One of the key figures who has shaped the recent history of the Kurdish political struggle, Eyşe Efendi, a member of the Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan Initiative Committee in Syria, carries the collective memory both as a politician and as a mother.
In the second part of this interview, Efendi spoke to ANF about her first encounter with Abdullah Öcalan.
The first part of the interview can be read here.
Eyşe Efendi recounted her first meeting with Abdullah Öcalan with deep emotion: “Sometimes Arab women get upset with us and say, ‘You had someone like Abdullah Öcalan, and you introduced him to us so late.’ I do not remember exactly which year I first met him, but during the New Year celebrations, Seîd Yusif and Elî Dico had been invited to perform songs. I was standing in line, and when Öcalan arrived, I embraced him. He moved on, and I quickly went to the other side of the line; when he reached me again, he said, ‘I just saw you.’ He immediately realised that I had entered the line twice. I embraced him again.
Before meeting Öcalan, I never believed I would have the chance to see him. I felt I had not done enough work to be worthy of meeting him. Because I thought I could not tell him that I had not done enough, I did not want to stand in front of him right away. But when you see him, the effect he leaves on you is a sense of renewal, a reaffirmation of a promise and the experience of encountering an idea and a philosophy. At that time, I could not express it this way, but now I can say it clearly.
Öcalan is like a prophet. He was confined to one place for 27 years. Prophets also retreat voluntarily to think about how to deepen their ideas. But of course, Öcalan did not confine himself by choice; he was imprisoned as a political figure. He was taken prisoner because he wanted people to live freely and for all components to lead a democratic life. And that is exactly how I looked at Öcalan.”
Öcalan’s message became a new Newroz
Eyşe Efendi described the impact of Abdullah Öcalan’s message, which arrived after a long period of silence: “Öcalan’s message came on 27 February; for three or four years before that, there had been no news from him at all. The people had begun to panic, they feared for Öcalan’s life. But when the people heard his voice on 27 February, they could not contain themselves; millions took to the streets and welcomed his message.
This was not an issue concerning only the Kurdish people; it concerned the entire world. Not only because of the centenary of Lausanne, the whole world and the entire Middle East were politically paralysed. Everywhere there was war, chaos, fire; peoples and communities were facing extinction. Peoples who had preserved their identity, especially certain components among the Arabs, such as the Alawites and the Druze in Syria, had been dissolved and erased within the Baath system.”
Eyşe Efendi also said: “Against this backdrop, Öcalan’s message became a new birth, a new turning point, a new Newroz. Newroz is no longer only 21 March; today we have many days we can call the peoples’ Newroz. And this too was a spring day for the Kurdish people.
With the manifesto on which Öcalan worked for ten years, the consciousness that was meant to be destroyed is being revived once more. This manifesto reminds us again of a history in which people were burned alive and subjected to genocide. Those like Erdoğan, who never approve of anything unless it serves their interests, certainly have their own calculations here as well. And of course, they will also be held accountable for the massacres committed against the Kurdish people. That is why they cannot easily speak of democracy or humanity; they cannot come out and say that they are implementing Öcalan’s project.”
Even if we fought another century, the solution is still at the table
Eyşe Efendi summarised both the current political landscape and her thoughts on the future with the following words: “Öcalan has created something new, something on which one can walk and build a communal society. At its core, the Kurdish people are a communal and multi-coloured society. Renewal takes place within such a society. Everything that is spoken of today in terms of peace, and everything that is needed, can be found in the roughly 100-page manifesto presented by Öcalan. He now offers a manifesto to ensure that society does not make mistakes or take the wrong steps.
When we talk about peace, we are not only referring to laying down arms after a 52-year guerrilla war; we are also talking about renewal in consciousness, politics, diplomacy, society and spirituality. The manifesto lays all of this before us. Even if we were to fight for another century, in the end we would still arrive at a political solution at the negotiating table.”
Living is a form of resistance
As the interview came to an end, Eyşe Efendi shared a message for 27 November and for ‘Cejna Berxwedana Netewî’ (National Resistance Day): “We celebrate the Day of Rebirth of the Kurdish people, saved from destruction by Abdullah Öcalan, together with the families of the martyrs, those who have resisted in the mountains for decades, and everyone who has gathered around the movement of the Kurdish people and around Öcalan. Once again, we say: ‘To live is to resist.’ But this means a political, diplomatic and social form of life. We will build a life without war and without suffering, with a renewed spirit of organisation, a life in which, guided by the spirit of the Apoist movement, we will secure the physical freedom of Öcalan and the freedom of the Kurdish people.”