Page 228 - America's Failure to Perceive the PKK

T The desire for territory under the name

of "democratic autonomy"

The most prominent term in this engineering of perception is
without doubt "democratic autonomy." This expression, which we
suddenly began hearing a lot more of after the March 2014 local elec-
tions, is in fact a euphemism for fragmentation. It is uttered by politi-
cians who favor breaking the country up in such a saccharine and

harmless-appearing way that they even have begun criticizing Turk-
ish people for making it an issue. These people maintain that "demo-
cratic autonomy" is a democratic move.

The fact is, however, that in the language of the PKK, democrat-
ic autonomy is not a democratic move at all. Democracy is used as a
mask for breaking the country up. In fact, even if the PKK obtained
an autonomous state, rather than being founded on democracy, it
would be based on communism and a communal system. Indeed, the
KCK declaration, which represents the constitution of that imaginary
state, sets that out explicitly.

The impression that some circles are trying to give by speaking
of democratic autonomy is that "We do not want a direct break-up;"
but behind that, they seek to prepare all the factors necessary for

fragmentation. The means available to municipalities will particular-
ly be used for that purpose. In other words, those means will be
mobilized for communist propaganda.

While the perception engineering, the general lines of which are
outlined above, proceeds apace in the wake of the local elections,
unexpected and astonishing demands squeezed into that framework
are a part of that same stratagem. One example of this is the way that,
a few weeks after the election, Kurdish politician of the Peace and
Democracy Party (BDP) and mayor of Diyarbakır Gültan Kışanak
75
announced that, "We want our share of the oil revenues." That was
intended to give the impression that an autonomous administration

226 America's Failure to Perceive the PKK