‘In search of an identity’: Öcalan’s socialism

ABSTRACT

The leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan or PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, initially described his movement as a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist organization. However, his perspective on socialism changed over the period between the founding of the PKK in 1978 and the present. After his imprisonment on the island of İmralı in 1999, Öcalan sought to reformulate the ideological tenets of the PKK. In so doing, he challenged both orthodox Marxism and the Marxist-Leninist legacy of the PKK. This challenge was accompanied by a new theoretical search that resulted in the emergence of a multi-layered paradigm that Öcalan called ‘democratic civilization.’ This new paradigm, which was based on a critique of state-centred political perspectives, was heavily inspired by the works of Murray Bookchin, the founding figure of social ecology. Öcalan’s paradigm reshaped not only the political discourse of the PKK but also its organizational structure. Using an interpretive-textual methodology, this paper presents an outline of Öcalan’s approach to socialism. It argues that the change in Öcalan’s perspective on socialism provides insight into his ability to adapt his leadership to different situations, the eclectic nature of his political thought and his search for a new ideological identity for the PKK.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. A. Öcalan, Demokratik Uygarlık Çözümü 5 (İstanbul: Amara Yayıncılık, 2015), pp. 18, 302.

2. A. Öcalan, Devrimin Dili ve Eylemi (Place of publication unknown: Weşanên Serxwebûn, 1996), p. 61.

3. See J. Jongerden and A. H. Akkaya, ‘Born from the left: The making of the PKK’, in M. Cassier and J. Jongerden (Eds.) Nationalisms and Politics in Turkey: Political Islam, Kemalism, and The Kurdish Issue (London: Routledge, 2011), pp. 123–142; A. H. Akkaya, ‘The PKK’s ideological odyssey’, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 22 (2020), pp. 730–745; A. Marcus, Blood and Belief: The PKK and the Kurdish Fight for Independence (New York: New York University Press, 2007); A. K. Özcan, Turkey’s Kurds: A Theoretical Analysis of The PKK and Abdullah Öcalan (London: Routledge, 2006); C. Gunes, The Kurdish National Movement in Turkey: From Protest to Resistance (London: Routledge, 2012); P. White, The PKK: Coming Down from the Mountains (London: Zed Books, 2015); S. Saeed, Kurdish Politics in Turkey: From the PKK to the KCK (London: Routledge, 2017).

4. See A. H. Akkaya and J. Jongerden, ‘The PKK in the 2000s: Continuity through breaks?’, in Cassier and Jongerden (Eds.), op. cit., Ref. 3, pp. 143–162; Özcan, Turkey’s Kurds, op. cit., Ref. 3; H. B. Türk, ‘Nationalism, history and civilization in Öcalan’s thought’, National Identities, 24 (2022), pp. 287–302; H. B. Türk, ‘”The eye of the beholder”: Öcalan’s reading of Turkish political history’, Middle Eastern Studies, 58 (2022), pp. 540–552.

5. See B. B. Özpek, The Peace Process between Turkey and the Kurds: Anatomy of a Failure (London: Routledge, 2020); F. İbrahim, ‘The “foreign policy” of the PKK: Regional enemies and allies’, in F. İbrahim and G. Gürbey (Eds.), The Kurdish Conflict in Turkey: Obstacles and Chances for Peace and Democracy (Münster: Lit Verlag, 2000), pp. 103–118; H. J. Barkey and G. Fuller, Turkey’s Kurdish Question (Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 1998); D. Çifçi, The Kurds and the Politics of Turkey: Agency, Territory and Religion (London: I. B. Tauris, 2019); A. Aydın and C. Emrence, Zones of Rebellion: Kurdish Insurgents and the Turkish State (New York: Cornell University Press, 2015).

