Abdullah Öcalan, the founding leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has been a key figure in the Kurdish struggle for autonomy in Turkey. Captured in 1999, he has been imprisoned, gradually shifting his focus from armed resistance to advocating for “democratic confederalism”—a model promoting grassroots democracy, gender equality, and coexistence. His writings continue to influence Kurdish politics and regional debates on peace and autonomy.
In this letter, Öcalan salutes Newroz, the Kurdish/Persian New Year, as a moment of renewal and unity. He critiques the impact of imperialist capitalism and nationalist conflicts, arguing that ethnic and religious divisions have been exploited to sustain oppression. He calls for an urgent transition to peace, urging the PKK to end its armed struggle and embrace democratic politics within Turkey. He envisions a new era where different identities coexist under a democratic system, overcoming the nation-state model imposed by capitalist powers. Finally, he highlights the role of women and youth in the struggle for equality and salutes the resistance of Kobanê. His letter is both a call for Kurdish-Turkish reconciliation and a broader vision for a democratic Middle East.
To All Our Peoples;
I salute the Newroz of all our peoples and friends who stand for peace, equality, freedom, and democracy.
The crisis caused by the neoliberal policies imposed worldwide by imperialist capitalism and its despotic local collaborators is being experienced in our region and country with devastating effects. In this crisis environment, the ethnic and religious differences of our peoples and their cultures are being consumed by senseless and ruthless identity wars. Neither our historical nor contemporary, neither our conscientious nor political values can remain silent or indifferent to this picture. On the contrary, an urgent intervention is required by our religious beliefs, as well as our political and moral responsibilities.
The struggle we have been waging for democracy, freedom, fraternity, and honorable peace for the peoples of our country stands today at a historic threshold. Our movement, which has endured four decades of suffering, has not been in vain, yet it has also reached a stage where it cannot be sustained in its current form. History and our peoples demand from us a democratic solution and peace that align with the spirit of the time. On this basis, we are faced with the duty of initiating a new process grounded in the ten-point declaration that was officially announced by all of us at the historic Dolmabahçe Palace.
In line with the declaration, and upon reaching an agreement on principles, I see it as both necessary and historic for the PKK to hold a congress to end its armed struggle against the Republic of Turkey, which has lasted for nearly forty years, and to determine the political and social strategies and tactics in accordance with the spirit of the new era. I hope that we will soon reach a principled agreement, go through a truth and reconciliation commission formed by members of parliament and an oversight committee, and successfully realize this congress. With this congress, a new era begins. In this new period, we are entering a phase where, within the Republic of Turkey, we will live together in peace and fraternity as a democratic society with a democratic identity, based on free and equal constitutional citizenship. Thus, we will move beyond the conflict-ridden past of the 90-year history of the Republic and walk toward a future built on true peace and the universal criteria of democracy. What befits the true history of Newroz is to welcome such a stage in your presence. However, what is right for our country and our peoples must also be valid for our sacred region.
The general reality of capitalist imperialism over the last two hundred years, and more specifically in the last hundred years, is this: closing ethnic and religious identities inward in contradiction to their essence, turning them against each other based on nationalist nation-state foundations, and ruthlessly sustaining this existence to this day in line with a divide-and-rule policy!
We must recognize that the latest manifestation of the oppression caused by imperialist powers that refuse to abandon their ambitions over the Middle East has appeared in the form of ISIS. This organization, which defies even the meaning of barbarism, has committed brutal massacres against all the peoples and faiths of the region—primarily Kurds, Turkmens, Arabs, Yazidis, and Assyrian-Syriacs—without sparing women or children.
Now is the time to put an end to this ruthless and destructive history and transition to peace, fraternity, and democracy in accordance with our true past. In line with what I know to be right and with my beliefs, it is a necessity to transcend the nation-states born from conflict-ridden, consumptive, and destructive nationalism through democratic politics and to transition into a common existence based on open democratic identities. To this end, I call on nation-states to realize a new form of democratic co-existence through democratic politics within themselves, and I call on them to build the democratic common home of the Middle East among themselves.
On this occasion, I also call upon the women and youth, who constitute the overwhelming majority of this great assembly and who yearn for freedom, to take the most active role in the struggle for freedom and equality in the economic, social, political, and security spheres in the coming period and to succeed. Additionally, I salute the resistance and victory of Kobanê, which holds great significance for both our region and the international world. On this basis, I welcome the emerging ‘Spirit of E?me’ as a new historical symbol among our peoples.
All of these assessments I have tried to outline above constitute, in a single sentence, a valuable call for the revision, restoration, and reconstruction of our society—both in terms of our history and our present.
Once again, I extend my greetings with the hope that this historic Newroz will bring great blessings to all humanity through your presence.
Long live Newroz,
Long live the fraternity of peoples!