(In past few years her name has cropped up several time due to the increase in the use of social media)
Interview with Sen. Mizgin She is a member of the newly founded Kurdish People's Congress, Kongra-Gel. With the interview from Asiti, Baris, the Bulletin of the International Peace Initiative "Freedom for Abdullah Ocalan - Peace in Kurdistan", you can find out about our current situation.
Embed the base, broaden the platform
Recently, KADEK has been disbanded. A new organization has been formed in a different composition and elected a new leadership. What does this mean for your work in Europe?
The resolution of KADEK, the Congress for Peace and Democracy Kurdistan, and the creation of a new organization has a broad impact on the Kurdish struggle for freedom and democratic rights. This will of course affect all the important areas and demands of the Kurds.
The new organization Kongra-Gel (Kurdistan People's Congress) will be a new experience for the Kurds as a whole, it is a completely new structure and organization in their objectives and their way of working, in the way that it is perceived. Finding a solution to the Kurdish question is asked on a much wider basis, the whole thing will be much more diverse, and of course.
The methods and means by which the battle that campaigns for the rights of Kurds has developed very differently from what we were used to. Specifically, our movement was very long characteristics of an organization from the seventies, we were quite obviously influenced by the national liberation struggles of that time. We had also features derived from the Cold War, the tension between the Soviet-style socialism and capitalism of the West, with the United States at the tip.
But now the world is changing, people are finding other ways to express their needs and demands. The context of freedom and democracy widens, is no longer based on class struggle as such. Rather, the ideas of freedom and democracy go far beyond what we call class warfare.
We as Kongra-gel are of the opinion that we must overcome the social division of society and we consider capitalism and imperialism as the highest level of class-based societies. This is of course a problem that is understood and described but no longer with the instruments of the sixties or seventies (or even the 19th century).
The changes and developments in the Middle East, of course, have a major impact on our new organization. Currently, our goal is a greater legality and legitimacy. The Kurdish movement, especially in the north, since the times of the PKK carried the label of terrorism and has been widely criminalized, especially in Europe. That was of course due to the Turkish war against the Kurds which over many years labelled PKK as terrorist.
Now, however, we want to form a strong organization involved in a political struggle, while Europe is an important platform. A much wider range of people involved in it, of intellectuals and writers, to people who have participated in the past really the Kurdish struggle. Kongra-Gel brings together all of these people and will also have better ways to address the Kurdish issue in the world today.
Since the 11th September, it is extremely difficult to lead an armed struggle to use violence for political ends. We now need to look for other ways with which you raise questions in relation of freedom and democracy and can be used for this.
In this sense, the political struggle, even at the level of civil society is important, it is important to organize there. This is one of the main goals of Kongra-Gel, not only as a mere political party based on their cadres - as it was before - but a wider range of building elements that actively participate in all fronts of the movement.
This also means ordinary people who base to bring into the organization, while at the same time, of course, must also bring the necessary skills and abilities. It means to bring civil society into the movement and struggle.
To this end, Europe will be one of the major platforms where this project must measure at practice. This is associated with the structure of organizations and institutions for political activities, contacts, etc. Europe is a major political force in the world and therefore it is important for Kongra-Gel to be organized here present.
A serious problem that we face in all of this, is the question of how this completely new organization can overcome the habits and ways of working the past successfully. This will certainly take time and requires the right mindset and the right people, so this job is done properly.
In other words, we have a fight ahead of us in the organization. But I believe that the Kurds only in this way can be successful and maybe give an example for the people in the Middle East, which have generally there is little experience with how to organize themselves. They are ruled by dictatorships that were supported for a long time by the great powers. Now it is very difficult to get them to organize all these different people are.
Perhaps the Kurds could be a positive example. In that regard, Kongra-Gel for the Middle East as a whole is important.
The question of legal work in Europe is closely linked to the issue of transparency both within the organization and to the public. What do you want to make it clear that there are changes in the structure in the direction of democratic standards?
We discussed political, organizational and social reforms during the past four years. This means that our Leninist party structure was discussed. This is a very important aspect of our remodelling.
Let me stress, however, that we still aspire to socialism that we want a society without social contradictions. But we are also addressing questions from the environment to women's issues, human rights, all matters at all levels that are associated with freedom and democracy.
While our fight was formerly in the main an armed struggle, we need strict rules and could allow the individuals no large active involvement in the movement. Now we want to change everything. An important indication that the movement is transparent, is the changing composition of the people involved.
There are now a wide range of different personalities and views from all parts of society. Our activities are open as we open the discussion and cooperation. We cannot just simply just make promises, we need to see how this is all implemented in the organization, how these changes and transformations which we are now undergoing, are visible.
Really important is the way how the organization works, what decision-making mechanisms and bodies there, as are available for the base, allow her to actively participate in all these processes. In the past, our people have been appointed for certain activities.
There were strict rules that did not allow much participation. Kongra-Gel wants a democratic participation of all strata of society, allowing them to define their own goals and to manage, say, need to talk about cultural aspects at the level of community centers to simple organizations, etc.
