FEY-KURD sends Öcalan’s books to MPs in Danish parliament to mark 23rd anniversary of his abduction

FEY-KURD (Federation of Kurdish Associations in Denmark) sent Abdullah Öcalan’s books to MPs in the Danish parliament to mark the 23rd anniversary of his abduction.

FEY-KURD sent a number of books in which Abdullah Öcalan explained his philosophy and vision of life, history, society, culture, and politics.

In the letter sent to 179 deputies (68 women) together with the books, FEY-KURD wrote: “The Kurdish community is one of the communities living in this country, and we believe that books will help the continuous exchange among communities, so important for a better understanding of each other, as well as helping mutual knowledge and respect. In addition, it would help spread our culture, literature and language.”

FEY-KURD told the MPs that they would be “happy to hear your comments about the books,” and added: “During the 23 years he spent in total isolation in prison on Imrali Island, Abdullah Öcalan has written a dozen books. We are sending you three of the five volumes of his latest work that have already been translated into English, German, Italian, French and Spanish and published by International Initiative Edition in cooperation with various publishers in several countries.”

Together with the first three books of the series of 5 called Manifesto for a Democratic Civilization written by Öcalan , FEY-KURD also sent some brochures with extracts and early writings by the Kurdish people’s leader. 

The books sent were Civilization. The Age of Masked Gods and Disguised Kings, Capitalism. The Age of Unmasked Gods and Naked Kings and The Sociology of Freedom.

The first book represents the essence of his ideas on society, knowledge, and power. A criticism that limits itself to capitalism is too superficial, Öcalan argues, and turns his eyes to the underlying structures of civilization. Rethinking the methods of understanding culture, politics, and society, he provides the tools for what he calls a sociology of freedom.

The second, together with the first, presents the synthesis of Öcalan’s political thinking. This volume completes his journey through the history of civilizations, to understand how capitalism has come to engulf our world, we must understand how it developed out of classical civilization. Its historical roots lie in the emergence of hierarchies, power, monopolies, and the nation-state, argues Abdullah Öcalan. Those who control our minds rule over us. Those who rule over us control what we know, how we know, and how much we know. Öcalan’s concern in this text is the “mentality” that enslaves us, willingly even, to the destructive power of capitalism. This “mentality” makes us complicit in the destruction of society. His concern is to find ways to re-establish “the mental structures” that are needed to bring social life to the center stage of our deliberations.

The Sociology of Freedom is 

the fascinating third volume of the series. The general aim of the two earlier volumes was to clarify what power and capitalist modernity entailed. Here, Öcalan presents his stunningly original thesis of the democratic civilization, based on his criticism of capitalist modernity. Ambitious in scope and encyclopedic in execution, “The Sociology of Freedom” is a one-of-a-kind exploration that reveals the remarkable range of one of the Left’s most original thinkers with topics such as existence and freedom, nature and philosophy, anarchism and ecology. Öcalan goes back to the origins of human culture to present a penetrating reinterpretation of the basic problems facing the twenty-first century and an examination of their solutions. Öcalan convincingly argues that industrialism, capitalism, and the nation-state cannot be conquered within the narrow confines of a socialist context. Recognizing the need for more than just a critique, Öcalan has advanced what is the most radical, far-reaching definition of democracy today and argues that a democratic civilization, as an alternative system, already exists but systemic power and knowledge structures, along with a perverse sectarianism, do not allow it to be seen.

“The Sociology of Freedom” is a truly monumental work that gives profuse evidence of Öcalan’s position as one of the most influential thinkers of our day. It deserves the careful attention of anyone seriously interested in constructive thought or the future of the Left.