Marking the 47th anniversary of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a day known among the Kurdish people as the “Festival of Resistance”, Kurdistan Freedom Guerrillas Bawer Kobanê and Zeryan Rênas spoke to ANF.
Bawer Kobanê: “My name is Bawer Kobanê, and I joined the Party inspired by my comrade Sara (Sakine Cansız). Today is a sacred day for us: we are celebrating the 47th anniversary of the PKK’s founding in 1978. First of all, we celebrate President Öcalan, the founder of the PKK.
The PKK is a name that will never be forgotten in history. A people who had been subjected to genocide, who were unrecognized, whose language stood on the verge of extinction, who were oppressed and alienated from their own culture, became a people acknowledged by the world through the founding of the PKK. Today, every Kurd can say, ‘I am Kurdish.’
My decision to join the Party was based on this principle. After the Call for Peace and Democratic Society, the PKK may no longer exist as a name, but it cannot be forgotten. Because the PKK, as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, is known for its martyrs and its commitment to socialism.
We were influenced by the friendship, the struggle and the resistance of the PKK. Great sacrifices were made for this cause. No matter how much sacrifice is made, it is never enough. Those who made these sacrifices charged at the enemy without hesitation, chanting the slogans, ‘Long live President Öcalan, long live the PKK.’
The PKK is not only the party of President Öcalan, it is also a women’s party. The enemy says it is like trying to keep fire and gunpowder together. The PKK enabled the emergence of a true bond of friendship between women and men. President Öcalan teaches that for a man to be a socialist, he must form a genuine friendship with a woman. And we strive for ourselves on the path of President Öcalan and the PKK.
My aim is to struggle for our people, who are under genocide, and for the freedom of President Öcalan. This is a struggle and an act of resistance. I will dedicate myself to President Öcalan’s Manifesto and become a true socialist along the line of women’s freedom.”
The PKK created a new life for women
Zeryan Rênas: “My name is Zeryan Rênas. First of all, I want to congratulate 27 November for President Öcalan, for all revolutionary martyrs, for our people, for everyone who has given labor and struggled on this path, and especially for every woman who dedicated herself to this cause before us.
When we were born, we opened our eyes to the world through the PKK, and that is how we came to know it. For us, the meaning of the PKK is very different. The PKK revealed the existence of women; it ended the slavery imposed on women for thousands of years, made their struggle visible, and built a women’s army.
For this reason, the name of the PKK may have changed, but in our hearts the PKK has always existed and will always exist. Because it was through the PKK that we discovered our truth, recognized our existence and reached this level. We saw the right path, and now we continue and will continue, our struggle on this path.
The PKK created a new life for women. In the structure of society, women’s presence used to be almost nonexistent; there was no true comradeship, and women were always belittled.
Within the PKK, true comradeship was taught, especially how comradeship between women and men should be and upon which principles it must be built. This is not based on a male-dominant mindset, but on the correct foundation of comradeship presented to us by President Öcalan; it was he who guided us. Our efforts are based on this principle.
President Öcalan showed that women must be valued greatly so that a woman can play her role in every sphere.
After I joined, what struck me most was how two genders can work together and carry out a task side by side. Thanks to President Öcalan, women’s presence has reached this level. He built the PKK, and for 47 years it has continued this way.
Every woman who joins this struggle comes to know her own truth, recognize her own existence and take hold of her own essence. She knows who she is, what she is, why she joined and why she continues this struggle.
The meaning of the PKK for the Kurdish people is also very different. Because the Kurdish people were going through a process of genocide. When the PKK emerged, every Kurd began to understand that they, too, existed; that they, too, could speak their own language, raise their children in their own culture, and live according to their own culture.
The Turkish state and its mindset had applied such a hostile and destructive policy against the Kurdish people that Kurds had reached a point where they no longer even knew they were Kurdish, they had been rendered invisible.
The PKK created an awakening; it enabled the Kurdish people to awaken again, to say once more: ‘I am Kurdish, I exist.’
I want every Kurdish youth, every mother and father, to raise their children in this culture. I also want every young person to dedicate themselves to this path, to clarify their own existence even more, and to better understand their truth. Through President Öcalan’s ‘Peace and Democratic Society’ call, every young person can organize themselves further, turn toward the right path and walk toward freedom.
In this sense, the values of the heroic comrades who sacrificed for years and fell as martyrs have great meaning; especially the resistance of President Öcalan, who is struggling for us within four walls, has immense value. We will strengthen our struggle.
In the system President Öcalan has rebuilt, we will further develop ourselves in line with the Call for Peace and Democratic Society, and we will strengthen and expand our struggle.”