STRUGGLES

democratic autonomyin bakur
communes. Our goal in the villages is for all
ofthe families to be part ofthe co-operative.
There can be some exceptions iffamilies
don’t want to be part ofit. But we want at
least 60% offamilies to participate in it.
Every family will be part ofthe assembly.
The participation ofwomen should be 50%,
and a minimum of40%. We want equality.
Some villages are very conservative so this
can be difficult to achieve, but we are doing
this step by step. We look for equal
existence.
CW: Will the co-ops make a profit?
Ofcourse they will make what they need,
but ifthey produce more than they need
they will sell the surplus. They will share the
profits equally. Everyone is equal in a cooperative.
For example, ifthey are given 100
sheep and there are 20 houses, each house
will get 5 sheep. All ofthe communes will
own the tools to make the produce. Ifthey
need something, they will buy it together.
CW: Tell us about the village assemblies?
There is an assembly, for example, of250
people. 10% ofthe assembly form the
council ofthe assembly. Two people, one
man and one woman, are spokespeople on
behalfofthe assembly. Ifthey want they can
choose two women, but never two men. In
Mr Öcalan’s ideas, he says that women are
the main producers and that the economy
depends on women. Ifwomen take part in
economics, the communal economy will be
more powerful.
Every six months there is a small election
and they choose their council and
spokespeople. There are some ethical rules,
some written, some unwritten. Ifsomebody
50
does something bad, the assembly can have
a meeting and decide about that problem.
In the assembly there is a small jury, known
as the Commission ofJustice. You bring
your case there. It can be about anything.
Don’t think that assemblies are just about
the work ofthe economy. The main idea of
democratic autonomy is less government
and state, and more public, more
communes.
Nowadays the state controls justice.
Prosecutors and judges decide alone. We
don’t do it like that. We have a culture and
history. For example, in a village ifthere’s a
problem, the older people sit and talk about
it and they have an idea about how to solve
it. We have tried to create the same thing.
The Commissions ofJustice mainly consist
ofelderly people and cases don’t go to the
government. They try to sort out the
problem without government involvement.
The Commissions ofJustice are elected, but
some people can not be in that commission.
There are ethical and political rules. You
must be someone who is expected to work
for the equality ofeverybody. For example,
there are some village guards in the villages
[the village guards are a paramilitary
organisation armed by the Turkish state to
counter the PKK]. A lot ofthe time they
work with the government and work
against Kurdish people. So villagers would
not want them to be in the Commission of
Justice. It’s up to the villagers to decide who
shouldn’t be in the Commission ofJustice.
Another example is that ifsomeone has four
wives, the women ofthe village possibly
won’t want that person to be part ofthe
Commission ofJustice. These rules are
created by each village and each assembly.