ON THE DISSOLUTION OF THE KADEK

Kongra Azadî û Demokrasiya Kurdistan
Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress
Congrès pour la Démocratie et la Liberté du Kurdistan

ON THE DISSOLUTION OF THE KADEK

When the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) declared it had fulfilled its historical mission and was dissolved on the occasion of its 8th Congress in April 2002, the Congress for Freedom and Democracy in Kurdistan (KADEK) announced its establishment and vowed to continue the heritage of struggle for the liberation of the Kurds. The KADEK marked an important stage in the transformation process of the democratic Kurdish movement. Centred on a resolution of the existing conflicts through democratisation, the KADEK took significant steps towards rapprochement. However, these steps proved an insufficient means to overcome the deadlock caused by the dominant central states' inveterate policies of denying the Kurds any rights.

The KADEK's various calls for dialogue remained unanswered despite the fact that its guerrilla forces observed a unilateral ceasefire over four years, starting from 1999. In August 2003, it presented a detailed road map as a concrete, viable framework for addressing the grievances of the Kurds in the regional states, aiming at separate bilateral processes between representatives of the Kurds and the governments of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria respectively. The KADEK simultaneously called for co-ordination among the existing Kurdish parties. There can be no doubt that the approach adopted by the KADEK had an encouraging impact on the political process that led to constitutional changes in Turkey, entailing the abolition of death penalty and the abrogation of the constitutional ban on the use of the Kurdish vernacular. The organisational form of a congress allowed for the creation of specific organisations catering for the needs of Kurds in the different countries, and supported decentralisation by allowing for autonomous political work in given areas. However, the program and organisational structure of the KADEK fell short of meeting the requirements of the political struggle for pluralist, democratic civil life. Residues of the Leninist party model, as well as patterns of traditional, dogmatic Middle Eastern thought, rendered it a narrow and hierarchical formation that failed to incorporate new social groups and democratic elements.

These shortcomings had an adverse effect on the KADEK's principal objective to establish a dialogue among the key players in the Kurdish issue in the Middle East. While deploring that the dominant regional states and some international forces pursued their long-standing efforts to eradicate the Kurdish freedom struggle against the backdrop of a clear misuse of the term 'terrorism', the KADEK is aware of its own responsibilities in resolving this situation. The substantial democratic openings expressed in the organisation's program were only inadequately reflected in its inner structure; the personal continuity in the upper echelons fuelled spitefully dismissive notions that the KADEK is a mere continuation of the PKK. This, in turn, tainted international overtures and negatively affected the democratisation process envisaged.

Noting that the policies of the regional states hinge on the refusal to acknowledge the Kurdish reality, and that these policies and the international support they can still rally constitute the foremost reason for the failure to achieve a settlement, the Kurdish movement nevertheless has to take steps on its own part to facilitate a resolution. The recent developments in the Middle East and the wider political conjuncture provide us with significant opportunities for democratisation and a resolution of the Kurdish conflict. They can be used for the benefit of the Kurdish people to the extent that its organised political forces present an articulated will to arrive at a realistic solution.
It is on these grounds that the Congress for Democracy and Freedom in Kurdistan (KADEK) is being dissolved in order to make way for a new, more democratic organisational structure that allows for broader participation. This new structure shall be representative of the Kurdish people's interests, legitimate under international criteria, and conducive to the pursuit of democratic and lawful political articulation with a view on negotiating a peaceful settlement with the dominant nation states.

First draft translation from the Turkish original.

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