The birthday of Abdullah Öcalan has been celebrated throughout North and East Syria, with music, dancing, and much joy. In many cities and villages, including the women’s village of Jinwar, trees were planted as a symbol of ecological renewal. We, the women and people of North and East Syria, know that without him, his paradigm, and the people’s movement he initiated, the revolution in Rojava would never have been possible. For this reason, we consider his birthday as the birthday of all of us.
As Kongra Star, we issued a press release, from which we report the main points here. After celebrating this day with all the people, the statement reads: “April 4, the birthday of our leader Abdullah Öcalan, is very meaningful for the Kurdish people, especially for women and children. His birth, in a society left in silence and terror in the 20th century, with living conditions worse than death, is a social birth that builds hope, will, and freedom for millions of people. April 4 we celebrate the rebirth of humanity with all it’s peoples in the birth of our leader Abdullah Öcalan. This birth marks the most profound and influential revolution in the world.”
Öcalan himself describes his life as characterized by three births: the first one is the physical one, the second one is the establishment of the PKK, which was the bases for the philosophy “Jin Jiyan Azadî” and women freedom. The statement continues: “The third birth is the paradigm of a democratic, ecological society based on women’s freedom. The third stage of Öcalan’s birth, the paradigm of a democratic, ecological society based on women’s freedom, occurred under the severe conditions of isolation, when Leader Apo thwarted the international conspiracy against women and all of humanity through a historic struggle.”
In these three phases, alongside restoring the identity of the Kurdish people, “In the person of Women’s freedom, he created an alternative world where there is equality and freedom for all peoples and live beings. The strongest example of this is the western Kurdistan (Rojava), where Kurdish women took Öcalan’s ideas and philosophy as the foundation for organizing themselves and establishing an army, which became the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) on April 4, 2013. They got strong with the philosophy and values expressed in the person of our Leader Ocalan and waged a social, political, and military struggle against the enemy of humanity, ISIS and other armed groups.”
Recognizing that many other movements and organizations aiming for a free and equal society did not reach their goals in the long term, our Leader Abdullah Öcalan found the reason in the wrong analysis of what power is and how it influences personalities. “Therefore, even in 1990, Leader Apo made great efforts for democratic unity, freedom of society, and an equal world. For this reason, in 1999, hegemonic forces conspired a foul plan to destroy the will and identity of the Kurdish people and the Middle East through the figure of Öcalan, and kidnapped him. Since that day, imprisoning and severely isolating him, the same isolation has been imposed on women, children, and all of humanity. However, due to Öcalan’s historical resistance, even after 26 years of severe torture, the international conspiracy, shaped by the interests of global forces, has failed. Thanks to the will of Leader Apo, the resistance of our people, and international solidarity a meeting with Leader Apo took place after four years of absolute incommunicado.”
The statement thru the attention to Öcalan’s call on February 27 for ‘Peace and a Democratic Society’ and stated: “while the capitalist modernity has trapped the spirit of society with a backward machist way of thinking, has disconnected society from reality and made that it can no longer dream about the future, Öcalan’s call on February 27 for ‘Peace and a Democratic Society’ and the Women’s Message of March 8, which called it the Renaissance of Women, once again revived the unity and dreams of society. This unity is vital for women, the Kurdish people, and the peoples of the Middle East, in particular, against the policies of violence, war, torture, genocide, and violations in the region.”
The statement concludes: “Once again, we congratulate the Kurdish people and all women of the world on April 4th and affirm that we will elevate the struggle for freedom and ensure the physical freedom of Ocalan by embracing His call, whose addressee is all of humanity. On this occasion, we celebrate the establishment of the YPJ, which has become the hope and identity of the whole world as a result of heavy costs, sacrifice, and a difficult struggle, for all women.”
