ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Amineh Kakabaveh, a Swedish-Kurdish parliamentarian who went from being a Peshmerga fighter to a political pioneer battling for Kurdish rights from the Swedish parliament, has now become the center of diplomatic tension between global powers as Sweden seeks to join NATO despite Turkish disapproval.
Kakabaveh, who proudly labels herself as a freedom fighter, a socialist, feminist, and defender of the Kurdish cause, spoke to Rudaw English over the phone on Thursday about recent geopolitical developments, threats made against her, and what it feels like to recently be in the spotlight amid a diplomatic row between Sweden and Turkey.
Arriving in Sweden at the end of 1992 after fleeing Iran where she was a Peshmerga fighter for the socialist movement called Komala for five years, stationed in the mountains between the Kurdistan Region and Iran. Kakabaveh is also proud to be Swedish, expressing her gratitude to the country that took her in and gave her a safe haven. She has been a member of parliament there for over 14 years, and has used her platform to fight for the rights of woman and children against honour crimes, and all forms of oppression in Sweden, and in particular of her people, the Kurds.
The independent Kurdish-Swedish MP recently garnered international attention after she abstained from voting on a no-confidence motion on Tuesday, saving Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson’s government. In exchange, Kakabaveh said the government had promised to continue helping Kurds in northeastern Syria (Rojava).
“We have an agreement,” she stated without divulging the details of this agreement. This was not the first time she saved Andersson’s government, rescuing her in November when the country’s first female prime minister was forced to resign.
In exchange, Andersson promised at the time that Sweden would cooperate closer with the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political wing of the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) which Ankara considers to be linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group it labels as a terrorist organization.
The US and the European Union (EU) have also designated the PKK as a terrorist organization, an act which Kakabaveh strongly condemns, saying it is “bad for the Kurdish nation, bad for the Kurdish struggle.” She also said she was concerned about individuals being labelled as terrorists purely for supporting the Kurdish cause.
Her outspoken support of Kurds, particularly those living in the Kurdish areas of Turkey, has converted her into a target of criticism from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Kakabaveh laughed off the threats she has received, mentioning that Erdogan had called on Sweden to extradite her to Turkey before realizing she was in fact a Kurd from Iran. “I thought it was a joke,” she said between laughter. “This shows he hates us [Kurds],” she said, returning to a more serious tone.
“Freedom fighters or terrorists?”
Tension arose last month when Turkey voiced its objections towards Finland and Sweden joining NATO because of their support of Kurdish forces in Rojava and the presence of alleged sympathizers and supporters of the PKK in these countries. The approval of all NATO member states is required for new countries to join.
The PKK has been waging an armed struggle against the Turkish state, which boasts of the second-largest military forces in NATO, since the 1970s for increased Kurdish rights. In recent years, Ankara has cracked down on the group and suspected members. It also conducted military operations in the mountains of the Kurdistan Region, targeting the fighters’ hideouts.
Kakabaveh clarified that she is not a member of the PKK, nor does she agree with all the methods and actions used by the group to achieve their goals, but emphasized that they “have helped the Kurdish struggle, they saved people in Shingal” against the Islamic State (ISIS).
“They are collaborating with Erdogan by doing this,” she said of the classification of the PKK as a terrorist group by the international community. “They give weapons to the Ukrainians to defend themselves, but when we defend ourselves, we are terrorists? What is that?” she questioned, adding that there is a double standard approach towards Kurdish groups, including the People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Rojava.
The YPG is the backbone of the SDF, a main ally of the international coalition, also consisting of Sweden, fighting against ISIS.
“How is it possible that the Social Democrats help Kurds on one hand and on the other hand they label them as terrorists?”
She said she would soon give Sweden’s "intelligence services" an ultimatum to decide whether these groups “are freedom fighters or terrorists?” once and for all.
“Who are they [US and EU] to label the Kurds as terrorists? They use the Kurds when they want to, they use them against ISIS.” Kakabaveh said that Kurds were being used as geopolitical pawns in negotiations between global powers. She added that the US and Europe are giving in to Turkish demands to prevent Turkey from moving closer to Russia.
Championing the Kurdish cause
When asked about how it feels to be at the center of attention after saving the Swedish government from a no-confidence vote, and being a key point of contention between Sweden and Turkey, Kakabaveh said that while the attention is positive, it is “not really good.”
“It says so much about Turkey and about Erdogan... why my existence as a Kurdish woman [is a threat], just because I support Kurds and have openly done so in the Swedish parliament.”
She added that she wants to use the platform that she enjoys now to garner international attention to the Kurdish cause, and to combat the “oppression” Kurds face in “Turkey and Iran.”
Kakabaveh also called on authorities in the Kurdistan Region to stand with Kurds in Syria, Turkey, and Iran, adding that Kurdish unity is vital to the cause.
“Governments in the Middle East want to see Kurds against each other, they want them to be enemies,” she stated. “The Kurds have the mountains, the kalashnikovs, and their own dignity.”
Kakabaveh stressed that she stands with oppressed people everywhere, not just the Kurds, talking of the personal experience she has had with war as a Peshmerga fighter. “I have my own experience of war, of chemical warfare.”
“I am not just Kurdish, I am also Swedish. In Iran they wanted to kill me, in Sweden I am an MP,” she said humorously, applauding Sweden for its treatment of refugees, minorities, and women.
Turkey has called for the extradition of Kurds it claims support the PKK but Kakabaveh assured that “there is no risk” of such a thing happening because she claims Sweden “has strong laws which protect the Swedish citizens as well as refugees.”
Kakabaveh said she will be taking a break from being an MP and will not be running in the upcoming elections in September, adding that she will be focusing on other projects, while remaining an advocate of women and children rights and the Kurdish cause. She heads an organization in Sweden which works in the suburbs to eradicate honor crimes. Kakabaveh plans on continuing with the organization and has said she wants to work towards establishing peace, democracy, human rights, and women’s rights. “I am available if a country wants a peace mediator. I will not become unemployed,” she added. She has also proudly authored a book titled “No bigger than a Kalashnikov: A Peshmerga in parliament.”
Turkish threats of renewed military offensive in northern Syria
At the end of May, Erdogan announced his plan to consolidate a 30 kilometre “safe zone” in northern Syria to clear the area of “terrorists” and to create a stable environment for Syrian refugees in Turkey to return to.
The US, Russia, and the United Nations (UN) have called on Turkey to refrain from embarking on military escalation in Syria. The Syrian government has also condemned the plan, calling it a violation of Syrian sovereignty.
There are expectations that Erdogan may use his approval of Sweden and Finland’s NATO applications as leverage to silence international condemnation of a new military operation in northern Syria.
When asked whether she believed that Sweden may close its eyes to renewed Turkish aggression in exchange for joining NATO, Kakabaveh said “there is a risk” of this happening but that the Swedish Social Democrats had “made a promise to help Kurds.”
“I don’t trust the international community, I am not naive,” she lamented. She accused Erdogan of using Syrian refugees as “a business” to gain more concessions from the West, adding that he is “claiming to be setting up settlements for these refugees to return,” but she believes the plan is aimed at bringing in Syrian Arabs to replace the Kurds in Kurdish cities.
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