Ocalan – The Free

Communique- On Ocalan’s Call for Peace and Social Democratic Imperialism: An Anarchist Communist Critique

“The integration of revolutionary political forces into the Western-backed state in Syria, and the dismantling of revolutionary military forces in Qandil and Bakur is totally irreconcilable and antagonistic to the furtherance of the internationalist movement.

from abolitionmedia on 11th April 2025 by Revolutionary Anarcho-Communists via thefreeonline at https://wp.me/pIJl9-GBW Telegram t.me/thefreeonline/2873

When we – anarchist and communist revolutionaries – embark on the path of struggle we expect to exist, grow and die in a life of contradiction and tension, but we also intend for the path we are on to steadily maintain the positions that we’ve historically defined as unequivocal.

In essence, some things are negotiable, some deviations are forgivable, and some can be treacherous. The recent positions and actions by the PKK, in several of its components, are not only inconsistent with revolutionary struggle, but have deviated so far from the established principles of proletarian and internationalist struggle that the project has now veered into an essentially revisionist, collaborationist posture.

This is particularly alarming as the internationalist movement exceedingly needs heightened, resolute and honorable positions as the challenges facing us are grave and growing.

We are writing from an anarchist communist position that is far from monolithic in our locale, or in general, but we have also been at the forefront of solidarity efforts with the PKK since the formation of the International Freedom Battalion, the HBDH, and the establishment of the anarchist guerrilla faction, the IRPGF.

We have been increasingly alarmed at ongoing developments and the most recent political realities need to be addressed. We are not writing this with any elation and are not laying out this statement from a dogmatic, idealist stance.

In actuality, we maintained principled silence on a whole host of revisionist deviations, and would have continued out of respect for the complex and dynamic position the combatants find themselves in at the forefront in the conflict zones in West Asia.

However, recent developments have pushed us to publicly critique the organization in spite of our admiration for their historical accomplishments.

In the earlier phases of the struggle in Rojava, the US and the YPG both stated their collaboration was “temporary, transactional and tactical”; in essence, not a strategic partnership but a brief association to combat ISIS. This stated position is now, approximately, 8 years old and has turned into unarguably a comprehensive strategic partnership.

The reality is even more stark in light of the larger situation in West Asia today. The Palestinian Revolution, ignited by the monumental October 7^th operation, followed by remarkable acts of solidarity performed in northern occupied Palestine and the Red Sea, set a new stage in contemporary struggle against colonialism and imperialism, but is also an illustrative example of resistance for the entire internationalist movement.

The war against the Zionist settler regime, and in effect the US-led imperialist world system, is at an elevated state, and due to the genocidal nature of the imperialist forces, the planned ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, and the potential of success for the Resistance in Gaza, the liberation of Palestine must have a central role.

To be clear, this is not to contrast the Kurdish movement with the Palestinian movement, but to highlight a fundamental contradiction that has reached its peak.

The Zionist regime, being a settler appendage of US power projection, has embarked on a genocidal campaign, and the eradication of the Zionist state will put unprecedented pressure on American imperialism, particularly as the US is a wounded animal that has been in decline for some time due to its intensifying excesses.

In this context, the PKK partnership with the American regime is particularly inconceivable – as a crucial war for liberation against colonialism rages on in the region.

The opportunism in this collusion is evident but there are also three other crucial points that we feel must be addressed to clarify the true scope of the morass….

Kurdish feminist guerrilla YJA-Star statement for 25N: ‘YJA Star is an army that defends all oppressed women’ + YPJ Gallery

Kurdish feminist guerrilla YJA-Star statement for 25N: ‘YJA Star is an army that defends all oppressed women’

on November 20, 2024 de KurdisCat: Comunicat via thefreeonline Telegram/t.me/thefreeonline

The YJA Star guerrillas (Yekîneyên Jinên Azad ên Star or Free Women’s Units-Ishtar) drew attention to violence against women in the patriarchal system on the occasion of November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

Highlighting that millions of women are subjected to massacres, rape, harassment and violence in the patriarchal system every day, the YJA Star guerrillas stated that this brutality against women is part of life and is intended to be legitimized.

Stating that they have taken a pioneering role in all aspects of life and war, the women guerrillas stressed that systematic violence can only end through the joint organization and self-defense of women.

The guerrilla said that in many parts of the world, policies of femicide are being carried out against women, and that these policies can be overcome with resistance and solidarity.

YPJ soldier with freed girl after the epic battle to free Manbij… Illustrating the inspiring change from medieval Sharia law to anarcha-feminism.

The YJA Star guerrillas emphasized that they fight not only for the women of Kurdistan, but also for all oppressed and violent women, giving the following message on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25:

“YJA Star is an army that defends all oppressed women, the women of Kurdistan and Turkey first and foremost, as well as Afghanistan, India and Europe. We will defeat the invaders with the motto ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’ (Woman, Life, Freedom).

