Sozdar Avesta, member of the Presidential Council of the KCK, spoke about the current developments in Syria, and what they mean for the Democratic Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria. She also spoke about the responsibility of women as pioneers of the struggle for democracy and freedom. Avesta also talked about the global campaign for the physical freedom of Abdullah Öcalan

The Kurdish people and their international friends have been waging a relentless struggle for the physical freedom of peoples leader Abdullah Öcalan for years. The struggle in the framework of the global campaign for his freedom,  pioneered by women, is gradually growing. How do you assess the development of the global campaign in the year 2024? Have there been any shortcomings? And how should the struggle develop in the coming new year?

Before answering your question, I would like to take the opportunity to commemorate with respect and gratitude Cihan Bilgin and Nazim Dashan, who were martyred in the course of the resistance in Manbij and at the Tishrin dam, also the Arab family who was murdered in the Turkish bombardments on Ain Issa, and all the martyrs who gave their lives in the ongoing war in North and East Syria.

December is historically a month of great pain. Immediately after the founding of the PKK, a massacre was committed by the Kurdish state against our Alevi people in Maras (Gimgim or Turkish: Kahramanmarash) on December 19 to 26, 1978. Also on December 28, 2011, the Roboski Massacre took place. Again in the very month, the guerrilla commanders Adil Biliki, Gulbahar, and Armanc Gockar gave their lives, and dozens of revolutionaries were massacred in the prison when the so-called ‘Operation Return to Life’ was conducted. Again in the month of December, the second Paris massacre took place, in which comrade Evin Goyi, Mir Perwer, and Abdurrahman Kizil were murdered. In remembering them, I gratefully commemorate all those who were martyred in the month of December, who gave their lives in the Kurdistan freedom struggle, and bow to their memories with respect. We reiterate our promise that we have given the martyrs. We will avenge their deaths and realize their dreams.

And I also take this opportunity to salute the resistance of our people, who are leading this struggle against the continued isolation of Rêber Apo.

Now to move on to your question; here, too, I would first like to start by saluting Rêber Apo. I salute his resistance and his stance with respect, reverence, and longing. His isolation continues. In October 2023, a global campaign was launched by the international friends of our people, aiming for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo and the solution of the Kurdish question. This campaign continued uninterruptedly all over the world in 2024. Millions of people took part in. Both in the four parts of Kurdistan and abroad, our people and our international friends displayed great effort, labor, and resistance under the leadership of women and the youth. They were on the streets day and night, deploying many different actions and activities.

Our imprisoned comrades went on hunger strike, refused to go to court, and refused to meet with their families. Both politicians and militants of our party imprisoned both in Turkey and northern Kurdistan, in Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) and in Europe showed great resistance. And as we pointed out above, our people as a whole took part in this campaign with all kinds of different and meaningful actions. One of the conducted activities for the freedom of Rêber Apo that was of great meaning was the organization of reading days, on which the prison writings of Rêber Apo were read together. Also, many significant actions were taken by the guerrillas. The Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla truly pioneered the struggle that developed within the framework of the global campaign. All over Kurdistan, and particularly in the Medya Defense Zones, in Zap, Khakurke, and Metina, the guerrillas made no concessions to the enemy, and the resistance continues. For the successful development of the global campaign, great sacrifices have been made.

On October 23rd, our heroic comrades Asya Ali and Rojger Helin carried out their sacrificial action at the TAI compound. They took the struggle for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo to the highest level. Their action was a warning of what level these actions will reach if the isolation further continues, if the conditions for Rêber Apo’s physical freedom are not provided.

Also, the international friends of our people played a very crucial and strategic role in the campaign. Women, youth, students, artists, Nobel laureates, intellectuals, and trade unionists gave strength and color to the struggle and enriched it. All these actions and activities paved the way for the meeting with Rêber Apo on October 23rd. The meeting was the result of this resistance and collective labor. In this meeting with Omer Ocalan, Rêber Apo highlighted that the isolation continues.

In the course of this, the state media, serving the special warfare of the state, started to create a false agenda, with daily reports hinting that there was something like a peace process behind the curtains. They tried to create the deception that there is no isolation, no war of to be or not to be, that there is no comprehensive genocidal attack on Rêber Apo and, through him, on the entire Kurdish society. They are trying to create such a perception through Bahceli, the ruling partner who is conducting exactly that genocidal policy. Our movement and many comrades have spoken clearly about this. Most recently, comrade Cemal issued a warning regarding this policy, and there recently have been written statements from the leadership of our movement. The enemy wants to create a perception as if there is something that does not exist and to gain time. In order to prevent the global campaign from growing even more, they are again trying to create expectations among some people in Kurdistan by making it look like something that does not exist.

This is the AKP-MHP’s politics of genocide. The AKP is constantly conducting such a policy. For example, from 2006 to 2015, many times a ceasefire was agreed upon and dialog developed. Despite all this, they did not take a single step, did not change a single law in the constitution, did not develop a move for a solution, and did not make a single regulation that would serve the Kurdish people. They only pursued a policy of perpetuating their power. And what can be seen now is exactly the same.

So, what should be done against this politics? The year 2025 is going to be very decisive. The restructuring and redesign of the region will take on a clearer form. Rêber Apo drew attention to the year 2025, already 25 years ago, when he analyzed the international conspiracy.