We are excited about Publications and Press, diplomacy, and there are so many different areas in which we must work. And it will of course be less centralization, the central institutions must leave power, everything has to be better balanced, not only within the movement but also the effect that reactions from the outside can react to the motion. This is our decision mechanisms will change. In this sense we are to overcome the Leninist party structures.
We want everyone to participate in our movement and our current practical work. Of course, the nature of our arguments does our language, the words we use an important role. Every ideology has its own language, its own way of expressing themselves
There is another aspect of the transformation of the armed political struggle, the armed forces itself we know from Northern Ireland and other conflicts that come to a successful separation of the two arms, and thus a political process can be initiated. However, the statute of Kongra-gel still contains a committee that is responsible for armed defence forces.
However, real political struggle in the political arena, is legal only if it is clear that the political organization is in no way involved in armed struggle. How will you ensure that?
We would like to completely lay down their weapons and conduct our struggle with legitimate political means. You have to look at the situation of the Kurds but once. One should focus its attention not only on Iraq.
There are about forty million Kurds, seven million of them in Iraq. Turkey, Iran and Syria, each in their own way, always constitute a major threat to the Kurds. The denial policy is still a dominant reality in Turkey.
The rights of the Kurds are not recognized, and also the future of Iraq is still not really clear what political system will function there. Therefore, the Kurds believe that overall, they still need armed forces, which means in our context guerrilla forces. Therefore, all Kurdish organizations, including the Kurdish parties in Iraq, the KDP and PUK, emphasizes that there must be a solution to the Kurdish question in Turkey, an important point to which belong a real general amnesty.
In a sense, there is a consensus among the Kurds, as far as the threat of the Kurdish people as a whole, and there is a strong feeling that you still have to keep the armed forces. Thus, it is inevitable for every Kurdish organization to have armed forces. Thus, for example the KDP and PUK continue their armed forces.
On the part of the Kurdish forces, there is no military activities. We have not fought against the Americans in Iraq, we have not fought against Turkey, also for four or five years, but if you attack us, we will answer back. This is our position for quite awhile.
KADEK has published a roadmap, even a while ago, in which the necessary steps were outlined, which are necessary in our view to find a solution to the Kurdish issue, including the issue of arms. We still believe that such a process, a kind of peace process, step by step, could reach a solution. Could then be discussed as part of such a process on the resolution of the armed wing of the Kurdish movement.
All this of course has to do directly with the policies of regional governments in relation to the Kurdish question. A purely political platform is not a sufficient guarantee of safety.
As far as the situation in Iraq, there are a number of commentators who are of the opinion that it makes no sense to maintain a united Iraq
It said there was basically three very different communities, so one should be a separation not resist. We are against such a development. From our perspective, the concept of the nation state has no more importance here.
There is still a lot of violence in Iraq. This is not only detached from the old regime, but also apparently by Islamist forces that gather there and build there a kind of general opposition to the West, as some people think. This could also mean that Turkey is destabilized in these disputes with drawn and the entire Middle East. The bombings in Istanbul seem to point in this direction.
We should be very careful in this regard and make it clear that such a struggle is not a conflict between cultures. After the recent bombings in Istanbul, some politicians of Straw on Blair to Bush uttered in the direction that it was here an attack on the civilized world. This could imply that there are some who are civilized, and others who are not.
Of course, we are critical of Islamic fundamentalism. But once you identify ethnic or religious groups with terrorism, we come to a very dangerous policy.
This needs to be seriously overcome. Therefore, it is important what kind of solution we can achieve in the Middle East. If we manage to convince people to live together in a free unit of the region that is not based on limits, allows freedom and democracy for all ethnic groups to achieve. Of course, even Islam must democratize.
There is so much religious dogmatism in the Middle East, Islam as a whole, that it really creates a problem for democratization in the region. The reform of Islam but also needs a democratization and reform of Middle Eastern societies. You can import from somewhere democracy is not easy.
The Middle East is a political, social and religious nature face many challenges. He is finally back several hundred years dominated by religious dogmatism. Much of the experience that has made the West, the Renaissance, secularization, enlightenment could never gain a foothold there. This is of course also an important aspect of the identity of the people.
Of course. Islam is a part of Middle Eastern identity, we can not simply discard. Religion plays an important role in the lives of many people. If you do not respond these questions, one can not successfully fight for freedom and democracy.
How would you classify the bombings in Istanbul? Is it not true that this terror is to go back from where he once ran?
I think what has happened in Turkey, requires a very serious analysis and evaluation. We all condemn these attacks. Again, the Turkish authorities have repeatedly tried to construct a connection between these attacks and the Kurdish movement, with the claim to the address of the Europeans, you see, we have always told you, you do not really help us against terrorism.
- But the fact is that Turkey has built these Islamists since the eighties as a weapon against the Kurds, financed and armed. It's not only what we do. The result of the investigations into the Susurluk incident has brought to light documents that show that the government has used Hezbollah to fight the Kurdish movement
- The Kurds knew then what the rest of the world ignored at their own peril - Turkey supports, finances and arms Islamists fundamentalists
