We Sprout Our Wings To Be Free!
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International Bulletin / Issue 199 / June 2019

The 6th Congress of the Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) and its 2nd Communist Women‘s Conference were held. Hivron Razmuhi, representative of the Communist Women‘s Organization (KKÖ) and member of the General Council of Women's United Revolution Movement (KBDH), conducted an interview after the 2nd Women‘s Conference. She explained the conditions under which the conference was gathered, what kind of changes were made programmatically and her opinions about the struggle priorities of women. Hivron Razmuhi answered the questions as follows:
You have realized your 2nd Conference while women‘s struggle for freedom is going through an intensive process. Can you evaluate the process leading to the 2nd Conference of the KKÖ and the state of the liberation of women?
During this period, women became the main subjects of social struggles and at the same time they came forward with their own demands. The developing women‘s movement is growing as a riot movement. The women‘s movement against the sexist policies of the patriarchal, homophobic capitalist system was on the streets in a vast geography ranging from Iran to America since the period in which we convened our 1st conference. At the same time, they became the signal rockets, determined pioneers, braveness symbols playing the role of icebreakers for the working class and oppressed in their revolts, uprisings, revolutions, against patriarchal capitalism, poverty, hunger, racism, militarism, fascist regimes and colonialism. While witnessing the systematic increase in the social and male violence towards women, we have seen that women use their self-defense rights parallel to the development of gender consciousness. From Turkey to India, from Italy to Germany, examples thereof revealed. While the war of defense of the Rojava revolution was continuing against the political and military siege and invasion attacks, the misogynist fascist ISIS gangs were defeated. On the other hand, the process of building the revolution continued. Our Rojava revolution continues to be a source of inspiration for the women‘s movement and as a lighthouse in the struggle for equality and freedom.
In this period, the fascist AKP under Erdogan was reorganized in the form of a fascist chief-regime. He turned to the restoration of society around a political-islamist ideology. Gender contradictions have been deepened. The family institution was strengthened in order to consolidate women‘s sexual domestic slavery with the elimination of the rights gained. Women took the brunt of these attacks in the street in Turkey and Kurdistan. As the fascist chief regime was increasing the persecution and state terror on women getting to be subjects in politics, they were pushed out of politics. During this period, the sexist attacks against women guerrilla bodies did not lose pace. In the face of all these attacks, the women continued to exist in the political struggle both as armed and in other areas without stepping back one step.
While patriarchal oppression and exploitation on the female labor and body in the world has increased, the impoverishment of women has deepened and the sex industry has been developed through female sexuality in the world. The world women‘s movement spent 2019 with preparations for a women‘s strike on 8 March. The political calendar days of the struggle for freedom of women, 8 March and 25 November, each year, unlike the previous one, has developed remarkably in terms of extensiveness, massiveness and militancy. We, as communist women, as subjects of hot days of resistance, from Turkey to North Kurdistan, from Rojava to the guerrilla areas and to Europe, organized this conference.
We conducted our discussions with the necessity of translating these topics, which our conference has handled as the political agendas of women revolution, into the possibilities of organizing women masses against homophobic, patriarchal capitalism and the fascist AKP regime. While discussing our problems in organizing the oppressed women as the subject of the women revolution and as a destructive force against the sexist capitalist system, we have developed perspectives on the solutions of these. In this direction, we get to work on tasks.
With your conference and your party‘s congress, there are a number of changes reflected in your program. How did the idea of women revolution take place in your program?
We have conducted discussions on the theoretical, ideological, political agendas of women revolution, and have made courageous decisions depending on our definition of the 21st century as the century of women revolutions. We have come to the conclusion that the democratic, popular and socialist revolutions against the imperialist capitalist order, the reactionary fascist regimes and bourgeois powers in the 21st century will develop as women revolutions at the same time. These findings were reflected in our revolution program.
