First published on 27 November 2005, Komünar magazine has now completed its twentieth year. While twenty years may represent the dynamism and creativity of youth in a person’s life, for a revolutionary magazine it signifies maturity, depth and a new threshold in ideological production. Over the past two decades, Komünar has secured a lasting place in the history of revolutionary publishing as the bearer of a relentless and determined intellectual journey.
Komünar magazine was launched as the publication organ of the Abdullah Öcalan Academy of Social Sciences. From its very first issue, the magazine set out its editorial line clearly, adopting the academy’s emblem as its logo and embracing Abdullah Öcalan’s assessment that “to doubt socialism is to doubt humanity and its future” as its guiding slogan. This choice demonstrated that Komünar was not merely a magazine, but an expression of an ideological and social stance.
The magazine defined its founding ambition with the words, “the measure of our success is our ability to create an approach in which the entire cadre structure takes ownership of the magazine.” While this definition remains valid today, Komünar’s duties and responsibilities have continued to grow. Its core mission, bringing ideological depth to social issues and to the struggle for freedom and socialism, remains the central axis of its work.
Komünar is currently preparing its ninety-first issue. The first issue, published in November 2005, focused on “27 November” as its main dossier topic. From its first issue until issue forty-one, the magazine was published monthly. Beginning in May 2009, it shifted to a quarterly schedule. From the forty-fifth issue onward, it adopted a dossier format centered on deepening specific themes, thereby further strengthening its theoretical and ideological intensity.
Throughout its twenty-year publication life, Komünar has remained more than a periodical that reports on current developments. It has served as a platform where revolutionary thought is discussed, produced and collectively deepened. As it enters its twentieth year, Komünar prepares to continue this intellectual journey with the same determination.
Komünar staff spoke to ANF on the occasion of the magazine’s anniversary.
Roza Zagros: Komünar magazine has been carrying out its work for twenty years, and the mindset (the way of thinking) and ideas of Abdullah Öcalan have guided this work. Komünar’s work is a process of construction. When it comes to the content of the magazine, the work is the product of a collective effort and is conducted collectively. Because the Komünar effort is a collective one, the work proceeds on this basis.
For this reason, Komünar has been accepted and has gained an identity within all organizational structures and within society, both in terms of education and construction.
Serhed Ruken: We celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Komünar magazine, first and foremost for Abdullah Öcalan, for the martyrs and for all comrades. Every effort that shares Abdullah Öcalan’s thoughts is meaningful and sacred. Over the past twenty years, Komünar has been the magazine that shared his ideas the most. For this reason, in previous years there were efforts to ensure its consistent publication so that Abdullah Öcalan’s ideas could reach comrades and the public.
Today, Abdullah Öcalan’s ideas have gone beyond the Kurdish people and the Middle East, transforming into universal concepts. His thoughts are being evaluated and discussed on a global level. For oppressed societies and alternative systems, Abdullah Öcalan’s paradigm and the framework of democratic modernity have become a source of hope.
We are also part of the Abdullah Öcalan Academy of Social Sciences. Every view, every sentence and every work of Abdullah Öcalan is closely followed and discussed within society. This is because his ideas are shared and followed within the framework of a free life. It is not only the sharing of Abdullah Öcalan’s ideas that is essential, but also the way he works.
For a free life, the construction of a democratic society, the ability of society to find its future, to build its life upon this and to renew its culture on this basis are fundamental matters; the subject is determined accordingly.
Xebat Dicle: Our fundamental motivation is Abdullah Öcalan’s words, “One who does not have a solid theory cannot have a solid practice.” As the Abdullah Öcalan Academy of Social Sciences, we act in line with this goal. What makes the magazine distinct and original is that it is a magazine with martyrs.
Throughout the twenty years of its publication, there were comrades who were directly involved with Komünar and contributed with their writings. In 2008, our comrade Sinan Şahin, and in 2022, our comrade Erdal Tolhildan fell as martyrs while carrying out this work.
The name Komünar was proposed by Abdullah Öcalan, just as he proposed the name for the Abdullah Öcalan Academy of Social Sciences. We are now going through a period of change and transformation as a movement. One of the efforts that will guide this process of change and transformation is the work of the academy. This has always been the case in every period of change, and in this period as well, the academy will play a particularly special role.
Our magazine will also have a distinct place and mission. As the Abdullah Öcalan Academy of Social Sciences, we want to spread the Kurdish renaissance to the Middle East and to the world; in this sense, we aim to assume a role of leadership.