6. See Özcan, Turkey’s Kurds, op. cit., Ref. 3; Akkaya and Jongerden, ‘The PKK in the 2000s’, op. cit., Ref. 4; A. H. Akkaya and J. Jongerden, ‘Confederalism and autonomy in Turkey: The Kurdistan workers’ party and the reinvention of democracy’, in C. Gunes and W. Zeydanlıoğlu (Eds.) The Kurdish Question in Turkey: New Perspectives on Violence, Representation and Reconciliation (London: Routledge, 2014), pp. 186–201; Saeed, Kurdish Politics, op. cit., Ref. 3.

7. J. Lauer, ‘Methodology and political science’, SN Social Sciences, 1 (2021), p. 42.

8. C. Bayık, PKK Tarihi. Available at http://www.slideshare.net/fersend/pkk-tarihi-cuma-arkadas, accessed 15 June 2015, p. 26. See also A. Öcalan, Seçme Röportajlar 2 (Place of publication and date unknown: Bilim Aydınlanma Yayınları), p. 37.

9. J. Jongerden, ‘PKK, radikal demokrasi ve ulus-devletin ötesinde kendi kaderini tayin hakkı’, in J. Jongerden, A. Akkaya and B. Şimşek (Eds.), İsyandan İnşaya: Kürdistan Özgürlük Hareketi (Ankara: Dipnot Yayınları, 2015), p. 159.

10. A. H. Akkaya and J. Jongerden, ‘Reassembling the political: The PKK and the project of radical democracy’, European Journal of Turkish Studies, 14 (2012), p. 12.

11. A. Öcalan, Demokratik Kurtuluş ve Özgür Yaşamı İnşa (Neuss: Weşanen Mezopotamya, 2015), pp. 163, 295.

12. For the national democratic revolution debate, see S. Aydın, ‘Millî demokratik devrim’den “ulusal sol”a Türk solunda özgücü eğilim’, Toplum ve Bilim, 78 (1998), pp. 59–91. See also M. Belli, Devrimci Hareketimizin Eleştirisi (1961–1971) (İstanbul: Emekçi Yayınları, no date), p. 60; Ö. M. Ulus, Türkiye’de Sol ve Ordu (1960–1971) (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2016), pp. 211, 213, 219, 221, 230; G. Zileli, Yarılma (1954–1972) (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2015), pp. 193, 248, 322, 323; T. Z. Ekinci, Lice’den Paris’e Anılarım (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2013), p. 456; E. Aydınoğlu, Türk Solu (1960–1971) (İstanbul: Belge Yayınları, 1992), pp. 99, 110, 121, 124.

13. M. Tse-Tung, ‘On tactics against Japanese imperialism’, Selected Works of Mao Tse-Tung I (New York: Pergamon, 1975), p. 170.

14. A. Öcalan, Ortadoğu’nun Çehresini Değiştereceğiz: Seçme Röportajlar cilt 1 (Köln: Weşanên Serxwebûn, 1994), p. 262.

15. A. Öcalan, Kürdistan Devriminin Yolu (Manifesto) (Köln: Weşanên Serxwebûn, 1993), pp. 120–121.

16. M. Çayan, Toplu Yazılar (İstanbul: Su Yayınları, 2014), pp. 137–142. For Çayan’s national democratic revolution view, see S. T. Kozaklı, ‘Mahir Çayan’ın Siyasi Düşüncesi’, in M. Gültekingil (Ed.) Modern Türkiye’de Siyasi Düşünce Cilt 8: Sol (İstanbul: İletişim, 2007), pp. 500–506.

17. D. Avcıoğlu, Türkiye’nin Düzeni: Dün-Bügün-Yarın Cilt 1 (Ankara: Bilgi Yayınevi, 1973), pp. 147–149. See also J. M. Landau, Radical Politics in Modern Turkey (London: Routledge, 2016), pp. 79–87 and G. Atılgan, Yön-Devrim Hareketi: Kemalizm ile Marksizm Arasında Geleneksel Aydınlar (İstanbul: Yordam, 2008).

