The “Peace and Democratic Society” call issued on 27 February is being regarded as the beginning of a new phase in the Kurdish political movement. Following Abdullah Öcalan’s call, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) decided to dissolve itself at its Twelfth Congress held in the Medya Defense Areas.
Across all four parts of Kurdistan and in many parts of the world, the Kurdish people took to the streets to strongly embrace the call of Abdullah Öcalan, who had been held in severe isolation and from whom no news had been received for four years.
In the city of Kobanê tens of thousands of people gathered in Azadî Square to listen to the statement live.
In response to the call, the Kurdish Freedom Movement took symbolic steps of historic significance. On 11 July, a group of 30 guerrillas, led by Besê Hozat, Co-Chair of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Executive Council, burned their weapons. On 26 October, it was announced that armed forces had begun withdrawing from Northern Kurdistan and the territory of Turkey.
Turkey has so far taken no concrete steps beyond the establishment of a commission in parliament.
Omer Elûş, who lives in Kobanê and was among the first people whose home Abdullah Öcalan visited in the late 1970s, spoke to ANF.
Elûş recalled the period that began with Abdullah Öcalan’s arrival in Kobanê in the late 1970s and said that at the time Öcalan was known as “Ali Fırat,” and that his identity became known over time.
Elûş said Abdullah Öcalan’s ideas deeply transformed their outlook and added: “We felt as though we were lifeless. Abdullah Öcalan arrived with the determination to revive the Kurdish people. Patriotism carries a heavy responsibility. He would say, ‘I am awakening the Kurds from a state of death.’”
Elûş said that the armed struggle that began in 1984 moved the movement into a new phase and that Abdullah Öcalan offered a perspective of solutions not only for Kurds but for all peoples in the region.
Elûş said that Abdullah Öcalan’s project for a democratic society was seen as a threat by certain powers during the reshaping of the Middle East, and that this was why an international conspiracy was developed against him.
Elûş said, “Mr. Öcalan has always advocated peace. The steps taken have been based on peace, and Kurds now want to live freely with their identities and cultures.”
Elûş reiterated the demand for Öcalan’s physical freedom and said, “From now on, we want to see Mr. Öcalan among us. We have deep historical roots, and thanks to our martyrs these roots have grown even stronger.”
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