We follow the path of selfless comrades like Asya, Rûken and Sar, who sacrificed their lives for freedom without a moment’s hesitation. As YJA Star fighters, we will strike a blow to the male-dominated system in every action we take.

The YPJ, part of the Syrian Democratic forces (SDF) of the Autonomous Administration of Noth East Syria (AANES)

We call on all young women to join the ranks of YJA Star, to join the life beautified by the Apoist philosophy (referring to Apo, Abdullah Öçalan) and to crown the struggle with success”.

YJA Star is the female armed militia of the Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan (Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK): Sozdar Avesta, member of the Presidential Council (made up of 6 people*) of the Koma Civakên Kurdistan (KCK) which includes, among others, the PKK and the YJA itself, has expressed a similar sentiment:

“Women must strengthen their self-defense and be more aware and organized.” Avesta, whose real name is Nuriye Kesbir (1948), joined the PKK in 1973 and has focused on defending the Kurdish Yezidi minority.

Rally for Rêber APO (Abdullah Öcalan) in Cologne, Germany on Sat Nov. 16th

Sozdar Avesta calls on everyone to attend rally for Rêber APO (Abdullah Öcalan) in Cologne, Germany on Nov. 16th

In an interview with ANF the member of the presidential council of KCK called on all of us:

“A massive action is going to take place in Cologne, Germany on November 16th. It must be used as an opportunity to pass on the message sent by Rêber Apo to millions.

Therefore, I call on all our people in Europe, especially our people in Germany, the Êzidî community, the Alevi community, the youth, women, our international friends who have worked so hard for Rêber Apo’s physical freedom in this period, to flock to Cologne with the enthusiasm and morale of the anniversary of the founding of the PKK and show the whole world that we do not tolerate one more hour in which the isolation of Rêber Apo continues.”

(https://anfenglishmobile.com/features/sozdar-avesta-calls-on-everyone-to-attend-rally-for-Ocalan-in-cologne-76301)

There will be buses going to Cologne for the Demonstration from many European cities. For further information contact us: internationalistcommune@riseup.net

Full Interview here https://anfenglishmobile.com/features/sozdar-avesta-calls-on-everyone-to-attend-rally-for-Ocalan-in-cologne-76301

Abdullah Öcalan and the Revolution in Rojava are a Beacon for Revolutionary Practice from below

ACTIVISTS SPEAK OUT– Abdullah Öcalan is still jailed because he is the Key to peace. He is uniquely trusted for his practical revolutionary ideas and for leading 2 long ceasefires with the endless Turkish repression.-

from thefreeonline https://wp.me/pIJl9-EpX on 12 October 2023 By Gemma Parera at El Salto via Rebelion.Org Translation. thefreeonline/ Tgram: t.me/thefreeonline

Afrin ”terrorist women” demonstrate for murdered sons and freedom of their leader Ocalan

Abdullah Öcalan is the political leader of the Kurdistan liberation movement and the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party), and launched the proposal of Democratic Confederalism that inspired the 2012 revolution in Rojava (western Kurdistan located in Syria) and the political model that has since been built with the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.

For many international activists, the ideas of Abdullah Öcalan and the Kurdistan liberation movement are a source of inspiration.

“It is the most alive revolutionary movement in the world at the moment, the most confrontational and the one with the most real power of change,” says Maddi.

Maddi came into contact with the Kurdistan liberation movement ten years ago in what she defines as “a change of political cycle” in Euskal Herria.

“It was not only the end of the armed struggle, but also the dismantling of an entire political movement that was articulated in society,” explains this young activist who, in search of new horizons, participated in a brigade that went from Euskal Herria to Rojava. Ana and Sílvia also share the experience of having been in Rojava where they went to learn about the role of women in the resistance against the Islamic State and the political paradigm and social model that made it possible.

Ona, who was also able to see it first hand, highlights how she was marked by learning about a “democracy that is not representative, but based on people taking responsibility for resolving their own basic needs and in which it is understood that without the liberation of women we cannot liberate the whole of society.”

For them, learning about this thought and this practice has meant a new way of understanding militancy as “a life choice, with more initiative and its own strength,” says Maddi.

“If you are looking for a path of determination in the struggle, without giving up, the Kurdish movement is an example,” adds Sílvia.

The Underground Free Women’s Movement (TJA) in Kurdish Turkey

After the Syrian Kurds’ fight for Kobane against ISIS in 2014-5, many across the world were suddenly made aware of the Kurdish women’s movement in Rojava, northern Syria. But it was already flourishing across the border in SE Turkey, where women joined in taking up the ideas of imprisoned Ocalan and intense cultural and political change to a horizontal anti authoritarian way of life was in full swing.