18. D. Avcıoğlu, Türkiye’nin Düzeni: Dün-Bügün-Yarın Cilt 2 (Ankara: Bilgi Yayınevi, 1973), pp. 582, 736–737, 740–743.

19. A. Öcalan, Mektuplar (Place of publication unknown: Weşanên Serxwebûn, 1998), pp. 24–25.

20. A. Öcalan, ‘Türkiye’deki toplumsal muhalafet’, Serxwebûn, Ağustos 1997, p. 8.

21. Whereas the primary alliance is composed of ‘the youth and the intellectuals’ and ‘the petty bourgeoisie in cities and other national forces', the secondary alliance refers to an alliance with ‘the patriotic movements in the other parts of Kurdistan’, ‘the revolutionary movements of countries that colonised Kurdistan’ and ‘the socialist countries, national liberation movements, the proletariat movement in developed countries and the progressive classes of mankind.’ See Öcalan, Kürdistan Devriminin Yolu, op. cit., Ref. 15, p. 126.

22. See Çayan, Toplu Yazılar, op. cit., Ref. 16, p. 323.

23. M. Sayın, Erkeği Öldürmek (İstanbul: Zelal Yayınları, 1998), pp. 199, 209.

24. J. Jongerden and A. H. Akkaya, PKK Üzerine Yazılar, Translated by. M. Çulhaoğlu (İstanbul: Vate Yayınevi, 2012), p. 11.

25. A. Öcalan, Sömürgeci Cumhuriyet Kirli ve Suçludur (Place of publication unknown: Weşanên Serxwebûn, 1995), p. 89.

26. A. Öcalan, İlk Konuşmalar (Place of publication unknown: Weşanên Serxwebûn, 1998), pp. 90–95. For the emergence of these groups, see M. van Bruinessen, Kürdistan Üzerine Yazılar (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2013), p. 173. See also H. Bozarslan, ‘Türkiye’de Kürt sol hareketi’, in M. Gültekingil (Ed.) Modern Türkiye’de Siyasi Düşünce Cilt 8: Sol (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2007), pp. 1175–1184; A. Tan, Kürt Sorunu (İstanbul: Timaş Yayınları, 2010), pp. 342–357; A. H. Akkaya, ‘Kürt Hareketinin Örgütlenme Süreci Olarak 1970ʹler’, Toplum ve Bilim, 127 (2013), p. 91, 95, 116.

27. C. Güneş, ‘Turkey’s new left’, New Left Review, 107 (2017), p. 12.

28. D. Kalkan, Kürdistan’da Demokratik Siyasetin Rolü Üzerine (İstanbul: Çetin Yayınları, 2006), pp. 65–74.

29. N. Düzel, Silinmek İstenen Bir Hafızanın Peşinde (İstanbul: Selis Kitaplar, 2012), pp. 16–17. See also M. Somer, Milada Dönüş: Ulus-Devletten Devlet-Ulusa Türk ve Kürt Meselesinin Üç İkilemi (İstanbul: Koç Üniversitesi Yayınları, 2015), p. 185; C. Gündoğan, ‘Geleneğin değersizleşmesi: Kürt hareketinin 1970ʹlerde gelenekselle ilişkisi üzerine’, in B. Ersanlı, G. G. Özdoğan and N. Uçarlar (Eds.) Türkiye Siyasetinde Kürtler: Direniş, Hak Arayışı, Katılım (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2012), p. 119.

30. Öcalan, Mektuplar, op. cit., Ref. 19, p. 25.

31. ‘Faşizme Karşı Birleşik Direniş Cephesi Kuruldu’, Serxwebûn, Haziran 1982, p. 1, 23. See also Jongerden and Akkaya, ‘Born from the left’, op. cit., Ref. 3, p. 133; İ. Alpat, Randevuyu Dağa Verdik (İstanbul: Bireşim Yayınları, 1996), pp. 167, 223, 194, 207; M. M. Uyan, Kardeşim Hepsi Hikâye (Ankara: Dipnot Yayınları, 2015), pp. 356, 360; Y. Ayaşlı, Yeraltında Beş Yıl (İstanbul: Yordam Kitap, 2011), p. 223.

