The 14th Conference of the Ishtar Assembly, held in the Martyr Rustem Cudî Refugee Camp in Maxmur under the slogan “Let Us Build a Democratic and Communal Society and Live Freely Together with the Leadership,” concluded at the end of the second day.
The final declaration, issued at the end of the conference, stated: “We, all women waging the struggle for freedom, embrace the construction of a democratic and communal society in the spirit of socialist personalities. A democratic society will be built under the leadership of the free woman. The free woman will be recreated by taking initiative once again, free from the mentality of possession, and by reclaiming her own existence.
Our conference was held with the motto ‘Let us build a democratic and communal society and create free life with the Leadership.’ As the women of the Martyr Rustem Cudî Refugee Camp in Maxmur, we have been struggling for 31 years to build a democratic and communal society under refugee conditions. During this process, we have paid heavy prices, and our gathering today with hundreds of women is the result of these sacrifices. The struggle and resistance for peace and the construction of a democratic society, led by Abdullah Öcalan [Leader Apo] for 52 years, is our greatest pride and honor in our journey to create a free society.
Today, global powers are preparing for major wars, and hegemonic forces are trying to prolong the life of the capitalist system through wars. Throughout history, women have been the victims of male-dominated systems of war; once again, they are the most affected and the ones who pay the highest price. Leader Apo has exposed the plans and projects of the power-based system, which he defines as the ‘caste killer,’ and through the Manifesto for Peace and a Democratic Society, he has developed a powerful alternative to this system. All individuals and forces fighting against the capitalist system are uniting around Leader Apo’s ideas. His call to women has always been to expand the struggle. As the women of the camp, in such a historical period, we see the holding of this conference as a foundation for reorganizing, strengthening democratic society, and building communal life.
Leader Apo’s philosophy and paradigm, centered on the free woman, make the construction of a free society possible; this approach has always been a source of strength and determination for us. As women, we have endured harsh winters, famine, storms, and great difficulties alongside Leader Apo and have become symbols of success. Like a narcissus in spring, we regained our color in the soil of Kurdistan with the blood of the martyrs. The message sent by Leader Apo to our conference was our greatest gift and further brightened our spring.
The women’s society of the camp, in the light of the Manifesto for Peace and a Democratic Society and empowered by Leader Apo’s letter, evaluated the political situation, reviewed two years of work, shortcomings, developments, the level of struggle, and the organizational work that forms the foundation of communal society, and discussed how these two years responded to the process.
We will build our future on the basis of the democratic nation paradigm, with an ecological, democratic society and an awareness of women’s freedom. Society will return to its essence and social nature through the perspective of jineology, thereby dismantling the caste killer system.
In this context, as the women of the camp, we see differences within society as richness rather than conflict and embrace all colors as the values of society. Accordingly, all women waging the struggle for freedom, in the spirit of socialist personality, embrace the construction of a democratic and communal society. A democratic society will be built under the leadership of the free woman. The free woman will take initiative again, free herself from the mentality of ownership, and reclaim her existence.
– We will always place Leader Apo’s physical freedom at the center of all our work and struggle.
– For a dignified life, the women of the camp will continue the struggle to build a democratic and free society despite all difficulties and obstacles.
– Against the caste-based masculinity of the male-dominated system, we will carry out self-defense on the basis of the right of every living being to defend itself.
– To achieve democratic integration, we will expand the struggle in line with the perspectives of the Manifesto for Peace and a Democratic Society.
– To protect our gains and ensure sustainable success, we will educate ourselves and build our future on the basis of jineology in the struggle to eliminate misogyny.
– The idea of the commune is the essential stage for women’s freedom and society; we will strengthen existing communes.
– We will create economic opportunities so that women can have economic autonomy.
– We will develop ideological education processes with the perspective of the Manifesto for Peace and a Democratic Society.
As Leader Apo stated: “Insistence on socialism is insistence on humanity.”
We socialist women are the founders of a society based on true socialism.”