All this was suppressed in Turkey with Erdogan’s police and military crackdown in his bid to demonize the Kurds in a racist bid for dictatorial power. To his fury the revolution has continued and blossomed in liberated Rojava, with echoes in Europe and beyond, despite Turkish support for ISIS and Al Qaeda, the economic blockade and the 750km long wall.

Here we republish a great interview on the birth, growth and suppression of the Feminist movement in Kurdish Turkey (Nth Kurdistan).

Screenshot: Banner of the TJA website.

Interview with the Free Women’s Movement (TJA) in North Kurdistan

first published. Open Democracy • 31/10/2018 • Global Rights (some of photos/videos added by TheFreeOnline)

“Actually we have been calling our experience World War III. This is a war of destruction. The state does not call it a war, but this is the experience of those affected.”

After the Syrian Kurds’ fight for Kobane (a Kurdish city in northern Syria/Rojava) against ISIS in 2014-5, many across the world were suddenly made aware of the Kurdish women’s movement.

What has not reached us, however, is a much wider context that enabled the Kurdish women-fighters to confidently take up arms to defend themselves and their people. The unprecedented accomplishments of the Kurdish women predated Kobane and the war in Syria.

They are rooted in the evolution of Turkey’s Kurdish liberation movement, as it is represented by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and in the ideological shift of its leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

In what is regarded as a departure from the Marxist-Leninist perspective of national liberation, Ocalan developed a theory of democratic confederalism and democratic autonomy, making liberation of women into one of the central pillars of his struggle, alongside radical democracy and social ecology. The new ideology was first put into practice in Bakur (the Kurdish region in the southeast of Turkey) in the early 2000s and, despite continuing state oppression, the focus on and efforts towards women’s liberation within the movement brought visible results: a dramatic increase in women’s participation in the political and social life of the society, an evolution in their consciousness and the creation of various tools and spaces for their empowerment.

In Bakur, since the early 2000s, the Kurdish movement has been coordinating womens’ associations, women’s shelters, women’s local councils, cooperatives and academies, that have often functioned in cooperation with elected officials from the Kurdish parties in local government. Continue reading “The Underground Free Women’s Movement (TJA) in Kurdish Turkey”

Mass Hunger Strikes end in Victory over Fascist Terror.. 8 dead

note.. this ‘TheFreeOnline’ blog is now banned in Turkey with Dozens more pro Rojava and anti Fascist sites

reportaje en castellano abajo

After 200 days of incomparable historical resistance, the hunger strikes in Kurdistan, Turkey and Europe have been declared over today

We send our warmest revolutionary greetings to all comrades who took part in the hunger strike and the many resistance actions and congratulate the free peoples on this victory.

Ocalan in the past has declared long ceasefires with the Turkish State rejecting terrorism and separatism in favour of ‘municipal anarchist’ communal ideas and feminist emancipation which have swept through the over 15 million Kurdish population.

On November 8, 2018 the Kurdish politician Leyla Güven had started her hunger strike to lift the total isolation against Abdullah Öcalan, the representative of the Kurdish people and philosophical thought leader of the revolution in Northeast Syria. Continue reading “Mass Hunger Strikes end in Victory over Fascist Terror.. 8 dead”

Mother gets 7 years for Speech at Son’s funeral ..Stop Turkish Fascism!

Elderly mother of Suruc bombing victim jailed for seven years on terror charges

May 1, 2019 IPA News

Besra Erol, the mother of Evrim Deniz Erol who died in a suicide bombing carried out by the Islamic State (ISIS) that killed 33 people and injured 104 more in Sanliurfa’s Suruc district in 2015 has been sent to jail on terror charges, Gazete Duvar news portal reported on Tuesday.

Besra Erol, 60, was on Monday sentenced to seven and a half years in prison.

She was convicted on charges that include being a member of a terrorist organization and sent to Mus E Type Closed Prison.

The mother was accused of being a member of a terrorist organization due to her remarks in a speech that she gave over the grave of her son Evrim Deniz Erol and some other press statements regarding his death. continues below

July 20, 2015, Suruç: 34 Kurdish humanitarian volunteers were killed and about 100 injured in a suicide bombing in the predominantly-Kurdish town of Suruç near the border with Syria. Turkish officials blamed ISIS. But instead of cracking down on ISIS which at the time was covertly sponsored in Turkey, they immediately began a blitzkrieg persecution of the Kurds themselves who were the victims, resulting in the end of the ceasefire (and the whole Peace Process initiated and maintained by the imprisoned Kurdish leader Ocalan) and unleashing the wave of Turkish nationalism that boosted Erdogan’s march to supreme dictator. ISIS never claimed the attack.