circles worldwide. The fact that the PKK enjoys more international legitimacy today than it did even two years ago disproves your claim of its isolation or defeat.

Finally, framing this as a "deal with Erdoğan" ignores the broader forces at play: it is the Turkish state that is under increasing economic, political, and diplomatic pressure, and it is the state — not the Kurdish movement — that now faces a crisis of legitimacy. Reducing this complex, global shift to a shallow election bargain is not only inaccurate — it is intellectually lazy

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Emmanuel's avatar

Thank you for that analysis that is way more serious than Zizek’s empty bullshit.

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İlke's avatar

PKK is a terrorist organization. It has caused the death of more than 15,000 innocent people, including babies in their cradle. My uncle was also killed by the pkk. You are unaware of the history of Türkiye. I respected you until this article.

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Mykola Serdiukov's avatar

But the ANK was also kinda extremist group and it evolved. If the PKK stops violence and actuall quits terrorism is it not good for both Turks and Kurds? And if not anyone else, but personally Ocalan does it? The guy who I was told buy quite a big amount of Kurds from Türkiye to be "başkanımız". It definitely creates a chance to overcome the past and create the future. A better one.

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George's avatar

Who killed babies in their cradles? Ocalan or the pkk?

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John's avatar

Neither PKK or Ocalan, it was capitalism.

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George's avatar

It's funny where all the negativity is coming from

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Merve's avatar

It's really funny. PKK is a terrorist group, and it doesn't represent the whole Kurdish community. Ocalan is a baby killer and a killer of lots of innocent people, they are not doing anything for peace. You'll see in the following years. We saw it in the past as well, 3 years they said THE peace, but you know what they were doing, placing lots of bombs into the streets. My father, as a soldier, spent his time making the streets clean again, and he lost lots of his friends during this time.

It's so disgusting how you described Ocalan and PKK, really shameful.

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George's avatar

Another baby killer comment lol they are probably also drug smugglers and rapists.. that we have no evidence of lol

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Egemen Pamukcu's avatar

It is known by the US and European intelligence agencies that the PKK have been using drug smuggling to finance their local operations. You can find this in many international drug trafficking reports shared by various international organizations or national intelligence agencies.

Feel free to Google and validate the sources yourself.

From the International Crime Threat Assessment report of the US government in 2000:

"In Western Europe, members of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey have engaged in drug trafficking and other crimes to help finance local operations."

From EUROPOL's EU Drug Markets report:

"The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist movement, is involved in criminal activities in the EU, from which it is estimated to gather annual proceeds of around EUR 20 million."

From the report of UN Office on Drugs and Crime:

"The PKK also reportedly collect taxes (or

receive donations) from Kurdish heroin traffickers based in Europe. According to NATO intelligence analysts, the PKK pockets upwards of US$50 million to US$100 million annually from heroin trafficking alone. PKK involvement in the trade is further demonstrated by the 2008 arrest of several of its members in Europe on heroin trafficking charges."

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George's avatar

You've just been brainwashed your whole life my friend methamphetamine is ruling over turkey now

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George's avatar

Your an idiot take a look at the streets in turkey today then talk about the real drug dealers

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Elif Sude's avatar

I can’t quite understand your black and white view of Turkey and history. PKK’s use of drugs does not mean that Turkish government haven’t been using them. It is a well known fact that relatives of Erdogan also smuggled drugs (they still do) and made money from that. Apart from that, Ottoman Empire had notorious users of weed as well. Drug trade was always happening illegally in these lands.

So let me ask you again, what makes you think that, people who are telling the bad deeds of PKK are supporting the atrocities of Turkish people? Turkish done horrible things, I agree, and they are quite poor at acknowledging it. So is PKK.

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George's avatar

Methamphetamine is made in labs it's not naturally grown and currently there's a meth crisis.. naturally grown weed/Marijuana has slowed down and instead synthetic cannabis (bonzai) has taken over.. this isn't the people's doing open your eyes already

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George's avatar

But we can't say the same for the government where there's plenty of evidence with them and drugs with them aiding isis and giving isis weapons with truck loads.

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George's avatar

Im not sure if understand what your trying to say all I'm saying is that similar to the ira the government and media have constantly blamed the pkk for such atrocities but never had or have no evidence the only era where drug trade was stopped was when the pkk came and threatened all growers and smugglers that this will not be tolerated.. yet the opposite has always been told to us by the government who to this day has no evidence of the pkk and drugs.

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Mykola Serdiukov's avatar

Truly said. BTW. As a person who used to work couple of years with kurds in a restaurant in Istanbul, I can only confirm everything :)

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En'Rwah's avatar

Could you maybe elaborate on,

"(Let me just mention a detail that I learned in Istanbul: restaurants owned by Kurds have no tolerance for any sign of superstition…)" ?

Is he just talking about what he said earlier in the paragraph about how the West sees Kurds as superstitious or is there something concrete or specific implied in the superstition?

Thanks

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Mykola Serdiukov's avatar

I guess he meant that yeah, some still see Kurdish people as superstitious, but in reality the place where why worked their were basically modernized people interested in the world. I mean their even cut their beards and had other features of kemalist(!) view on the modernity. The only thing I must admit from my personal experience, is that this modern and secular way of the Kurdish representation has something to do with their assymilation within Turkey's society.

As a foreigner I had an opportunity to hear more sincer answers of the Kurds and they can respect Atatürk and his modernization and hate him (not saying that openly) for his actions against Kurdish rebellions/uprisings in 1920s...

