The discussions held at the "Conference on the Democratic Transformation of the Republic in the Second Century," which took place in Istanbul on 13-14 June with broad participation, received extensive coverage in the press. Mehmet Uğur Korkmaz, who gave a presentation at the conference titled "Will the Public Leave the Republic to the Young?" and who is known for the podcast "Kürtler Şehirde (Kurds in the City)", described the need for a democratic republic through the eyes of young people.

 

Stating that the past century of the republic has opened very little space for young people, Korkmaz said that everyone has to grow old to reach a position, and that once old, they do not relinquish their post or their space. Korkmaz said: "For this reason, what we are faced with is actually a very old parliament, a very old administration, a very old state — a republic that is old in its mentality, in practice, and in age. This is already something problematic, regardless of its entire ideological structure."

 

Stating that if steps are to be taken toward democratization, the hierarchical structure of the republic between young and old must also be broken, Korkmaz said: "Just as we talk about eliminating the hierarchical relations between women and men, Turks and Kurds, between different identities — about equal citizenship — the gerontocratic structure sustained through unwritten laws between young and old must also be abolished."

 

YOUTH'S DREAM OF A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY

 

Pointing to what kind of country and society young people would want to live in if the republic were democratized, Korkmaz said: "First of all, youth will be able to recreate itself in cultural production. Just like the awakening of the Kurdish people in the 90s, the rise of Kurdish culture, the emergence of music groups... And today, they will be able to do this no longer in the forms imposed by capitalism, neoliberalism and consumer culture, but truly as they wish, in a way that contains their own unique conditions and their own unique story. I think the first opening will be here. Perhaps it may not be possible to directly influence the political sphere at first, but I think it will also influence everyday culture, life in the streets, in cities, even the form of a picnic on a plateau. Because all the opposite of these is currently in the hands of the elderly, in the hands of the state, in the hands of the police."

 

SPECIAL WARFARE POLICIES AND YOUTH

 

Addressing the special warfare policies targeting youth, particularly in Kurdistan and metropolitan cities, Korkmaz stated that after 2015 the state targeted revolutionary neighbourhoods through such practices. Korkmaz said: "It crushed the culture there — the cumulative culture that had been gradually progressing since the 1970s, the culture created by different political movements. While doing this, it also introduced an individualist, capitalist, consumerist culture that we might perhaps pair with neoliberalism. Alongside this, it also dictated and facilitated the culture of drugs, gambling, and all other individualist and hedonistic lifestyles there. In other words, it simply did not enforce its own laws. This special warfare policy, within 10 years, perhaps longer, also created a new person and a new youth. Not all young people use drugs, but a large portion of young people have begun to see drugs as normal. Culture is such a thing. A country does not need millions of revolutionaries. Ten thousand drug addicts or ten thousand gang members in place of ten thousand revolutionaries means the soul of the neighbourhoods becoming reactionary, moving to the right. We are experiencing this right now. That is why this is the great plague hanging over youth. This is not something that will be overcome in a single day. Because it also produces a culture, produces music, produces a lifestyle. It produces a lifestyle down to social media posts."

 

'THERE IS A VERY STRONG SOCIALIST TRADITION'

 

Underlining that changing this culture will be possible through the re-proliferation of socialist culture and values, Korkmaz stated that for this to happen, state repression, police violence and special warfare policies must be entirely eliminated. Korkmaz said: "After that, I think this culture will gradually live again. Because there is a very strong socialist tradition in Turkey and Kurdistan. I feel and see the excitement that this culture will be lived rapidly. The enthusiasm shown by people listening to Koma Amed and Agire Jiyan at Newroz celebrations after many years, the excitement I see in youth — this made me feel that this culture can live again."

 

THE UNEMPLOYMENT PROBLEM

 

Noting that one of the greatest problems of young people is unemployment, Korkmaz drew attention to the fact that nearly half of young people want to live abroad. Saying "Families are already planning, while their children are still in middle or high school, which country they will live in in the future — this is a serious matter," Korkmaz stated that for this situation to change, the social structure must change. Korkmaz said: "In short, the situation for youth is somewhat bleak. Even in the imagination of the most political young person, anxieties, hopelessness, the economic crisis, the life anxiety created by this period of multiple overlapping crises are dominant. This can be overcome. Dreams can be dreamed again. We are dreaming from within, but life needs to normalize again. The need for peace laws on the path toward building a democratic society is evident."

 

YOUTH'S DEMAND FOR CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION

 

Recalling that the first example of a youth that wants to transform the republic was seen in the Gezi protests of 2013, Korkmaz said: "Gezi was the example of people from different ideological backgrounds, different families, who had never met each other, across all of Turkey, in Kurdistan, in squares and streets, resisting together and wanting to change something together. It was a potential. I believe that potential is alive from within. The desire to live together, the desire to change things together, the desire to listen to one another — these exist in youth. Turkish society chose to suppress this for 10-15 years. The state actively did this. As the living and continuing members of that generation, as the legacy left by that generation, we have the ideological infrastructure and the excitement to enable the democratic social structure to flourish again in Turkey and Kurdistan. Only this climate of fear needs to dissipate. I believe the new republic will have a new youth, and that youth will embrace that republic. This is how it has been in all revolutions around the world. A generation suddenly takes ownership of those revolutions and feels excitement to carry them further."

 

GREATER RESPONSIBILITY

 

Pointing out that the dirt and burden created by a century of the republic has been experienced by all generations, Korkmaz said that the democratization of the republic places greater responsibility on everyone, especially young people. Korkmaz continued: "We need to forget the century-long political repetitions and have the courage to say what truly passes through us, through our minds. We need to have the courage to say words that can influence all political structures. The vision and spirit of this exists. The ideological infrastructure of this also exists. Only courage, and the excitement of setting out on an irreversible path, I think, will take youth one step forward, and this will increase the potential of the new republic."

 

MA / Necla Demir Arvas-Melik Varol