On the occasion of the 8th of March, the campaign “Freedom for Ocalan, Political Solution to the Kurdish Question” calls for the struggle against patriarchy and for women’s freedom to be strengthened.
“The 21st century will be the century of the women’s revolution”, Abdullah Ocalan stated in an 8th of March address in 1998—now nearly 30 years ago. This message has become all the more relevant today, in the context of Ocalan’s call for “Peace and a Democratic Society”.
The system of capitalist modernity, through destroying humanity, nature, and all moral-political values, is trying to end everything that is left of the women’s societal system in the 21st century. Therefore, attacks targeting the struggle for women’s freedom and equality, policies aiming to lock women into traditional sexist molds, and the mentalities that try to force women to surrender by increasing the genocide of women also aim to destroy women’s leadership of the 21st century social struggle.
The war and culture of violence have been developed mostly against women and have hit women in every sense. For this reason, the struggle for peace and free life against war will be developed mostly by women. Thousands of years of the male-dominated system and mentality’s attacks on women have reached its peak in today’s 3rd World War reality with the capitalist modernity system. Therefore, the need for peace and a democratic society is of utmost importance for women.
In his February 27 call for “Peace and a Democratic Society,” Kurdish People’s leader Abdullah Öcalan takes responsibility for initiating a new era of democratization in Turkey through the peaceful and political resolution of the Kurdish Question.
In preparation of this call, Öcalan sent a letter to the Kurdish women’s movement, asking for their input in the process, and declared that women hold the key to success in building this new process. He emphasized that socialism cannot flourish in this new era unless we uproot the male-dominated culture deeply embedded within society. In this sense, he proposes that for a man, becoming a socialist is dependent on the way that he relates to women. A person who does not know how to talk to a woman cannot be a socialist. Socialism, Öcalan proposes, can only be achieved through women’s freedom.
Women’s movements and organizations have since taken up the call, pledging their active involvement in the process.
“Today, women stand as the architects of this dawning era of peace and democratic society. The age of democratic society is unmistakably women’s time. The manifesto of democratic society is, at its core, the manifesto of women’s freedom. Guided by this consciousness, we pledge to fulfill our responsibilities in this process—we shall intensify our struggle for freedom, democracy, and peace. As women, we have consistently stood at the vanguard of every struggle, catalysing profound social transformations throughout history. Now, our collective struggle, tireless effort and devoted labour as women will prove decisive in realising the success of this new era—an era shaped by the paradigm of free life.”
Throughout the nearly two years since our campaign was launched, women have time and time again played a vanguard role. Together, women around the world raised their voices in unison to demand the Freedom of Öcalan, showing the path for a political solution to the Kurdish question.
As we embark on this new process started by Öcalan’s call for “Peace and a Democratic Society,” let us strengthen our struggle for women’s freedom and against all forms of patriarchal oppression. We recognize the crucial efforts of women’s movements in weaving democracy and autonomy into the fabric of society and politics in Kurdistan, and in weaving the future together with women in struggle around the world. We call for the 8th of March to be celebrated as a day of resistance and solidarity.