“I have not really changed. I am still a socialist and one of the most radical defenders of a moral and political society. What has changed, what has transformed, is the era itself: time, societies, classes, tools, and the methods used in struggle. I simply realized the imbalance between what I was hearing and what I was seeing, and this led me into a new phase of struggle. Those who question or criticize this, who claim it is surrender, should first examine what they themselves have done, where they stand, and whether they have managed to raise even a single stone in the name of evolution...”

Social transformation cannot be understood solely through changes in economic or political conditions; it must also be traced through the ruptures that occur in the human realm of thought. From the crisis of modernity to the confusion of postmodernism, from the collapse of real socialism to the rise of democratic self-governance, radical paradigms have always aimed to carry the voices of the historically marginalized into the future. In this context, Abdullah Öcalan’s Call for Peace and a Democratic Society represents an intellectual vision that goes beyond the boundaries of classical revolutionary models.

Thinking through social science

To properly understand Abdullah Öcalan’s Call for Peace and a Democratic Society, it must be approached through the lens of social science and the spirit of the time. It is essential to adopt a perspective grounded in the conditions of the era, its time and space. Every age carries within it both crisis and potential. Interpreting this call through outdated perspectives, worn-out formulas, or memorized concepts without critically analyzing the era itself, attempting to explain it through selective historical references, is a mistake from the outset. The language and intent of this call must be seen not merely as political discourse but as the theoretical founding moment of a new form of social existence.

From the same standpoint, it is also misguided to reduce Mr. Öcalan’s paradigm, his socialist perspective, or his approach to world revolution to a patchwork of quotations from this or that sociologist, from this page or that paragraph of some book. Such interpretations amount to a misreading of Mr. Öcalan and result in a fundamental deviation. This is not simply a matter of theoretical stance, it is about renewing revolutionary consciousness on a methodological level.

The spirit of the time and the shift in paradigm

What truly matters is not to evaluate Abdullah Öcalan through outdated ideologies and theoretical claims that once held meaning in past centuries but are now irrelevant. Instead, we must approach him with perspectives rooted in the spirit of the time, with new ideological insights, revolutionary strategies, and paradigms. To view things in reverse is to deny life and tangible reality. Time tells us entirely different stories now, and the era we live in speaks of matters far beyond what has been previously said. Phrases such as “the concrete analysis of concrete conditions,” “theory is gray, but the tree of life is green,” or Heraclitus’ “everything flows” and “the only constant is change,” offer profound responses to those who continue to lean on centuries-old concepts as if nothing has changed. What is needed is not nostalgia, but direction. One must overcome outdated, corroded theories, rigid ideologies, static strategies, and dogmatic methods that no longer serve this era and do so without fear. Revolutionary flexibility, grounded in the material and intellectual reality of our time, has become a necessity, not loyalty to frozen ideological formulas.

It is now widely understood that the revolutions of this new era cannot be made with the same tools used in the past. With the changing times, everything has shifted: ideologies, paradigms, strategies, economic and social structures, relations of production, the classes and labor groups involved in the process, all have transformed. In their place, new dynamics, classes, and intermediary layers have emerged. Technological revolutions have occurred time and again; new discoveries have reached the depths of space. We are now entering a new phase full of immense revolutionary potential, sparked by advancements in artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT.

All of these developments are bound to influence social revolutions. If the classes and structures of production have changed, then revolutionary strategies must also change. If the classes making revolutions have changed, then naturally new forces will step in. The logic, style, path, and methods of revolution must also transform. If one tries to launch a revolution using the old paths, old tools, and outdated mentality, nothing will be achieved.

Mr. Öcalan, based on all these concrete realities, has laid out a paradigm for a new social structure, a paradigm for revolutions that must be realized in our time, in this new age. He has focused intensely, mapped out new strategies, and created new paradigms for new revolutions.

