The Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK) and the East Kurdish Movement for Freedom and Democracy (KODAR) recently proposed a roadmap to solve the crisis in Iran and East Kurdistan. Speaking to ANF, the co-chair of PJAK, Zîlan Vejîn, emphasized that the Third Way is the solution for Iran and East Kurdistan.

In Iran, women have always been the leading force behind revolutionary uprisings. What do women want? Why are they demanding the fall of the regime?

It is an important issue, and important as it is, it is also important to get the demands properly raised. The women have expressed their anger and rebellion against the current totalitarian, sexist and undemocratic Iranian regime by cutting off their hair and shedding their hijabs. However, it is also necessary to correctly define the source of this anger and to correctly present the starting point of the revolt. Women are objectified in Iran. Their will and their existence are held captive and ignored in the patriarchal, sexist system. Women's freedom is not a minor issue, it expresses a different social reality and freedom. Women's demands for freedom will not end with the Iranian regime relaxing the hijab or reforming the institution of the vice squad. The demands for freedom will only stop when the constitution is reformed in favour of women's rights and the entire male-dominated, religious and sexist face of the system is changed. Therefore, a mind and paradigmatic shift is required. Of course it won't be easy. We are dealing with a 43-year-old, patriarchal, reactionary regime. It has become institutionalized in economic, political, social and cultural terms. On the basis of this institutional reality, it systematizes and legitimizes exploitation. It oppresses and persecutes women and peoples who have been marginalized because of their faith, language, culture and ethnic identity, and inflicts all kinds of violence on them.

The situation of women cannot be separated from the reality of society. The reality of women is integrated into the reality of society. In this sense, the demands of women for equality and freedom are also the demands of the Kurdish, Azerbaijani, Baloch and Arab peoples. An important question now is in which direction the demands will be met if there are changes. Neither soft solutions nor transformations and changes geared towards the capitalist system meet the demands for freedom. For the situation in which the capitalist system finds itself today is one of crisis and chaos. Liberal life and nation-state structuring do not bring about solutions to the political, social, cultural, economic, ecological and military problems in the Middle East and in the world, but exacerbate them.

The moral and cultural values ​​of mankind are severely attacked by this system. Therefore, there is a need to bring about change by emphasizing democratic culture and community values ​​and working towards building a democratic nation. The dynamic force and the real focal points that will bring about this change are undoubtedly women and peoples. The course of their struggle will be crucial in making this process work in favour of democracy and freedom. Women must never lose hope and must be confident and determined to bring the resistance to fruition no matter what. There will no doubt be a high price to be paid, but the resistance must continue until results are achieved. The common spirit of resistance that peoples have achieved under the leadership of women must be preserved and developed. The demands of women-led peoples must be understood and evaluated on this basis.

What do you think is the solution? What are your suggestions?

The women-led freedom revolution has now been going on for 40 days. Women in particular and the population in general are adamant and say they will not leave the streets and squares until change is achieved. The Iranian regime has so far responded to the demands with violence. It has killed hundreds of people and thousands are currently in torture centers and in custody. Despite this violence and these attacks, I do not believe that women and peoples will step back from now on. They fight back at any cost. This shows what has happened so far. So you are asking how and where the solution can be sought, what the real solution can be. Political and social organisations, formations and structures as well as the regime bear responsibility.

Keeping the country in an atmosphere of constant conflict, violence and wars does not help the regime. This must take into account what has already happened in the Middle East. Syria and Iraq are the most concrete examples. The regime must learn from what has happened in these countries. It must listen to and understand the demands of the people and undergo democratic change and transformation in line with those demands. If we look closely, the peoples have not asked any outside power to meet their demands, and they continue not to do so. For they have seen what has become of the countries where the capitalist nation-state powers have intervened: instability, destruction and perpetual war in every sense have become the almost unchanging fate of these countries. Therefore, the movement sees the solution in the inner dynamic and bets on it.

One of the main slogans of Azerbaijanis, Arabs, Persians, Baloch and Kurds is ‘We are each other’s pillars and support’. The Iranian regime must respond to the demands of peoples, societies and women by acknowledging this reality. The regime declares that all capitalist international powers are hostile to it and aim to destroy and annihilate Iran. Therefore, it is at war with these powers at home and abroad. On this basis, the regime has always been an important part of the ongoing wars in countries such as Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

Iran has always fought against the forces it defines as enemies in these areas and it thought and thinks that by doing so it would keep the war and the struggle out of Iran's interior. It is necessary to state that the regime is grossly mistaken in this regard. Today's events also confirm this. Because it is the people of Iran who have the real problems and conflicts with the current Iranian regime. A country cannot open itself to foreign intervention without mobilizing internal dynamics and initiatives that disrupt the existing system.

