15/01/2024 | Writer: Oğulcan Özgenç
Speaking to KaosGL.org, DEM Party İstanbul MP Özgül Saki said: “As a political actor LGBTI+ movement, is our struggle alliance.”
We spoke to Democratic People’s Party (DEM) İstanbul MP Özgül Saki about the ruling party’s family-oriented policies and their ever-increasing attacks on women’s rights and LGBTI+s, and also the opposition’s position on LGBTI+ issues. Saki also commented on the removal of the term LGBTI+ from the DEM Party’s bylaw, saying, “They think that the legitimacy crisis will be caused by the family issue. I think this change will backfire and is not necessary.”
We witnessed that Justice and Development Party (AKP) has referred the concept of “sacred family” in dozens of discourses, especially since the elections. In ongoing constitutional debates, there is a discussion of adding articles such as the protection of the family to the constitution. And once again LGBTI+s are being pointed out as a target. How do you interpret this strategy of the AKP? Why are they following this strategy?
Strengthening male domination is in the interests of capitalism, both in terms of appropriating women’s labor and creating a submissive society. The family is the place where patriarchy exists. Short and dirty end of the stick is that the issue of sanctifying the family is not only related to the AKP. For all the movements that are not outside the system, for the political opposition and even for a part of the socialist movement, the family is indeed an impenetrable fortress. Under the rule of the AKP, we can see that the family has become intertwined with conservatism and religious references. Especially in the period before and after the elections, an attack on women’s achievements started. In this context, the AKP has a definition of an ideal woman. This ideal woman is defined as the wife or sister of any man in the family; in other words, as a dependent person.
However, the way the government considers LGBTI+ people is different from the way it views women. In contrast to its position on women, the government considers the existence of LGBTI+ people as a threat. This means that they are not only attacking their policies, but also attacking their very existence. They are trying to use this to try to get legitimized. Unfortunately, this has worked well during the election period. The only people who opposed the AKP’s policies were feminists and LGBTI+s. There may be many who oppose the AKP, but while the AKP defined itself by attacking the women’s movement and LGBTI+, it didn’t face any serious opposition on this issue. They have realized that this works. After the elections, they are trying to reinforce this with family workshops and constitutional amendments. This attack of the AKP is a total attack and it has in mind a total social life. That is why we need a united and joint struggle. We expect that these attacks will continue as the local elections approach. In fact, the Ministry of Family and the Ministry of Justice are organizing a joint workshop. In this workshop, they put the 41st and 24th articles of the Constitution on the agenda. They have some discourses like “We will bring these articles forward before making a collective constitutional amendment.”
“A large majority has been articulated to the discourses of the government”
You said that for all the movements that are not outside the system, the political opposition and even part of the socialist movement, the family is seen as an impenetrable fortress. That is to say, the vast majority of them have, from time to time, articulated themselves with the discourses of the government.
Definitely, a large majority has articulated itself to the discourses of the government. The opposition supports the women’s movement and women’s political power, however when it comes to the feminist movement’s words against the family, silence reigns. There is a great support for the women’s movement only when the issue is the victimization of women. But when they say that “there is life outside the family” as a political and constitutive subject, that is, when they make politics outside the system, they are greeted by enormous silence.
A large part of LGBTI+s do not directly reject the concept of family, instead they use the concept of “chosen family”. However, the demands of the LGBTI+s for an equal and free life in accordance with these requirements do not find any response. Since conservatism doesn’t not only include religious conservatism. The change of status and total social change also frightens the opposition. When I refer the opposition, I include part of the socialist movement. There seems to be no problem with the unity of the opposition against the AKP. But this is only preferred on the political level. Both the socialist movement and the opposition are putting the brakes on the politicization of the anger that comes from social life as a whole and the heavy attack on daily life.
For example, even in the debate on the Istanbul Convention, the opposition tried to legitimize itself by saying “There is nothing about LGBTI+s in the Convention”, “There is nothing in the Convention that threatens the family.” But both the feminist movement and the LGBTI+ movement continue to make politics of everyday life. Because the attacks of the AKP- Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) government are exploding into the lives of women and LGBTI+ people.
“We should ensure that the opposition abandons its attitude of codifying LGBTI+ as a dangerous territory”
What are the long-term consequences for Turkey of the sacred family discourse and the anti-gendered, anti-LGBTI+ policies planned to be implemented based on this discourse?