32. Öcalan, İlk Konuşmalar, op. cit., Ref. 26, p. 252.

33. Öcalan, Kürdistan Devriminin Yolu, op. cit., Ref. 15, pp. 17–20, 44–45, 59, 63, 106.

34. Öcalan, ibid., p. 134.

35. J. V. Stalin, ‘Marxism and The National Question’, in V. I. Lenin, Marxism & Nationalism (Chippendale: Resistance Books, 2002), p. 206.

36. Bozarslan, ‘Türkiye’de Kürt sol hareketi’, op. cit., Ref. 26, pp. 1193–1194.

37. G. Zileli, Sapak (1983–1992) (İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları, 2013), p. 25.

38. A. Öcalan, Seçme Yazılar Cilt 6 (Köln: Weşanên Serxwebûn, 1995), pp. 165–166.

39. A. Fırat, Türkiye Sosyalist ve Demokratik Hareketi (İstanbul: Melsa Yayınları, 1991), pp. 10, 21, 32.

40. A. Öcalan, PKK 5. Kongresi’ne Sunulan Politik Rapor (Köln: Weşanên Serxwebûn, 1995), p. 74.

41. Sayın, Erkeği Öldürmek, op. cit., Ref. 23, pp. 273–274.

42. A. Öcalan, Bir Muhatap Arıyorum (Köln: Weşanên Serxwebûn, 1994), p. 301.

43. Öcalan, Sömürgeci Cumhuriyet, op. cit., Ref. 25, p. 211.

44. A. Öcalan, Sosyalizmde Israr İnsan Olmakta Isrardır (Place of publication unknown: Weşanên Serxwebûn, 1998), p. 135.

45. Bozarslan, ‘Türkiye’de Kürt sol hareketi’, op. cit., Ref. 26, p. 1196–1198.

46. Sayın, Erkeği Öldürmek, op. cit., Ref. 23, pp. 165–166.

47. A. Öcalan, Sosyalizm ve Devrim Sorunları (İstanbul: Melsa Yayınları, 1992), p. 163.

48. Öcalan, ibid., p. 134.

49. Öcalan, ibid., p. 284.

50. A. Öcalan, Seçme Yazılar Cilt 1 (İstanbul: Melsa Yayınları, 1992), p. 288.

51. Öcalan, Sosyalizm ve Devrim Sorunları, op. cit., Ref. 47, p. 22.

52. Öcalan, ibid., pp. 74, 86.

53. Öcalan, ibid., pp. 111–112.

54. Öcalan, ibid., p. 161.

55. Öcalan, ibid., p. 134.

56. D. Perinçek, Abdullah Öcalan’la Görüşmeler (İstanbul: Kaynak Yayınları, 2009), p. 181.

57. R. W. Cox, ‘Real socialism in historical perspective’, Socialist Register, 27 (1991), p. 170.

58. Öcalan, Sosyalizm ve Devrim Sorunları, op. cit., Ref. 47, pp. 212, 232.

59. Öcalan, Sosyalizmde Israr, op. cit., Ref. 44, p. 120.

60. Öcalan, Sosyalizm ve Devrim Sorunları, op. cit., Ref. 47, p. 297.

61. Öcalan, ibid., pp. 327, 331.

62. Öcalan, Sosyalizmde Israr, op. cit., Ref. 44, pp. 67–68. See also Öcalan, PKK 5. Kongresi’ne, op. cit., Ref. 40, p. 55.

63. Öcalan, Sosyalizm ve Devrim Sorunları, op. cit., Ref. 47, p. 358.

64. Öcalan, ibid., p. 47.

65. Öcalan, ibid., pp. 237, 239.

66. Öcalan, Sosyalizmde Israr, op. cit., Ref. 44, p. 99.

67. Özcan, Turkey’s Kurds, op. cit., Ref. 3, p. 136.

68. ‘Kongre İzlenimleri’, Serxwebûn, Şubat 1995, p. 26.

