Eda Kalafat, a member of the HDK Youth Assembly, said that hearing Abdullah Öcalan’s voice after 26 years was highly significant for the youth, giving them strength and excitement.
After Abdullah Öcalan’s historic call on February 27, Kurdish young people intensified their activities in Kurdistan and Turkey. Eda Kalafat, a member of the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK) Youth Assembly, said: “We are organizing democratic society readings, young women’s meetings, youth gatherings, and community meetings everywhere. We can say that we have become even more focused during this period on organizing ourselves and our people in light of our patriotic and revolutionary values.”
Speaking to ANF, Kalafat emphasized that the release of Abdullah Öcalan’s video after 27 years had a unique significance for young people.
She noted that the youth were among the most impacted by Abdullah Öcalan’s February 27 call for Peace and a Democratic Society. She described the youth’s challenges as follows: “Young people born after the International Conspiracy have lived their entire lives under the grip of multiple crises of capitalist modernity. Foremost among these are special warfare policies that especially target young women. While femicide continues everywhere under the male-dominated family institution and fascist state apparatus, in Kurdistan, it operates through a wide network including racist oppression by soldiers, police, village guards, gangs, education and housing centers. Young Kurdish women are suppressed and ideologically corrupted in every aspect of their lives. Youth in general face hopelessness, extreme economic inequality, forced migration due to political pressure, and lives marked by losses from war. As a form of escape, assimilation fosters aimlessness and meaninglessness among the youth. Whenever youths attempt to claim political rights or take action, they face heavy oppression, destruction, and torture. In this context, the call for a Democratic Society and Peace is a great beacon of hope for us. Leader Apo’s words, ‘We will either live life freely or we will consider it never lived,’ deeply resonate with the patriotic youth. Because, for young people surrounded by fascism, the only thing that keeps them connected to life is the possibility of a free existence. That this call came from the Leadership carries profound meaning, as the 52 years of struggle for the Kurdish and all oppressed peoples gives us immense confidence and stirs great excitement in the face of this revolutionary will.”
Activities increased after call to young people
Kalafat explained that following Leader Apo’s call, both the HDK and the DEM Party Youth Assemblies ramped up their work, and that the message he sent to youth has increased motivation and excitement within youth circles.
She continued: “Our youth activities have intensified in every area since the call. From April 1 to 4, under the leadership of the DEM Party Youth Assembly, we organized a march from Amed to Amara. On the final day, we received the message Leader Apo had sent to the youth. In this message, Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] emphasized the necessity of linking socialism to socialization, and this has further intensified our organizational efforts. We continued to vocally demand Leader Apo’s physical freedom, hung banners in city centers, and carried out poster and sticker campaigns. We stress that one of the necessary conditions for building equality and freedom is also the physical freedom of the Leadership.”
Many meetings organized by young people
Eda Kalafat shared details of their other activities:
“Under the leadership of our Young Women’s Coordination, the Binevş Ecology Commission was founded, and we participated in the Women, Nature, and Culture Festival. We consider it our duty to defend our environment, which is being plundered by colonial law in Kurdistan.
-On June 15–16, we organized a ‘Youth and Democratic Society Conference’ in Okmeydanı, led by the HDK Youth Assembly, bringing together 13 different youth organizations. We believe it’s necessary to create an organizational and discussion platform that will force the rulers to bring peace by socializing it with all revolutionary and democratic sectors.
-As part of the DEM Youth Assembly’s campaign ‘We Insist on a Socialist Life, We Organize with Free Leadership’, many meetings were held from Turkey to Kurdistan.
-Through screenings and discussions of the documentary Vejîna Kurd, we aimed to raise historical awareness among youth.
-From our culture and arts commissions to the ‘Şiyar Be’ platform formed in Amed as an anti-drug organization, we participated in various shifts, set up tents, organized democratic society readings and knowledge contests; we discussed our social problems and ideology with our patriotic people.
-Under the leadership of HDK Young Women, we held discussions on invisible women’s labor, and under DEM Young Women, we discussed the women’s dimension of the process and Leader Apo’s defenses within the campaign framework.
-Currently, our young women comrades are actively voicing their demands about the process in Ankara under the initiative ‘I Need Peace’, together with women from all walks of life.
-Last weekend, simultaneous ‘Democratic Society Workshops with Pioneer Youth’ were held in Riha, Adana, Istanbul, Wan, and Amed, led by DEM Young Women, DEM Youth, and DBP Youth.”
Young people want to socialize Abdullah Öcalan-s paradigm
Kalafat stated that the common goal of all these efforts is to socialize Abdullah Öcalan’s paradigm and understanding of socialism: “All our work is focused on organizing this paradigm and ideology within society. That’s why we are holding democratic society readings, youth and women’s meetings, and community gatherings everywhere. We can say we are more focused than ever on organizing ourselves and our people in light of our patriotic and revolutionary values.”
Kalafat stressed that for the youth, every word from Abdullah Öcalan represents a perspective, and she reminded that today’s youth fighting in the struggle belong to a generation born after the International Conspiracy.
“For the youth, Leader Apo has a different place,” she said, adding: “For the youth, every word and perspective from the Leadership is incredibly exciting—we see and feel this everywhere. We felt it intensely after the February 27 letter during March 8 and Newroz. We experienced the most enthusiastic Newroz celebrations in years. The excitement peaked with the video message that followed the March 8 and April 4 letters and the congress perspective text. We, as young people, belong to a generation born after the International Conspiracy. Therefore, we only heard about the Leadership and many aspects of the struggle through stories and longing-filled memories. In our memory, establishing direct contact with the Leadership has a deeply emotional and cursed association with the conspiracy. But this is not only a value of the past—it’s something we feel is with us in every uprising and in all our organizing efforts.”
Hearing Abdullah Öcalan’s voice gives young people strength
Kalafat continued: “Hearing the Leadership’s voice for the first time after 26 years gave us tremendous strength and excitement. Hearing the voice of the leader of the world’s largest socialist movement, as strong and alive as ever, must excite all oppressed peoples, sects, and women—and it truly does. In our meetings with the public and young people, we also hear concerns about the uncertainty of the process, and questions or doubts about the other side of the negotiations. These are natural, but what we must especially be aware of is this: the youth should not be asking ‘Where is the process going?’—they should be the ones deciding and acting on where to take the process. Every struggle we wage is for the self-governance of the people and for the agency of women and youth in a free life. Therefore, we must address our concerns and questions through our organized practice