The definition of women revolution, for the first time, takes part in the revolution program of a communist party under the leadership of communist women, although the definition itself does not belong to us. It has a strategic importance in our program and is distinctive as it gives direction to our political and ideological struggle. Thus, we are handling women revolution more than only being a theoretical discourse. Therefore, together with its goals and duties covering the present and the future, we take our women revolution in a vivid and dynamic way, shaping our struggle for social and gender freedom. At the 6th congress of our party, with our discussions and perspectives from our 2nd conference; the women revolution was recognized as the revolutionary program of women‘s liberation. The congress determined that the alliance of the oppressed class and the oppressed gender would gain character in the united revolution.
In line with these findings, with the discussions conducted in our conference and in our party congress, in our anti-fascist, anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist, gender emancipatory, democratic revolution program, it has been stated that: "Women will be equal and independent partner of power in the Union of People's Republics of Turkey and the Kurdistan". This decision has further secured with the article "all institutions of the Union of People's Republics will be established and operated according to the principles of gender equality and co-representation". We drew the conclusion that this case, which we formulated as a dual power, a form of dual governance, must also take place as a necessity in the political organization of the revolution. The congress that sees "the construction of the new society as a guarantee of the realization of women‘s liberation" explained this in the program as "women will organize their social structure independently, in addition to the co-representation in all institutions, the union of women worker's-laborer's councils will be established, women‘s army and militia will be formed, and special courts for sexual crimes constituted of women and LGBTI+'s will be established."
Our findings that the enslavement of the female sex has developed with private property has shaped our theoretical and political remarks since the establishment of our party. Our findings that sexist exploitation gained a heterosexist character at a certain stage of the development of history also took part in our program as a result of our 2nd conference discussions.
Can you evaluate the decisions and new approaches about LGBTI+?
One of the formulations in our revolution program is as follows: „LGBTI+'s will be assured of the rights of speech, action, organization; a systematic ideological and political struggle against hate speech, homophobia, transphobia and heterosexism will be given; penalty increase will be applied for the heterosexist crimes."
We have reached a level of understanding that sees LGBTI+ movement not as a substitute of our women revolution, but as a direct force according to the results of discussions that we conducted about this movement on the theoretical, political basis. This also represents the threshold at which the communist movement has come in terms of both theoretical and programmatic levels up to date. Our conference also discussed the problems of representation of women in political structures. In this axis, it examined the practices of the quota and co-representation for women‘s subjectivation and becoming a will. In the history of communist parties, it is the first time, that the institution of secretariat has been replaced by a co-chairpresidentship. The representation of communist women within the communist party has reached such a central, strategic level of representation. These reflect the level of liberation of communist women, their determination to fight, their level of theoretical development. This has been the result of the achievements by the communist women and the communist party in the struggle to build the women‘s revolution along with what we have accumulated in the women's liberation struggle.
In the last period, especially in the Middle East, there is an acceleration for the united women‘s freedom struggle. As the KKÖ, what kind of work will you do in the next period against both the patriarchal mentality and the capitalist system?
The task and possibility of growing women‘s revolts, improving women‘s self-defense, raising the united women‘s movement are developed more than before. Looking at this period, KBDH was established as something unique in the political-military alliance of women. The problems of organizing, creating and establishing various forms of organization within the women's masses are waiting to be solved. The structural means developed on the basis of the practical legitimate struggle of women such as the initiative, platform, committee etc. constitute the ground for enlarging the common struggle against the sexist policies of fascist regime. We need to transform this ground into a political organizational force. This requires pioneering steps. There is a growing awareness of the legitimacy of self-defense against patriarchal violence, which has been revealed in the practice of individual women and includes a large part of women. The duty of vanguard women, the communist women, is to turn this consciousness into an organized ground. On this basis, women‘s self-defense committees, women‘s antifascist committees, rebellion committees against male violence, committees against poverty, etc. whatever we name them, whether the creation of semi-military or flexible organizations, should be among our priorities. Schools, neighborhoods, factories, streets, which mean all living spaces of women should be the places to build and organize these organizations.
Under imperialist conditions, women learn from each other‘s experience. It should be one of the agendas of the women‘s movement to promote resistance against capitalism, patriarchy, and to foster resistance around common agendas with united struggle, such as women‘s strike experiences. Besides, like Sudan, like Algeria, it should be among our agenda to evaluate wherever there are women‘s gains in terms of the basis of the global women‘s movement and to increase the solidarity movements.