I don’t want to be a political prognosticator, but the AKP has a serious crisis of legitimacy as a result of the economic crisis and the failure of its war policy. Even if they were the ruling party alone, they were not able to collect the power for constitutional change. They will continue to attack women’s rights and the existence of LGBTI+s in order to overcome the crisis of legitimacy. With the aim of consolidating themselves, all political levels will take steps to strengthen their political lines while looking towards 2028. In fact, the AKP-MHP government’s changes to the national education curriculum are essential in this regard. The whole curriculum is being reconstructed with religious references and the subject they call “our values” is completely filled with the description of ideal woman and the labelling of LGBTI+s as deviants. Unfortunately, there is a risk that these attacks will become a permanent feature. Although it is a difficult task for us, we have to explain that these attacks are not just a matter for feminists and LGBTI+s.
In particular, the LGBTI+ struggle needs to be strengthened from outside the system. The government’s pro-family policies must be exposed more clearly and fearlessly. Fortunately, the women’s and LGBTI+ movements in these countries have a unity of forces based on political and theoretical discussions. This unity needs to be strengthened. Also, while the AKP-MHP government is attacking the LGBTI+ movement in every way and targeting LGBTI+ people by saying “they threaten all our values”, we have to ensure that the opposition, which ignores this and codifies it as a dangerous territory, abandons this attitude.
Especially at this time when states like Hungary, Russia and Turkey are learning from each other in terms of anti-LGBTI+ policies... There is certainly a need for a strengthening of our contacts with each other, also in terms of international solidarity.
“We need to define LGBTI+ movement politically”
I would also like to talk about DEM Party’s position on the LGBTI+ issue. In this context; at the congress where the name of the Green Left Party was changed, it was an important change to remove the expression LGBTI+ from the party bylaw and replace it with the expression “equality of differences in gender identity and sexual orientation”. This change is seen as a step backwards for the Kurdish political movement. How do you assess this situation?
I wish we could have discussed it in detail and the change of the bylaw would not have been in effect in this way. At this point, I think that the alliance of AKP with Free Cause Party (HÜDA-PAR) and the ongoing war policy in the region is effective. My purely personal opinion; I think that the DEM Party made this regulation thinking that the state would push them out of issues like “family” and “LGBTI+” in the region. As I mentioned in previous questions, the family is a sensitive issue. They think that the legitimacy crisis will be caused by the family issue. I am not one of those who think that legitimacy will be gained through the family issue. I believe that this change will backfire and is not necessary.
So much so that in the party program, the LGBTI+ issue is not only defined in terms of oppressors and the oppressed. It is also defined as a founding political subject. LGBTI+ means that I am politically allied to a segment. But this is compressed into an individual space when sexual identity and sexual orientation are mentioned. However, the LGBTI+ movement is our alliance to fight against patriarchy as a political and political subject. In this sense, it is necessary to have a political definition of the LGBTI+ movement.
From time to time, those in power attack and we need to make some political arrangements in order to cope with these attacks. But while the attack is against both women’s and LGBTI+s’ rights, withdrawal, surely including political arrangements, is in favor of the ruling party. However, we are not withdrawing from the struggle, we are going to express these debates even more in the parliament. For example, Meral Danış Beştaş has proposed a bill to establish a women’s ministry. This bill has two sub-headings for the establishment of a Ministry for the Status of Women and a Ministry for the Status of LGBTI+. In other words, the amendment in question does not mean that the DEM Party does not care about the struggle of LGBTI+ people.
“The DEM Party will develop a fight against hate attacks without unclear borders”
So, in the face of the attacks on the LGBTI+ movement and women’s rights, what path will the social opposition take in the coming period? What steps will the DEM Party take?
DEM Party adopted a strategy for May 14 elections, but it didn’t work. The segments addressed by the Party began to react in a serious way, demanding to know why this happened. At this point, a process of self-criticism has begun. This process will lead to a new orientation in the local governments.
The coming period will be tough for the DEM Party and the opposition as a whole. The local elections seem to be crucial, especially for women and LGBTI+s. Here I can say that the Dem Party will develop a struggle without unclear borders against the politics of hatred. The LGBTI+ movement, the feminist movement and the Kurdish movement are aware that there will be no social change with partial reforms; therefore, they are bases of struggle that need each other. In this respect, even though the coming period will be difficult, I think that a common and united struggle is substantial.
Translation: Selma Koçak
Tags: human rights, women