Therefore, the regime should listen to the social opposition and understand what the internal dynamics want, instead of propagating how hostile the foreign powers are to them and that the internal dynamics are controlled by these foreign powers. For it is the peoples of Iran who are demanding change based on democracy and freedom. They are the bearers of the social and cultural values ​​that they have historically represented and protected most strongly to this day. These peoples love their country and homeland more than anyone else and want to protect it. It is noteworthy that they not only chanted the death of the dictator, but also slogans expressing their rejection of the United States and Israel. They have repeatedly expressed their disapproval of and opposition to the imperial system that rules the world. Therefore, the Iranian regime should be open to meeting the demands of the Iranian people for a solution.

Another important question is what solutions are envisaged by the forces, formations and structures that call themselves reformist. It is necessary to assess the approaches of these forces and question the process and causes that led to the 1979 revolution in Iran in order to draw sufficient lessons and conclusions. Just as the peoples and women today rebel against the anti-democratic practices and reality of the current regime, in the pre-1979 period they rebelled against the policies of the then government and demanded freedom. They opposed inequalities and injustices in such a way from a social, political and economic point of view. They rebelled against an understanding that divides and polarizes society and peoples, that exploits the country's economic resources and puts them at the service of a particular group of people. Workers, toilers, women and peoples resisted the exploitation of labor power, against the politics of capitalist modernity that destroys and undermines the moral and political values ​​of society, and against the politics that deprive women of their existence, using them as a commodity makes and exploits. They fought to change that. Therefore, the solution cannot lie in an orientalist approach, such as the forces of capitalist modernity aspire to. While capitalism finds itself in a systemic impasse and crisis in the Middle East and around the world, accepting and clinging to the alternative solutions provided by this system will not serve the purpose. In this sense, the solutions proposed by the forces that call themselves reformists in the current situation will not be accepted and embraced by the Iranian peoples. They should acknowledge the reality and say goodbye to this false approach.

We define the solution we are striving for as the third way. The forces promoting this line are the Alliance for Democracy and Freedom and the women-led Peoples' Front with their demands for freedom, democracy and equality. As PJAK and KODAR, we previously presented our roadmap and proposal for the solution. The demands that women and peoples are making today are the solutions that we are also considering. Specifically, the country's constitution should be revised on the basis of democratic criteria. The existence and identity of all cultural, religious and ethnic structures and peoples living in Iran must be constitutionally guaranteed on the basis of equality, freedom and democracy. On the basis of protecting Iran's territorial integrity, local governments and administrations should be established and strengthened. The right of women to express themselves freely and equally in the political, economic, social and all other spheres of the country must be constitutionally guaranteed. The will of youth, the most dynamic and pioneering force of society and the country, must be taken as a basis and recognized as a force for building a free future of the country.

Last but not least, the Kurds are an important dynamic and the main agent of change in Iran. How should Kurdish political parties, movements and organizations behave in this process?

The eyes of the world are now on developments in Iran and Rojhilat. One has to admit that the Kurds, together with the women, form the most important avant-garde in the country. Just as the peoples of the world place their hopes in the Iranian women's struggle for freedom, the peoples of Iran and the world see their future in freedom in the struggle of the Kurds. Therefore, these expectations and demands cannot be met with narrow-minded nationalist policies and approaches. The forces that approach this process on a narrowly nationalist and partisan basis will lose. With this understanding, they can neither fight nor engage in politics. If proper national policy is pursued and projects are presented on this basis, they will be accepted by all peoples in Iran.

The Persian population chanted "Kurdistan Kurdistan, you are the eyes and the light of Iran" during the demonstrations. Kurdistan and the Kurdish people and all Kurdish parties must act and recognize this reality. Modernist, reformist solutions and measures should be avoided. Democratic nation-building should be aspired to, and national unity and alliance building should be approached on that basis. Coexistence with peoples based on democratic culture and values ​​should serve as a basis and solutions should be developed that strengthen them.

We previously presented a ten-point project for the unification of the Kurdish parties and finally presented an eleven-article proposal stating that all Kurdish forces should unite and fight under the flag of the Kurdish Republic proclaimed in Mahabad. I would like to state that we are ready to unite with all the forces that make the free future and the demands of our people the main axis of the struggle and that we have a project on this topic. We are a party and a movement based on its own strength. We derive our power from our people and the paradigm of Rêber Apo. The apoistic paradigm is our roadmap. We are the pioneering and executing force that brings this paradigm to life and into a systemic structure. We are acting on this mission and I declare that we will act conscious of our duty and responsibility towards all Iranian peoples and especially the women and the Kurdish people.