The New Kurdish Right – By Müjge Küçükkeleş & Selim Koru (Newsline Magazine) / April 13 2021
An emerging style of right-wing politics among Turkey’s Kurds defines itself in opposition to both the Turkish state and the PKK’s left-liberation mythos. It could upend the country’s politics
In Turkey, the most recent flashpoint between the Erdoğan government and the opposition has been Boğaziçi University in Istanbul, one of the country’s most prestigious universities. The government appointed a rector over the wishes of the staff and students, who have been staging a protest for the past few months. The People’s Democratic Party, or HDP, the country’s most progressive and pro-Kurdish party, is also the strongest supporter of the protesters.
Some Kurds think that it shouldn’t be. Sıdkı Zilan, a lawyer and public commentator, tweeted:
“Kurds and Kurdish youth, stay away from this fight; the university isn’t yours, nor is the rector your father, the state isn’t yours, nor is the government. … Sweat for Kurdish education, for the liberty of our people; and besides there is a political struggle and manipulation in this; you aren’t the ones who are going to rise to government.”
This line of thinking became so pronounced on social media that leftist adherents of the Kurdish movement felt the need to respond. Sabiha Temizkan, a journalist who also happens to be the daughter of imprisoned HDP MP Leyla Guven, tweeted: “Some say that Kurds shouldn’t support Boğaziçi, that they [opposition Turks] remained silent when the mayoralties of the Kurds were ousted and replaced with government trustees. Here we go again with these comments. We’re not defending any particular people’s rights, we are defending what is right. Don’t dredge up divisions here too.”
CONTINUE > https://newlinesmag.com/argument/the-new-kurdish-right/
