After the controversial election victory of the AKP/MHP regime in Turkey, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the Green Left Party have initiated a comprehensive, far-reaching and long-term renewal process.

District and provincial federations of both parties held internal meetings and nationwide public rallies as a vehicle for criticism and self-criticism. Based on the constructive exchange with the grassroots, suggestions were developed as to how the change process could achieve a good result and be structurally anchored. The focus now is on planning symposiums, conferences and party congresses, and developing a roadmap for the final transformation of the democratic opposition.

The youth organizations of the HDP and the Green Left Party are traditionally regarded as the driving force behind social and political innovation and their implementation. They have the will to act as the backbone of transformation and to discourage any structures and methods that impede the renewal process. The youth councils of the HDP and the Green Left Party have been meeting in Ankara since Saturday to set their own timetable for the coming period.

In a first important step, a campaign was launched with the slogan "Li dijî şerê taybet têkoşînek bi heybet" ("Great Resistance Against the Special War"). The aim of the campaign is to counteract all elements of the complex and multifaceted special war carried out by the Turkish state, from ethnocide, colonial policy and forced assimilation to military violence, ecocide and femicide. The youth in Northern Kurdistan and Turkey are thus faced with a great challenge, which will demand a lot from everyone involved and which they can only successfully shape together in a solution-oriented manner.

Green Left Party youth council activist Senem Eriş spoke to ANF about the specific content and background of the campaign.

The war in Kurdistan is at the root of our many crises

He said: “The government's policy has meant that we live in a time when nature is being plundered, the will of the people and youth is being usurped by receivers, attacks on women and their achievements are increasing day by day, the work of working people is being exploited, violations of rights are increasing and the war is deepening.

This government 'package of measures' is directed against the interests of the people. As the greatest element in opposition to the population, war has a special role to play. Since 2015, the AKP/MHP regime has waged an ongoing war against the Kurdish people inside and outside the country's borders. This war is at the root of the many crises of our time."

The young activist continued: "The basis of the war policy is the isolation on Imrali that has lasted to this day. The absolute isolation imposed on the Kurdish representative Abdullah Öcalan brings war, and war brings poverty and misery. In this respect, it is not Abdullah Öcalan who is isolated on Imrali - it is the people of Turkey. Imrali is trying to suffocate the entire society of Turkey.

We affirm that we do not accept this policy of isolation, which is being pursued in the person of the Kurdish people's representative against all peoples of the Middle East, and that we will expand our organization for the freedom of the peoples and to overcome isolation."

The youth are subjected to an ideological bombardment

Eriş added: "While the AKP/MHP leadership on the one hand wants to intimidate society through repression, on the other hand it aims to detach the youth from their historical role through a special war policy. The special war against young people, especially the Kurdish ones, is being waged in a profound, multifaceted and systematic way.

Through soft methods such as sports and arts, TV series and news magazines, young people in this country are subjected to ideological bombardment.

In the last ten to fifteen years, the focus has been on television series that glorify structures such as the police, the military, the mafia and the nation-state. This is intended to impose false heroism, occupation, usurpation, plunder and exploitation on young people. They should be tied to false victories, power, nationalism and racism and become slaves of the system."

According to Eriş, "the most dangerous dimension of the special war is the spread of drugs and prostitution in society. Drug use in particular is promoted in order to manipulate young people and alienate them from politics. At the same time, cases of sexual harassment and rape of young women by uniformed perpetrators have increased. The cases of Gülistan Doku and Ipek Er clearly show us the politics against young women in Kurdistan. As young people, we will not remain silent and oppose all those who try to push our people into prostitution and drug use."

Eriş said that "the claim and the power to shape history on a revolutionary-democratic basis is the only true reality that determines and reminds of the historical mission of young people. Therefore, we are the ones who will light up this darkness and bring a free future to society. We took over the fight for freedom from comrades like Haki, Kemal, Mazlum and Ibrahim. By expanding our legacy of resistance, we will eliminate this system that hangs over the peoples like a dark cloud. We will change this system that youth in Kurdistan and Turkey are subjected to by taking responsibility."

Resisting corruption

Eriş added that they "announced to the entire public that we have launched the campaign 'Li dijî şerê taybet têkoşînek bi heybet' against all methods of special warfare. As youth councils of the HDP and Green Left Party, we will conduct our renewal process in the light of this campaign - and intensify the struggle in the coming period together with our left-wing, socialist and revolutionary comrades.

We will continue our resistance until we break Abdullah Öcalan's isolation. We will stand up against drugs, patriarchy, ecological depletion, cultural genocide and all kinds of ideological devices that corrupt youth and society. To this end, we call on all young people to organize and fight as part of our campaign against the special war.”