Is the PYD a Continuation of the PKK? An Ideological Analysis of the Concepts of Democratic Confederalism and Democratic Autonomy

30.06.2024 | Turgay DEMİR

Since the early stages of the Syrian civil war (summer of 2012), there has been a question whether the PYD (Democratic Union Party/Partiya Yetikiya Demokrat) in Syria is identical to the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party/Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan) in Türkiye. This is mainly because of the ideological links and organizational similarities between them. This article scrutinizes the ideological relationship between the PYD and the PKK by approaching the topic from an academic perspective. By tracing the PYD’s concept of democratic autonomy and investigating its relevance to Abdullah Ocalan’s concepts of democratic confederalism and democratic nation, the paper analyzes and compares the ideologies of the PYD and the PKK. Consequently, the article argues that the PYD embraces and implements Abdullah Ocalan’s concept of democratic confederalism under the names of democratic autonomy or self-governance and attempts to concretize the concept of democratic nation as the main indicators that PYD is an ideological continuation of the PKK in Syria.

Demir, T. (2024). Is the PYD a Continuation of the PKK? An Ideological Analysis of the Concepts of Democratic Confederalism and Democratic Autonomy. Journal of Terrorism and Radicalization Studies, 3(2), pp. 239-272, DOI: 10.61314/traddergi.1461442