69. Öcalan, Sosyalizm ve Devrim Sorunları, op. cit., Ref. 47, pp. 305–306.

70. Öcalan, ibid., p. 249, 337.

71. Öcalan, ibid., p. 362.

72. Öcalan, Sosyalizmde Israr, op. cit., Ref. 44, p. 224.

73. Öcalan, Sosyalizm ve Devrim Sorunları, op. cit., Ref. 47, pp. 252–254.

74. Öcalan, Sosyalizmde Israr, op. cit., Ref. 44, p. 29.

75. In 1993, Öcalan noted that ‘Today there is no working class as it was in the 19th century.’ See Öcalan, ibid., p. 38.

76. Accordingly, Öcalan believed that ‘the only power that can save the nature and mankind is scientific socialism’. See Öcalan, Sosyalizm ve Devrim Sorunları, op. cit., Ref. 47, p. 341.

77. For instance, Öcalan argued that ‘stress is a byproduct of imperialism.’ See Öcalan, Sosyalizmde Israr, op. cit., Ref. 44, pp. 49–50. Similarly, he regarded cancer and AIDS as the byproducts of capitalism. See Öcalan, ibid., pp. 34, 74 and Öcalan, PKK 5. Kongresi’ne, op. cit., Ref. 40, p. 61.

78. Öcalan, Sosyalizm ve Devrim Sorunları, op. cit., Ref. 47, p. 360.

79. Öcalan, Sosyalizmde Israr, op. cit., Ref. 44, p. 24.

80. Öcalan, ibid., p. 155.

81. Öcalan, ibid., p. 179.

82. Öcalan, Sosyalizm ve Devrim Sorunları, op. cit., Ref. 47, p. 285, 290, 308.

83. Akkaya, ‘The PKK’s ideological odyssey’, op. cit., Ref. 1, p. 740.

84. P. Dinc, ‘The Kurdish movement and the democratic federation of northern Syria: An alternative to the (nation-) state model?’, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 22 (2020), p. 50.

85. M. A. Peters, ‘Ecopolitical philosophy, education and grassroots democracy: The “return” of Murray Bookchın (and John Dewey?)’, Geopolitics, History, and International Relations, 9 (2017), p. 8.

86. M. Yegen, ‘Armed struggle to peace negotiations: independent Kurdistan to democratic autonomy, or the PKK in context’, Middle East Critique, 25 (2016), p. 378.

87. A. Öcalan, İmralı Konuşmaları: Barış Umudu Cilt 1 (İstanbul: Çetin Yayınları, 2005), p. 111.

88. A. Öcalan, Demokratik Uygarlık Çözümü 3 (İstanbul: Amara Yayıncılık, 2015), p. 23.

89. Öcalan, ibid., p. 134.

90. M. Bookchin, Social Ecology and Communalism (Oakland: AK Press, 2006), p. 89.

91. M. Bookchin, Remaking Society: Pathways to a Green Future (Boston: South End Press, 1990), p. 80.

92. D. Gerber and S. Brincat, ‘When Öcalan met Bookchin: The Kurdish freedom movement and the political theory of democratic confederalism’ Geopolitics, 26 (2021), pp. 980–981.

93. Akkaya and Jongerden, ‘Reassembling the political’, op. cit., Ref. 10, p. 7.

94. A. Öcalan, Bir Halkı Savunmak (İstanbul: Çetin Yayınları, 2004), p. 332.

95. Öcalan, ibid., p. 359.

96. A. Öcalan, Demokratik Uygarlık Çözümü 1 (İstanbul: Amara Yayıncılık, 2015), pp. 106–107.

97. A. Öcalan, Sümer Rahip Devletinden Halk Cumhuriyetine Doğru Cilt-1 (İstanbul: Mem Yayınları, 2001), p. 300.

98. Öcalan, Demokratik Uygarlık Çözümü 5, op. cit., Ref. 1, p. 424.

