The PKK-Turkey peace process has been underway since February this year. Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, ordered the PKK to disarm, and a few days later the PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire followed by a symbolic disarmament ceremony.
CPT has been documenting the impact of the ceasefire for the people of the border regions of Iraqi Kurdistan. In October, CPT Iraqi Kurdistan released a report, A Cold Peace. Although the ceasefire has led to a drastic decrease in bombardments, military mobilization continues, from the Turkish side in particular. Military activity cuts farmers off from their livelihoods and deforests the land for export back to Turkey.
The daily work of accompaniment rarely feels momentous. It is usually quiet conversation, built on reassurances of solidarity. We measure change in years, even decades, rather than weeks and months. But we should take a moment to acknowledge the impact of CPT IK’s work on the peace process.
In a speech against increased military spending in Turkish parliament, a parliamentarian championed CPT IK’s A Cold Peace, raising the team’s reporting on the deforestation and depopulation of Kurdish villages. What’s clear is that the team’s work is sand in the gears of the Turkish state’s war machine.
The team’s impact registers deeply too, far from the corridors of power, in the living rooms of those with whom they walk together. This week they share with us the news of a daughter’s return to her mother. The team has accompanied her mother for years. She lost two children. Her son was killed by a Turkish drone strike. Then her daughter left home to join the PKK and fight the Turkish invasion. CPT visited the family and, a few days later, the daughter came down from her mountain base and moved back to her family home. The mother told the team that villagers say CPT brought her daughter back.
We have much to grieve as this painful year draws to a close. But we should acknowledge our achievements too. In Colombia we saw the fruits of years of determination, as the community of El Guayabo gained state recognition for the injustices suffered, and a path toward reparations opened up. In Turtle Island, we were honored to stand with the community of Grassy Narrows as they continue to resist the ecological destruction of their land. In the Aegean, we saw courtrooms erupt in joy as scapegoated migrants walked free. And in Palestine, despite the Occupation’s ratcheting violence and oppression, our team continues to bear witness, reminding us how urgent it is that all of us do so too.