It should be the duty of communist women to bring the experiences of Rojava revolution to the world women‘s movement, as well as the task of creating and enlarging the internationalist women‘s solidarity that will be formed around the Rojava revolution.
The Rojava Women Revolution continues its struggle against all occupations and threats in its 8th year. What are the problems of the Rojava Women Revolution and what are your solutions to these problems?
Afrin, which we defend with great heroism, is under the occupation of the colonial forces. There are the same threats to other parts of Rojava. Afrin‘s cleansing from the gangs holds an important place in the protection of the achievements of our revolution which is developed on the basis of women liberty and equality. In line with this basic need, it is within the scope of our duties to raise the awareness of self-defense of the Rojava peoples, especially women, to make self-defense practical. As well as the solidarity practices to be developed around the Rojava revolution, it is as actual as necessary to develop the struggle for the spread of the revolution to a regional revolution.
On the other hand, our revolution is experiencing the problems of a revolution which is becoming. It is in the process of building the new social structure. In terms of the tasks of the construction of our revolution; we can define them as the change of the social structure with the female libertarian and egalitarian approach, the demolition of old understanding and approaches and the construction on the egalitarian-libertarian basis. This construction struggle is important to ensure the security of the Rojava revolution. The struggle against gender roles will continue to be a topic of both political and ideological struggle. In the words of the comrade Baran Serhat, who we bid farewell to immortality on 23 March, the Rojava revolution must enter the houses, and must ensure that the roles and the sexist division of work within the family institution are overthrown.
The hunger strikes and death fast s initiated by Leyla Guven, resulted in victory. This process led to a new acceleration of women‘s resistance under the leadership of headscarf-wearing mothers. Where should this acceleration evolve in the next period?
First of all, I would like to salute our mothers who have become symbols of resistance, and especially those who are involved in the resistance, starting from Leyla Guven.
In the process of resistance of indefinite hunger strike and death fast, it will be appropriate to draw attention to the women's will. An elected representative, Leyla Guven, has taken a pioneering step to become a barricade against the isolation attack as a political woman and mother. The banner of resistance in this action grew in the hands of the revolutionary prisoners, along with thousands of PKK - PAJK prisoners and our comrades of MLKP/KKÖ who had been raising their comradeship with them. The resistance that has developed under the leadership of a political woman has been recorded in history with this side. Although the resistance of indefinite hunger strike and death fast have been completed, the fight against isolation will continue with new tools and forms. This resistance was not only against the isolation, as was said at the beginning. This action meant to become a barricade against the attacks of the fascist palace regime, but it as well meant to remind the political vanguards outside of the necessity to pass through "the gates of sacrifice of struggle". The success of this resistance was ensured by the united struggle. We must transform this resistance into the possibility of a quake in the regime.
What is your message to the women?
We must take root in the masses of oppressed women. We should increase our resistance by developing our organization. In particular, it should be our priority to organize the anger of young women against the sexist fascist AKP regime. The fascist regime is right to be in fear of these new uprisings. The new ‘Gezi's will also be embodied as women's uprising and revolts. We cannot wait for this to happen spontaneously. Current developments and the flow of history require that communist women be more organized and prepared. And again, the history of revolutions has shown us that women are squeezed into their traditional roles rather than being the subject of their own organization. In order to do this, the communist women must spread roots deep into the oppressed laboring women and among the young women. Women‘s self-defense forces must be maintained as militia, self-defense committees, united women‘s militia groups and so on, in the form of semi-military organizations. Their organization of course requires great patience, labor and will. And it requires passing through "the gates of sacrifice". As the famous saying, "either we will find a way, or we will open a path." To remind Kazantzakis‘ words, "[one] cannot sprout wings unless one has first reached the brink of the abyss." To sprout wings to be free, and being free requires to be at the heights of the abyss. Salute to those who live on the edge of abyss, opening their wings to freedom!