99. Öcalan, Demokratik Uygarlık Çözümü 3, op. cit., Ref. 88, pp. 206–208, 224–249.

100. Öcalan, ibid., pp. 140–141.

101. A. Öcalan, Demokratik Uygarlık Çözümü 2 (İstanbul: Amara Yayıncılık, 2015), p. 184.

102. Öcalan, Demokratik Uygarlık Çözümü 5, op. cit., Ref. 1, pp. 424–433.

103. Öcalan, ibid., pp. 50.

104. Öcalan, ibid., p. 465.

105. A. Öcalan, Demokratik Özerklik, Komünar, 47 (2010), pp. 4, 8–11.

106. Öcalan, Demokratik Uygarlık Çözümü 3, op. cit., Ref. 88, pp. 206–208, 224–249.

107. KCK Sözleşmesi (no date), Available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4HO5r4WOpdzOGMxY3BPd3JpOHc/edit?pref=2&pli=1, accessed 10 June 2018, pp. 4, 9–15.

108. Öcalan, Demokratik Uygarlık Çözümü 5, op. cit., Ref. 1, pp. 32–33, 37, 47.

109. M. Yegen, ‘The Turkish left and the Kurdish question’, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 18 (2016), p. 172.

110. Öcalan, Demokratik Kurtuluş, op. cit., Ref. 11, pp. 103–104.

111. See Öcalan, Demokratik Uygarlık Çözümü 3, op. cit., Ref. 88, and A. Öcalan, Demokratik Uygarlık Çözümü 4 (İstanbul: Amara Yayıncılık, 2015).

112. See Öcalan, Demokratik Uygarlık Çözümü 4, op. cit., Ref. 111.

113. Türk, ‘‘Nationalism, history and civilization’, op. cit., Ref. 4.

114. Türk, ibid.

115. See Türk, ‘”The eye of the beholder”’, op. cit., Ref. 4.

116. For Öcalan’s biography, see M. Yücel, Abdullah Öcalan: Amara’dan İmralı’ya (İstanbul: Alfa, 2014); M. A. Birand, Apo ve PKK (İstanbul: Milliyet Yayınları, 1992); O. Pirim and S. Örtülü, Ömerli Köyünden İmralı’ya PKK’nın 20 Yıllık Öyküsü (İstanbul: Boyut Yayıncılık, 1999); İ. G. İmset, The PKK: A Report On Separatist Violence in Turkey (1973–1992) (Ankara: Turkish Daily News Publications, 1992); A. Tekin, İmralı’daki Konuk (İstanbul: Paraf Yayınları, 2013); Öcalan, Demokratik Uygarlık Çözümü 5, op. cit. Ref. 1; Öcalan, Devrimin Dili ve Eylemi, op. cit., Ref. 2; R. Ballı, Kürt Dosyası (İstanbul: Cem Yayınevi, 1991); A. Öcalan and Y. Küçük, Kürt Bahçesinde Sözleşi (Ankara: Başak Yayınları, 1993); Perinçek, Abdullah Öcalan’la Görüşmeler, op. cit., Ref. 56; Marcus, Blood and Belief, op. cit., Ref. 3.

117. See A. Öcalan, Sümer Rahip Devletinden Halk Cumhuriyetine Doğru Cilt-2 (İstanbul: Mem Yayınları, 2001); Öcalan, Bir Halkı Savunmak, op. cit., Ref. 94.

118. For this process, see K. Hudson, The New European Left: A Socialism for the 21st century? (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012).

119. For an analysis of the events in the Middle East during the 1990s, see R. Owen, State Power and Politics in the Making of the Modern Middle East (London: Routledge, 2000).

120. V. I. Lenin, ‘The Right of Nations to Self-Determination’, in J. Katzer (Ed.) V. I. Lenin Collected Works Vol. 20 (Moscow: Progress Publishers, 1977), pp. 393–454.

121. Öcalan, Demokratik Uygarlık Çözümü 2, op. cit., Ref. 101, p. 147.