Democratic Autonomy: a model for the Middle East
Democratic Autonomy: a model for the Middle East
The 9th international conference on "The European Union, Turkey and Kurds" continues at the European Parliament in Brussels with a panel called "Middle East at the cross-roads: Whose regional order?".
Democratic Union Party (PYD) co-chair Saleh Muslim, journalists Cengiz Çandar and Serdar Akinan, Dutch academic Joost Jongerden, Israeli academic Ofra Benngo and Democratic Society Congress (DTK) co-chair Aysel Tuðluk were among the speakers taking the floor today.
PYD co-chair Saleh Muslim said the followings in his speech on Thursday morning; "We Kurds want to be the soldiers of ourselves, not others'. The autonomy project consists of not only Kurds but also Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Alewis and all other belief groups. Democratic autonomy is the only model of solution for the West Kurdistan territory."
Speaking after, Prof. Ofra Bengo of Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University said that; "I would like to make a comparison between the Arab and Kurdish spring in consideration of the fact that Kurds have carried out a silent revolution behind which the Arab spring has served as a driving force. While the Middle East region was dominated by the mentality of nation state so far, we now see that this policy has been leveled to the ground.The developments in Arab countries have also paved the way for Political Islam but the progress in the Kurdish territory didn't progress in the same way. The Arab Spring has also influenced the Kurds in Turkey in many ways and the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) has become much stronger. It is now time for a new beginning as Kurds have gained a strategical role and self-confidence in the region. The more the states in the region lose their importance, the brighter future Kurds will have."
Turkish journalist Cengiz Çavdar said that; "The recent developments concerning Kurds is not something new in consideration of the time when they first took to the stage in the history. The presence of a "semi independent" Kurdish self-government will be a significant step in the history of Kurds as we now witness that an irrepressible process has been started under the leadership of the those in Syria."
Democratic Union Party (PYD) co-chair Saleh Muslim, journalists Cengiz Çandar and Serdar Akinan, Dutch academic Joost Jongerden, Israeli academic Ofra Benngo and Democratic Society Congress (DTK) co-chair Aysel Tuðluk were among the speakers taking the floor today.
PYD co-chair Saleh Muslim said the followings in his speech on Thursday morning; "We Kurds want to be the soldiers of ourselves, not others'. The autonomy project consists of not only Kurds but also Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Alewis and all other belief groups. Democratic autonomy is the only model of solution for the West Kurdistan territory."
Speaking after, Prof. Ofra Bengo of Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University said that; "I would like to make a comparison between the Arab and Kurdish spring in consideration of the fact that Kurds have carried out a silent revolution behind which the Arab spring has served as a driving force. While the Middle East region was dominated by the mentality of nation state so far, we now see that this policy has been leveled to the ground.The developments in Arab countries have also paved the way for Political Islam but the progress in the Kurdish territory didn't progress in the same way. The Arab Spring has also influenced the Kurds in Turkey in many ways and the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) has become much stronger. It is now time for a new beginning as Kurds have gained a strategical role and self-confidence in the region. The more the states in the region lose their importance, the brighter future Kurds will have."
Turkish journalist Cengiz Çavdar said that; "The recent developments concerning Kurds is not something new in consideration of the time when they first took to the stage in the history. The presence of a "semi independent" Kurdish self-government will be a significant step in the history of Kurds as we now witness that an irrepressible process has been started under the leadership of the those in Syria."