To do this, he revisits the theories of social revolution proposed by Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and other scholars, studying and analyzing them in order to draw conclusions appropriate to our own era. He argues that old revolutionary doctrines, state-centered ideologies, theories of power, and methods based on seizing the state through force no longer match the conditions of today. Instead, he calls for the creation of theories, ideologies, tactics, and strategies that are appropriate for the realities of our time. This approach does not rely on the sanctified formulas of the past but embraces open and pluralistic visions for the future. He states that replacing revolutions based on force and violence with ones rooted in the people and replacing power structures built on the dictatorship of the proletariat with collective administrations rooted in democratic society, requires the construction of an entirely new system.

If we speak of people’s revolutions, of democracy, of equality and fraternity, then the revolution must indeed be a people’s revolution. Democracy must be true people’s democracy. Equality in the economy must be a communal economy. A so-called revolution that does not rely on the people, one based on a handful of armed forces, one choked by bureaucracy where everything is concentrated in the hands of a few elites. This cannot be a real revolution, a real form of governance, or a system of economic justice. Because equality must not only be instrumental, it must also be structurally and culturally produced. Revolutions made in the name of the proletariat or national liberation, if not rooted in the people, are ultimately just the other face of bourgeois revolutions.

Repetition of the past is not revolution

Let us look at history: the Soviet revolution centered in Russia was carried out in the name of the state and a pure proletariat. As a result, it became detached from the people, lacked democracy, and was based entirely on dictatorship. And what happened? After 70 years, it collapsed due to internal reasons. Countries that waged national liberation struggles eventually became nation-states and, one by one, were absorbed into the capitalist system. Today, not a single socialist society exists in the world. Can this be a coincidence? First, destroy the old system. Then build a new one in its place, replace one state with another, swap capitalist production for socialist production relations and yet, after just a few years, each of them collapses and becomes part of the capitalist order once again. This clearly illustrates how strategic mistakes are historically repeated in a systematic way.

This reflects a grave strategic error, a deep flaw in perspective, and an ideological and theoretical failure to break away from bourgeois ideology. Otherwise, how is it that revolutions are made only for everything to collapse into ruins shortly after? Socialists, revolutionaries, and those who claim to be pioneers cannot ignore this or pretend the problem does not exist. For a century now, socialists, revolutionaries, and those who call themselves communists have been spinning in place. Despite relying on weapons, violence, and force, they have remained a small handful, never moving beyond marginal positions. This is the concrete reality, regardless of intent. The sacrifice has been immense, but the results are absent. There is struggle at the level of isolated groups, but there is no reality of mass popularization or victory.

Many revolutionary movements will remain trapped in their current conditions as long as they continue with the same old mindset, methods, and revolutionary outlook. Even if another hundred years pass, nothing will change, they will not be able to go beyond their current stage. Whatever was experienced in the past century will continue to repeat itself: a repetition of repetitions. This entrapment in historical cycles turns struggle into nostalgia rather than resistance. These are the inevitable outcomes of bending the arc in the wrong direction.

Building a democratic society: a method beyond violence

Abdullah Öcalan’s critique and proposed solution are directed precisely at this point. The new paradigm he has constructed rests on this axis, completely detached from elitist, bureaucratic, and non-popular structures. It envisions a system rooted in the people, where the people become the embodiment of their own will; a system in which the people both make and sustain the revolution, both govern and manage all aspects of life through communal and democratic means. As the antithesis of real socialism, which was built as a mirror image of the capitalist system, bureaucratic, statist, elitist, and detached from society, ignoring social conditions, identities, and beliefs, he defends democratic socialism and redefines himself as the pioneer of this new paradigm.

This paradigm calls for a redefinition of the revolutionary subject and a reversal of the concept of power, away from the center and toward the grassroots of society. In this context, it becomes increasingly evident that revolutionary transformation must not focus solely on the state apparatus, but also on the internal fabric of society, particularly in the realms of culture, ethics, social relations, and everyday life. A genuine social revolution must transform not only institutions but also minds and ways of relating.