 

 

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International Bulletin / Issue 199 / June 2019

The 6th Congress of the Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) and its 2nd Communist Women‘s Conference were held. Hivron Razmuhi, representative of the Communist Women‘s Organization (KKÖ) and member of the General Council of Women's United Revolution Movement (KBDH), conducted an interview after the 2nd Women‘s Conference. She explained the conditions under which the conference was gathered, what kind of changes were made programmatically and her opinions about the struggle priorities of women. Hivron Razmuhi answered the questions as follows:
You have realized your 2nd Conference while women‘s struggle for freedom is going through an intensive process. Can you evaluate the process leading to the 2nd Conference of the KKÖ and the state of the liberation of women?
During this period, women became the main subjects of social struggles and at the same time they came forward with their own demands. The developing women‘s movement is growing as a riot movement. The women‘s movement against the sexist policies of the patriarchal, homophobic capitalist system was on the streets in a vast geography ranging from Iran to America since the period in which we convened our 1st conference. At the same time, they became the signal rockets, determined pioneers, braveness symbols playing the role of icebreakers for the working class and oppressed in their revolts, uprisings, revolutions, against patriarchal capitalism, poverty, hunger, racism, militarism, fascist regimes and colonialism. While witnessing the systematic increase in the social and male violence towards women, we have seen that women use their self-defense rights parallel to the development of gender consciousness. From Turkey to India, from Italy to Germany, examples thereof revealed. While the war of defense of the Rojava revolution was continuing against the political and military siege and invasion attacks, the misogynist fascist ISIS gangs were defeated. On the other hand, the process of building the revolution continued. Our Rojava revolution continues to be a source of inspiration for the women‘s movement and as a lighthouse in the struggle for equality and freedom.
In this period, the fascist AKP under Erdogan was reorganized in the form of a fascist chief-regime. He turned to the restoration of society around a political-islamist ideology. Gender contradictions have been deepened. The family institution was strengthened in order to consolidate women‘s sexual domestic slavery with the elimination of the rights gained. Women took the brunt of these attacks in the street in Turkey and Kurdistan. As the fascist chief regime was increasing the persecution and state terror on women getting to be subjects in politics, they were pushed out of politics. During this period, the sexist attacks against women guerrilla bodies did not lose pace. In the face of all these attacks, the women continued to exist in the political struggle both as armed and in other areas without stepping back one step.
While patriarchal oppression and exploitation on the female labor and body in the world has increased, the impoverishment of women has deepened and the sex industry has been developed through female sexuality in the world. The world women‘s movement spent 2019 with preparations for a women‘s strike on 8 March. The political calendar days of the struggle for freedom of women, 8 March and 25 November, each year, unlike the previous one, has developed remarkably in terms of extensiveness, massiveness and militancy. We, as communist women, as subjects of hot days of resistance, from Turkey to North Kurdistan, from Rojava to the guerrilla areas and to Europe, organized this conference.
We conducted our discussions with the necessity of translating these topics, which our conference has handled as the political agendas of women revolution, into the possibilities of organizing women masses against homophobic, patriarchal capitalism and the fascist AKP regime. While discussing our problems in organizing the oppressed women as the subject of the women revolution and as a destructive force against the sexist capitalist system, we have developed perspectives on the solutions of these. In this direction, we get to work on tasks.
With your conference and your party‘s congress, there are a number of changes reflected in your program. How did the idea of women revolution take place in your program?
We have conducted discussions on the theoretical, ideological, political agendas of women revolution, and have made courageous decisions depending on our definition of the 21st century as the century of women revolutions. We have come to the conclusion that the democratic, popular and socialist revolutions against the imperialist capitalist order, the reactionary fascist regimes and bourgeois powers in the 21st century will develop as women revolutions at the same time. These findings were reflected in our revolution program.
