The Revolution In Kurdistan

5th Congress, Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), 24 January 1995:
PKK Party Program, Chapter Three

The Characteristics Of The Revolution In Kurdistan

The revolution in Kurdistan, which is led by our party, is a national and a democratic revolution whose most important characteristics can be described as follows:

A) Our revolution has two fundamental aspects, namely one national and one democratic. The national aspect takes aim at the rule of colonialism in the political, military, economic, and cultural spheres. In its initial phases, our revolution stressed this aspect. The national contradiction is the main contradiction and determines the solution for the other social contradictions. If the national contradiction is not resolved, there is no possibility to solve the remaining social contradictions on their own. The first steps which were taken in the name of the revolution were primarily national in character and they placed Kurdistan in a phase of extensive revolutionary development. The second aspect of our revolution is democratic. The democratic revolution aims to defeat the remaining social contradictions which have been in place since the Middle Ages. These contradictions include exploitation by feudal compradors, tribalism, religious conflicts, and the slave-like suppression of women. As soon as these contradictions are solved, the society will take on a democratic character.

Both aspects of our revolution are closely tied to one another. The democratic revolution develops in conjunction with the dominant aspect, the national revolution. Likewise, the national revolution is closely tied to the democratization of the society.

B) Another characteristic of the revolution in Kurdistan lies in the problem of leadership. The national and democratic revolution displays two types of leadership: firstly, that of class, and secondly, the leadership in the various geographical regions. As for class, the intensive struggle between the feudal comprador class, the petty bourgeoisie, and the working class has led to important results. The praxis of the national liberation struggle has shown that the fundamental force which will lead to the victory of the revolution is the unity between the workers and the peasants; the leadership which will bring victory is the ideological, political, and organizational leadership of the working class. The leading forces of the other classes are steadily losing their power, and they can no longer pose a serious threat to colonialism. On the other hand, there has been a steady development in the leadership of the working class, which is embodied in our party.

Due to the division of Kurdistan into different parts, the leadership in the various regions is also of significance. Previously, South Kurdistan, despite its backwards social structure and relatively small geographical area, represented the leadership and the potential for all of Kurdistan. But the leadership there caused great damage and losses, and the national liberation struggle in this region has not had any results. This stagnating situation improved, however, following the rise of the national liberation movement in the largest and most developed region of Kurdistan, the northwest. The leadership in Northwest Kurdistan, whose struggle has been directed against the Turkish Republic, has been characterized by gained and lasting achievements.

Our party, which presented a solution to both the question of class as well as the question of the local leadership, has pushed the national liberation struggle in a revolutionary direction by fighting against tendencies such as bourgeois nationalism, national denial, and submission. The revolutionary socialist leadership provided by our party will continue to lead the national and democratic revolution, according to the line of the working class, on a socialist path, without interruption.

C) The third characteristic of our revolution is the long-term vision of the struggle and the broad mobilization of popular forces. This has manifested itself in praxis in the form of a protracted people's war. On the basis of this long-term popular uprising, the use of all forms of struggle are required. Only through such a means of struggle can the strong foundations of colonialism be broken down and defeated. The struggle which is taking place, whose practical realization is this line, has shown the correctness of this approach through its significant revolutionary developments.

D) The fourth fundamental characteristic of our revolution is that it is not limited to Kurdistan, rather it has an influence on its surroundings and on the entire region. That shows the universalism of our revolution. This characteristic of our revolution can be explained by the fact that it is a social revolution with a broad base, and that it continues to grow stronger despite being in a world situation where there are developments aimed against it. It affects the interests of all the nations in the region due to the fact that Kurdistan is divided. This characteristic gives life to our revolution and exerts an influence on the entire region; if things continue to develop in this direction, our revolution will have an influence at the global level as well.

The Tasks Of The Revolution In Kurdistan

Our revolution is necessary to arrive, through socialism, at our ultimate goal, namely a classless society. The revolution will realize the following tasks:

A) An end to Turkish colonialism and all forms of imperialist domination over Kurdistan. In order to do this, the following must be achieved.

1) A national, united front of workers, peasants, intellectuals, and other classes and sectors must be developed and expanded.

2) In order to secure the complete organization of the population, associations for workers, peasants, youths, women, and others must be further expanded.

3) The people's war, the fundamental form of struggle against colonialism, must continue on the path to victory, and its base organizations and people's army must be further developed.

