– Şîndar Qereçox
When asked what first struck my attention when I got to know the APOcî movement, I always speak about the sparkle of hope I saw in the eyes of the Hevals. In times where people mostly speak about the future as if the world would end soon, those who truly believe that we can bring light to the darkening world are rare. I was irritated – the hope in the Hevals eyes made me curious, and at the same time it was a shameful mirror to the hopelessness I and most people of our generation felt.
While growing up, everyone speaks about the chaotic world our generation is set into: The third world war is getting worse day by day, more and more states are participating in their gruesome battle of power on the shoulders of the people. The climate crisis is at a tipping point, if we aren’t able to bring a stop to the increasing temperatures, the consequences will be unimaginable, and we are getting a first taste of them with the current natural catastrophes.
At the same time our relationships are being set upside down – our social life is pushed completely into the digital sphere, and especially after the corona pandemic, which set the whole globe into a temporary isolation, many youths have lost their ability of being in society, are quickly tired after social interactions or have even developed social anxiety. I have heard many people say they don’t want to have children, because they don’t want to be responsible for setting children into a terrifying future. That’s the message our generation hears while growing up – we are the children of a future even our parents don’t believe is worth living for.
A so-called fate
But why do so few people believe that we as humanity can solve our problems and change our so-called fate? It is definitely not a coincidence, behind it is the system of capitalist modernity, that tries to drown our belief in change with many different strategies. After the Soviet Union fell, the rulers declared capitalism as the winner, the only system that is suitable for human beings. This tale was told all over media, and had a great impact on the generations before us; their hope for an alternative system was shattered. Our teachers and parents continue telling us this story: that the world is in a crisis and everything is getting worse, but at the same time they say the system we are living in is the only solution because alternatives don’t exist. Any resistance beyond the frame of the state system is declared as useless rebellion – the history we learn in school is used as proof for this. It is told out of the perspective of the rulers, pulling down the uprisings – that they care to mention – and always describing the capitalist state system as a solution. But the story of the people, of society, of resistance against the rulers in all its creative shapes is kept untold. We don’t know our real history.
The message of the system, our parents and teachers are: Try to save yourself a secure life in this chaotic system. The big problems won’t be solved anyway, and since you only live once, just distract yourself from them with the newest phone, the trendiest clothes.
Many youths live quite isolated, we identify ourselves with the things we consume instead of the society we live in. In this empty and isolated life that is paved for us, it is no wonder we feel hopeless in resisting against the monstrosity of the system. We are driven from communal life, our society and identity, and since hope for change is lost, we are confronted with the question: For what do we live, how can life be more than just continuing to survive? Not being able to answer this question leads to existential crisis in many people.
We see and feel the strongest
Under these confusing conditions, more and more youth are dealing with severe mental health issues. Mental health problems have almost become a trend, people start identifying themselves with their diagnoses, and it has become rare that people don’t have any kind of psychological issues. Young people, especially young women, see and feel the problems of the world the strongest. When this pain is not lead into the realization that we can be a power of change, we feel powerless and again start searching for individual solutions in form of therapy or medications. Youth who try to rise up against these circumstances are often confronted with the problem that even many political organizations are hopeless, and most of politics are not in favor of building up a brighter future, but rather trying to tame the beast on our earth from spreading out even further. Always fighting against something and being in the defense position, without seeing a realistic alternative future or really believing in our power, quickly tires people and makes them retire into hopelessness and resignation again.
This is exactly what the system wants: The youth to be weak and pessimistic, too busy with their own individual problems to be able to fulfill their natural task: To collectively shape the future. But the history – we aren’t correctly taught – shows: young people, especially young women, have always been at the forefront of every movement for freedom with their strong emotions, energy and clearer perspective on problems. That’s why the pressure and attacks on young women are so heavy, because the state fears them to become aware of their strength and use it.
Ashes glowing up into a flame
Seeing the hope in the Hevals touched me and made me curious – how can it be that young women look happily into the future, are so full of strength and love for what they are fighting for? Where does their hope come from? Through them I got to know the philosophy of Rêber APO. His deep analysis of history and humanity out of a freedom-loving perspective, the effort he gives for women to free themselves from thousand years of slavery, to save our relationship to nature and each other sparked the hope in me as well. The history and success of the PKK, the party of the people, is the living proof that alternatives are possible: What started with a small group of university friends is now the biggest revolutionary movement fighting against the capitalist modernity, resisting for almost 50 years against the second biggest NATO army and building up an alternative, communal life in the mountains of Kurdistan, in the revolution of Rojava and in the urban centers of capitalism. What Rêber APO sets in the center of our struggle, the search for the true core of humans and the battle against oppressive mentality in us, is lived by the Hevals who dedicated their life to this struggle and always inspire me and strengthen my belief for the alternative life.
The time we were born into isn’t a dark fate, it is actually a time of great potential – it is in times of chaos when the greatest revolution and changes develop. The feeling of hope that has grown inside of me is hard to describe, it felt like forgotten ashes that glowed back up into a flame, that became an unstoppable source of energy to fight.
An unconditional fight for freedom
I soon realized I have to protect this flame against the lack of understanding of all the people, who were around me, shocked why I started making radical decisions like quitting my studies, trying to convince me that there is no reason to hope and I should rather save my place in the system. But as soon as I felt hope again, I didn’t ever want to lose it again. Feeling hope and starting to fight for my dreams felt like a new start of life, whereas before my life felt like passing of time and slowly letting life fade away.
From the deepest of my heart, I wish to share this flame with every young woman I meet, because there is nothing more beautiful than taking our lives into our hands, becoming aware of our power and together and unconditionally fighting for freedom – in the present and for our future.