The definition of women revolution, for the first time, takes part in the revolution program of a communist party under the leadership of communist women, although the definition itself does not belong to us. It has a strategic importance in our program and is distinctive as it gives direction to our political and ideological struggle. Thus, we are handling women revolution more than only being a theoretical discourse. Therefore, together with its goals and duties covering the present and the future, we take our women revolution in a vivid and dynamic way, shaping our struggle for social and gender freedom. At the 6th congress of our party, with our discussions and perspectives from our 2nd conference; the women revolution was recognized as the revolutionary program of women‘s liberation. The congress determined that the alliance of the oppressed class and the oppressed gender would gain character in the united revolution.
In line with these findings, with the discussions conducted in our conference and in our party congress, in our anti-fascist, anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist, gender emancipatory, democratic revolution program, it has been stated that: "Women will be equal and independent partner of power in the Union of People's Republics of Turkey and the Kurdistan". This decision has further secured with the article "all institutions of the Union of People's Republics will be established and operated according to the principles of gender equality and co-representation". We drew the conclusion that this case, which we formulated as a dual power, a form of dual governance, must also take place as a necessity in the political organization of the revolution. The congress that sees "the construction of the new society as a guarantee of the realization of women‘s liberation" explained this in the program as "women will organize their social structure independently, in addition to the co-representation in all institutions, the union of women worker's-laborer's councils will be established, women‘s army and militia will be formed, and special courts for sexual crimes constituted of women and LGBTI+'s will be established."
Our findings that the enslavement of the female sex has developed with private property has shaped our theoretical and political remarks since the establishment of our party. Our findings that sexist exploitation gained a heterosexist character at a certain stage of the development of history also took part in our program as a result of our 2nd conference discussions.
Can you evaluate the decisions and new approaches about LGBTI+?
One of the formulations in our revolution program is as follows: „LGBTI+'s will be assured of the rights of speech, action, organization; a systematic ideological and political struggle against hate speech, homophobia, transphobia and heterosexism will be given; penalty increase will be applied for the heterosexist crimes."
We have reached a level of understanding that sees LGBTI+ movement not as a substitute of our women revolution, but as a direct force according to the results of discussions that we conducted about this movement on the theoretical, political basis. This also represents the threshold at which the communist movement has come in terms of both theoretical and programmatic levels up to date. Our conference also discussed the problems of representation of women in political structures. In this axis, it examined the practices of the quota and co-representation for women‘s subjectivation and becoming a will. In the history of communist parties, it is the first time, that the institution of secretariat has been replaced by a co-chairpresidentship. The representation of communist women within the communist party has reached such a central, strategic level of representation. These reflect the level of liberation of communist women, their determination to fight, their level of theoretical development. This has been the result of the achievements by the communist women and the communist party in the struggle to build the women‘s revolution along with what we have accumulated in the women's liberation struggle.
In the last period, especially in the Middle East, there is an acceleration for the united women‘s freedom struggle. As the KKÖ, what kind of work will you do in the next period against both the patriarchal mentality and the capitalist system?
The task and possibility of growing women‘s revolts, improving women‘s self-defense, raising the united women‘s movement are developed more than before. Looking at this period, KBDH was established as something unique in the political-military alliance of women. The problems of organizing, creating and establishing various forms of organization within the women's masses are waiting to be solved. The structural means developed on the basis of the practical legitimate struggle of women such as the initiative, platform, committee etc. constitute the ground for enlarging the common struggle against the sexist policies of fascist regime. We need to transform this ground into a political organizational force. This requires pioneering steps. There is a growing awareness of the legitimacy of self-defense against patriarchal violence, which has been revealed in the practice of individual women and includes a large part of women. The duty of vanguard women, the communist women, is to turn this consciousness into an organized ground. On this basis, women‘s self-defense committees, women‘s antifascist committees, rebellion committees against male violence, committees against poverty, etc. whatever we name them, whether the creation of semi-military or flexible organizations, should be among our priorities. Schools, neighborhoods, factories, streets, which mean all living spaces of women should be the places to build and organize these organizations.
Under imperialist conditions, women learn from each other‘s experience. It should be one of the agendas of the women‘s movement to promote resistance against capitalism, patriarchy, and to foster resistance around common agendas with united struggle, such as women‘s strike experiences. Besides, like Sudan, like Algeria, it should be among our agenda to evaluate wherever there are women‘s gains in terms of the basis of the global women‘s movement and to increase the solidarity movements.