4) Conflicts between the various population groups, which are continually fueled by the colonialists and their local agents, must be stopped. Those tendencies which aim at purely local or nationalist organizing must be defeated.

5) All attempts at special regional status or autonomy which do not aim to break the colonialism of the Turkish Republic, and which in fact are collaborations with colonialism, must be exposed and a decisive struggle must be waged against them.

6) The property of those people who collaborated with the colonialists during the war and who acted against the people must be confiscated and redistributed to poor and needy members of the society.

7) We must create our own institutions of economics, culture, health, and education in order to stop diseases and to fight against the other forms of destruction of nature and people which have been brought about by about by colonialism.

B) A national, independent, democratic society, ruled by the people, must be established. In order to do this, the following must be achieved:

8) The nationalization of all institutions, including factories, farms, and other establishments, belonging to the colonialists.

9) The abolishment of the colonialist financial and credit system, to be replaced with an independent financial and credit system.

10) There will not be any foreign military bases or other such privileges anywhere in the country.

11) Land reform must be carried out in the interest of the working class.

12) All debts by farmers to creditors and banks will be annulled.

13) As part of the democratization of the society, all hindrances to the organization of working people in the economic, political, and cultural spheres must be eliminated, and such organizations must be granted legal status.

14) New employment possibilities must be created for the workers, bearing in mind that the physical and mental development of workers is of great importance. Furthermore, the work day shall be 8 hours long.

15) The colonialist legal system will be disbanded and replaced by a democratic judicial system.

16) All forms of oppression against women will be stopped, and the equal status of women and men in the society will be realized in all areas of social and political life. Women, who possess an enormous social revolutionary dynamic, will be mobilized towards this aim.

17) All forms of oppression against minority groups, be they national or religious, will be stopped; without lapsing into nationalism, all cultures will be guaranteed cultural freedom; the various cultures in the country will be viewed as a valuable asset.

C) An independent economic structure must be built up. In order to do this, the following must be achieved:

18) The economy will be centrally planned.

19) Public ownership must be differentiated from state capitalism, and state capitalism must be resisted. The guiding principle which is to be realized is that in science, politics, and the production of the society, you can only take as much as you give.

20) In the realm of public property, an emphasis will be placed upon the development of heavy industries.

21) There will be public control over resources, transportation, trade, finance, and means of mass communication.

22) Farmers will be encouraged to form collectives and they will be supported in this effort.

D) In place of colonialist education and culture, a national educational and cultural system must be established. All dialects of the Kurdish language will be allowed to develop, although one will be made into the national language. With respect to the Kurdish language, literature, and history, intensive research will be carried out, and to aid in this, research institutes will be created.

23) The entire population will be able to learn to read and write.

E) For revolution and unity in Kurdistan, the following are needed:

24) The revolution in the various parts of Kurdistan is primarily the task of the people living in those regions.

25) Efforts at pushing through certain reforms under the guise of autonomy, using the means of the colonialist state, are to be resisted in all parts of Kurdistan.

26) Efforts must be made to increase the support and solidarity between the revolutionary forces in the different parts of Kurdistan.

27) Efforts must be made to bring success to the revolutionary line in all parts of Kurdistan.

28) The basis of unity will be the right to self-determination for the people of all the various parts of Kurdistan.

29) The democratic rights of Kurdish people spread out across the countries of the world must be guaranteed. Kurds living abroad should join with progressive humanity and with the struggle in Kurdistan. Preparations should be made to facilitate these people's return home to Kurdistan.

F) With respect to relations with neighboring peoples and international questions, we must apply the principles of proletarian internationalism. In order to do this, the following must be achieved:

30) Due to the division of Kurdistan between different countries, all relations with revolutionary forces among neighboring peoples will be based on the assumption that all revolutionary movements are themselves responsible for the revolution in their own country; on this basis, different forms of joint struggle at various levels must be developed.

31) Unity with neighboring peoples must be based on the notion that all peoples are independent and free. All forced unities which are not based on this notion must be resisted. Relations with neighboring peoples, in particular with the people of Turkey, will be developed within our vision of a Federation of the Middle East.

32) Relations with independent countries and their national liberation movements, cooperation with movements of the working class and revolutionary forces across the world, and solidarity with democratic, anti-fascist, environmental, and humanitarian circles must be built up.