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Krish G's avatar

The alleged defeat of PKK militarily does not detract one iota from the justness of the struggle of the Kurdish people and the fact that Ocalan was abducted and unlawfully imprisoned on an island for nearly twenty seven years like Nelson Mandela. The PKK did not lose support of the Kurdish people. The overt support of PKK is deeply suppressed by a series of oppressive actions taken by the Turkish Government which is similar to the oppressive actions of the apartheid Govts of old South Africa and present Israel. People are silenced but their spirits are strong and alive. Violent suppression misleads the oppressors and their supporters into a false sense of security and “success” against the revolutionary spirit which burns quietly but fiercely. Revolutionary tactics must be understood in this context. ✊🏿The spirit of Nelson Mandela lives in Abdulla Ocalan. Krish

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Roberto Graziotto's avatar

With the same passion with which Žižek speaks of the need not to forget the Kurds, Renato Farina spoke—on my Substack account—of the need not to forget Armenia.

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windmills's avatar

A shameful post about staunch leftism that seeks to justify its impending doom and death by clutching unto any and all so called struggles to make itself legitimate. This post is beyond stupid and senile.

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George's avatar

Your an idiot too if u still can't see what's going on

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Ermiya's avatar

You’ve pointed very well to Abdullah Öcalan’s position and philosophy. Such analysis stems from a deep understanding of his thought.

At this juncture, Turkey has been compelled to welcome this proposal due to two main factors:

1. A severe economic crisis and the Erdoğan government's lack of legitimacy.

2. Shrinking space for regional maneuvering, as the strategic interests of states have increasingly converged—particularly with rising tensions with Israel, which have forced Ankara to make outward moves.

At a time when fascist thinking seems to dominate all sides, the message of coexistence unsettles many.

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Burak Katipoğlu's avatar

There is no "proposal" to speak of yet. Turkish people don't appreciate being left in the dark. Even a government signs something doesn't mean it gets accepted.

PKK has made some remarks about the Lozan treaty which established the republic. They want it reversed at least the secularism part and the part where it says Turkey is not a federal republic.

I believe there can be peace not just this forced second grade thing.

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Murad  Karasoy's avatar

Shame of you. How you compare to Mandela and terorist organization leader?

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Emin Gürbüz's avatar

Mandela was a thief, dictator, and cruel person. But it doesn’t really matter. I don’t think an idiot like Zizek is taken seriously nowadays.

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Reb Qua's avatar

Im so glad someone finally is writing about the Kurdish situation. I have found it to be the only political philosophy that holds promise. Its also the only place on earth that gives women true and functional equal rights. Murray Bookchin should also be given credit. Ocalan's writings are very influenced by his ideas about eco feminism.

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George's avatar

Absolutely

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Özgür Uyanık's avatar

Wow. Romanticising the Other in this way is a sure sign you’ve lost your critical faculties on this topic.

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E Dincer's avatar

Cannot believe the amount of misinformation. Where have you seen all this Kurds that are the most secular and modern among the citizens of Turkish Republic? In Cihangir cafes or Kadikoy pubs? Or in actual Southeast Turkey where child brides, pregnant children, selling and buying of women, polygyny practice, female abuse numbers, female "suicide" numbers, feudalism, practical slavery together with weddings where over tens of kilos of gold are given as presents are commonplace? Why don't you ask your bedfellows why don't they live in neighborhoods who vote for the Kurdish party and not the Kemalist one?

You let people call you a philosopher and pose as a leftist, but the sausages in the hotdogs you eat are actually the members of the imperialists you suck with gusto.

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George's avatar

The kurds are the only ones there with a female militia what the fuck are u smoking you 🌭

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E Dincer's avatar

Millions oppressed under the Kurdish misogyny disappear when they put an all-female corps to show you gullible westerners. Just shut up about world affairs you don't know anything about and go protest some insignificant thing in your pink world.

See other examples; Stalin, Hitler, even Kaddafi all dictators had some toys themselves:

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SS-Gefolge_(Women%27s_SS_Division)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/586th_Fighter_Aviation_Regiment

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazonian_Guard

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George's avatar

It'll be more useful than wikipedia

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E Dincer's avatar

exactly my point. i know how life is on the ground, as opposed to how it is reflected to you lily livered westerners on the media. just mind your own business in western hemisphere and don't comment about us.

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George's avatar

You dont know shit on the ground.

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George's avatar

If u want to see examples go to sirnak cizre diyarbakir see the reality for yourself

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Emin Gürbüz's avatar

neden batılı larp'ı yapıyon hoca sen kürt olduğunu belirtmekten niye utanıyorsun

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George's avatar

Em kurdin u ser bilindin mero ci bu

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Pelin's avatar

George where are you from???

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George's avatar

Why do you ask

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User's avatar
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Jun 10
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George's avatar

It's not your city it's the capital of Kurdistan and If you know a little of your history it's written there too

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George's avatar

If they weren't burned and destroyed and forced out of their towns to places like istanbul and izmir I wouldve loved to.. let me ask you a question now why is that when you say your from diyarbekir in places like istanbul the response you get is "oh those are our cities too"

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Ron Cast's avatar

If Europe abandons the Kurds, it does not betray a distant people — it betrays the very idea of Europe. In the Kurdish struggle, our future is being decided: whether we live in a world of cynical power games or one where emancipation still has a chance.

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Anna's avatar

Barghouti = Mandela is non sense

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Matija Fučkar's avatar

Great article!

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