A new form of organization: the unity of identities

In today's world, the goal is no longer to overthrow one state to build another, nor to replace a bourgeois dictatorship with a proletarian one. Abdullah Öcalan argues that constructing either a socialist or a nation-state is no longer a viable revolutionary goal. Instead, he proposes a democratic socialist system that is flexible, communal, and even accommodates forms of familial property. In this context, he offers not only an alternative to the classical organizational forms of the past but also a redefinition of the very concept of power.

Mr. Öcalan emphasizes that in regions where multiple ethnic and religious identities coexist on the same land, organizing movements separately based on identity fragments only leads to division and the reproduction of local nationalism. Such fragmentation, he states, inevitably results in contradictions and conflict among the oppressed. His proposed alternative is a unified organization that brings together all oppressed classes and belief systems under a single framework. He stresses that just as the international bourgeoisie and hegemonic powers build joint structures, the oppressed too must construct their collective forms of organization. Without this, he asserts, building a democratic society, a democratic socialism, or a democratic nation will not be possible. This vision of collective organization lies at the heart of a modern politics of solidarity.

Mr. Öcalan critically examines the outdated theories, tactics, and strategies formulated as revolutionary theses over 100 to 200 years ago. He clearly states that attempting to apply these to today's context is a form of regression, an act of conservatism disconnected from the new era. Persisting in revolutionary practice without grasping the nature of the current epoch only generates fruitless cycles under the shadow of the past. In his new manifesto, Öcalan presents a comprehensive strategy that encompasses new tactics, methods, organizational models, and formations adapted to our era, forms that pave the way toward a democratic society.

While recognizing the contributions of classical thinkers, Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin, Mao, and other Marxist theorists, Mr. Öcalan argues that their theses cannot be simply transplanted into our current era. What was once valid under the conditions of their time can no longer be reconciled with the realities of today. If everything has changed, then the strategies for revolution must also change. In fact, he proposes that we speak not of revolution but of evolution. In his most recent Manifesto for Peace and Democratic Society, he emphasizes that neither socialism nor democracy can be achieved by burning down the old, establishing new states, enlarging armies, or monopolizing the economy under state control. This marks a radical shift from a power-centered vision of revolution to a society-centered understanding of transformation.

Through such outdated methods, movements built nation-states in the name of socialism, and in doing so, they enlarged the state while suspending democratic society. According to Öcalan, democratic society must be constructed not through the state but in opposition to it—through legal and political struggle against the state's anti-democratic practices, its exclusionary laws, and the repressive policies of the nation-state rooted in denial, prohibition, nationalism, sexism, religious dogma, and scientism. Here, democracy is not derived from the state but emerges as a foundational terrain where social plurality expresses itself. In this sense, a democratic society must be built without destruction; the principles of the democratic nation must confront and overcome those of the nation-state. The Kurdish question, too, will find its resolution within this framework.

The ongoing struggle and resistance have transformed the Kurdish question into an undeniable reality and brought it to the global stage. Based on the belief that the freedom of the Kurdish people can only be realized through the collective liberation of all four parts of Kurdistan, Abdullah Öcalan has issued his call for Peace and a Democratic Society. This positions the Kurdish people’s freedom within a framework that avoids both ethnic essentialism and the classical nation-state model. Instead, it insists on a pluralistic, democratic, and locally organized form of communal life.

No revolution is possible without a shift in paradigm

Let us not forget: today's revolutionary is not merely someone who seeks power, but one who touches the hearts of the people and helps reweave the social fabric. Revolution no longer germinates only in the streets; it takes root in minds, in culture, and in the rhythms of daily life. No movement that fails to grasp the spirit of the age can make social transformation enduring.

Any struggle that cannot transcend the power-centric mindset of the past will never bring about a lasting transformation for the people’s freedom. Revolution is not simply about changing who holds power, it is about creating a new moral order, new forms of social relations, and new visions of life.

The point of departure for this process is a radical shift in paradigm. Without such a transformation, revolution merely reproduces the shadow of the past; it creates repetition, not truth.