It should be the duty of communist women to bring the experiences of Rojava revolution to the world women‘s movement, as well as the task of creating and enlarging the internationalist women‘s solidarity that will be formed around the Rojava revolution.
The Rojava Women Revolution continues its struggle against all occupations and threats in its 8th year. What are the problems of the Rojava Women Revolution and what are your solutions to these problems?
Afrin, which we defend with great heroism, is under the occupation of the colonial forces. There are the same threats to other parts of Rojava. Afrin‘s cleansing from the gangs holds an important place in the protection of the achievements of our revolution which is developed on the basis of women liberty and equality. In line with this basic need, it is within the scope of our duties to raise the awareness of self-defense of the Rojava peoples, especially women, to make self-defense practical. As well as the solidarity practices to be developed around the Rojava revolution, it is as actual as necessary to develop the struggle for the spread of the revolution to a regional revolution.
On the other hand, our revolution is experiencing the problems of a revolution which is becoming. It is in the process of building the new social structure. In terms of the tasks of the construction of our revolution; we can define them as the change of the social structure with the female libertarian and egalitarian approach, the demolition of old understanding and approaches and the construction on the egalitarian-libertarian basis. This construction struggle is important to ensure the security of the Rojava revolution. The struggle against gender roles will continue to be a topic of both political and ideological struggle. In the words of the comrade Baran Serhat, who we bid farewell to immortality on 23 March, the Rojava revolution must enter the houses, and must ensure that the roles and the sexist division of work within the family institution are overthrown.
The hunger strikes and death fast s initiated by Leyla Guven, resulted in victory. This process led to a new acceleration of women‘s resistance under the leadership of headscarf-wearing mothers. Where should this acceleration evolve in the next period?
First of all, I would like to salute our mothers who have become symbols of resistance, and especially those who are involved in the resistance, starting from Leyla Guven.
In the process of resistance of indefinite hunger strike and death fast, it will be appropriate to draw attention to the women's will. An elected representative, Leyla Guven, has taken a pioneering step to become a barricade against the isolation attack as a political woman and mother. The banner of resistance in this action grew in the hands of the revolutionary prisoners, along with thousands of PKK - PAJK prisoners and our comrades of MLKP/KKÖ who had been raising their comradeship with them. The resistance that has developed under the leadership of a political woman has been recorded in history with this side. Although the resistance of indefinite hunger strike and death fast have been completed, the fight against isolation will continue with new tools and forms. This resistance was not only against the isolation, as was said at the beginning. This action meant to become a barricade against the attacks of the fascist palace regime, but it as well meant to remind the political vanguards outside of the necessity to pass through "the gates of sacrifice of struggle". The success of this resistance was ensured by the united struggle. We must transform this resistance into the possibility of a quake in the regime.
What is your message to the women?
We must take root in the masses of oppressed women. We should increase our resistance by developing our organization. In particular, it should be our priority to organize the anger of young women against the sexist fascist AKP regime. The fascist regime is right to be in fear of these new uprisings. The new ‘Gezi's will also be embodied as women's uprising and revolts. We cannot wait for this to happen spontaneously. Current developments and the flow of history require that communist women be more organized and prepared. And again, the history of revolutions has shown us that women are squeezed into their traditional roles rather than being the subject of their own organization. In order to do this, the communist women must spread roots deep into the oppressed laboring women and among the young women. Women‘s self-defense forces must be maintained as militia, self-defense committees, united women‘s militia groups and so on, in the form of semi-military organizations. Their organization of course requires great patience, labor and will. And it requires passing through "the gates of sacrifice". As the famous saying, "either we will find a way, or we will open a path." To remind Kazantzakis‘ words, "[one] cannot sprout wings unless one has first reached the brink of the abyss." To sprout wings to be free, and being free requires to be at the heights of the abyss. Salute to those who live on the edge of abyss, opening their wings to freedom!