In the coming period, Rêber Apo’s physical freedom must be ensured. This is of course only possible through a joint struggle. This struggle, which has been going on since the international conspiracy was launched, must continue in richer and different ways and methods. The solution of the problems both in Turkey and in the region is linked to the solution of the Kurdish question, and the solution of the Kurdish question is linked to the physical freedom of Rêber Apo. The Turkish state does not want to develop a solution; it is afraid of a solution. Especially the AKP-MHP government knows that if the Kurdish question is solved through democratic means, if Rêber Apo is taken as an interlocutor, they will no longer be able to carry out their ‘terror policies’ and genocidal warfare. They sweep all the economic, social, and other problems in Turkey under the rug and only emphasize the war against the Kurdistan Freedom Movement by saying, ‘the security of the country is under threat’. That is why they do not want a solution to develop.

In the recent meeting, Rêber Apo said, “I have the theoretical and practical power to move this process from the ground of conflict and violence to the legal and political ground if the conditions arise.” This is crucial. They themselves are aware of this. They read what Rêber Apo says. They know that he is the interlocutor of this question and that he is the only one that can solve it. They are afraid of his power and the philosophy of these people, so instead of heading for a solution, they deepen the isolation even more. The people of Kurdistan, the freedom movement, the international friends of our people, and the forces striving for democracy and freedom must increase their struggle and resistance in the upcoming year and must unite strongly. The youth, women, and the international friends of our people must be the pioneers of the global campaign. Everyone has seen the role and mission of Rêber Apo. Many boundaries have already been overcome. The upcoming year must be the year of Rêber Apo’s physical freedom. This is our hope, and our struggle will continue on this basis.

As you mentioned, the analyses and predictions that peoples leader Abdullah Ocalan made years ago are coming true today. In Syria in particular, we see that the restructuring and redesign of the Middle East is on the agenda. It took the HTS less than two weeks to take over the country. It is still unclear what kind of new government and what kind of new state will emerge; the only thing that seems obvious is the Sunni leadership. Syria, and Rojava in particular, is home to a wide variety of ethnicities, cultures, and faiths. What will be the effect of the developments on all the peoples living in Syria and on the revolution in Rojava, especially in view of the close links between the HTS and the occupying Turkish state?

Regarding the fall of the Baath regime, I would like to point out that no matter what, Assad was a dictator; the same regime, the same mentality, continued for decades. Of course, all peoples, especially the Syrian people, saw the fall of this regime as an occasion to celebrate. Whatever the people want, we value it and consider it decisive. The peoples of North and East Syria and the peoples living in Syria engaged in a struggle in an important period. Our people showed an honorable stance. Accordingly, I salute the resistance of our people. We assess the attacks that started on November 27th as a clear message. While HTS gave its direction to Syria, the mercenaries of the so-called ‘Syrian National Army’, which the Turkish state has created and been feeding since 2011, consisting of people from a lot of different countries and consisting essentially of ISIS, attacked the areas of North and East Syria.

While HTS’s takeover of Damascus was a plan by several states, including the US, Israel, and the UK, the Turkish state had a different intention. The biggest obstacle to the AKP-MHP government is the existence of the Kurds. They are hostile to the Kurdish people, and so on November 27, the day our party was founded, they directed their gangs against Shehba, where the people migrated to after the occupation of Til Rifat and Afrin. The gangs and mercenaries brutally attacked the people, and so our people had to migrate once again. But this time migration was carried out to safe areas as a result of the planning of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES). It was so that our people would not have to face any further massacres. The brutal attacks of these gangs and mercenaries once again revealed their true face and that of the Turkish state.

The attacks against North and East Syria are still continuing, and the Turkish state therefore utilizes two different strategies and approaches:

On the one hand, they also support HTS and other gangs. There is a temporary government in Syria now, and as far as we are informed, they search to form a new government by March. The Turkish state wants to design the new government according to itself. It wants to establish a government dependent on itself. They see Syria as their hinterland, and they want to have control over it. They are constantly sending new delegations to Damascus and paying high visits. Already did the bosses of the intelligence service visit them, and so did the foreign minister. Delegation after delegation goes to Damascus. And they also influence HTS in different ways. They want to throw out the Alawites, the Durzis, the Assyrians, the Kurds, and the Arabs who are not part of HTS and to place people loyal to them. They are creating a state in which people will wish for Bashar al-Assad to return. Dictator Erdogan’s mentality is to establish a power that is loyal to him and like him.

On the other hand, the second and main goal is to occupy North and East Syria with the gangs and mercenaries of the SNA and to destroy the gains of the revolution. After the great revolution in 2011, the system built in North and East Syria was immediately under attack by gangs such as al-Nusra and ISIS, including the SNA. These attacks have been going on for more than 13 years. Despite this, our people established an autonomous administration and built their institutions. For over 13 years now, they have been administrating themselves with a system according to the paradigm that is based on basic democracy, social ecology, and women’s freedom. This system has attracted the attention of the whole world. Not only Syria and the Middle East, but the whole world is taking this system as an inspiration. The fear of the Turkish state is the democratic self-government model, the system of democratic nations, in which all peoples can live in their lands with their own languages, cultures, beliefs, and colors. The Turkish state wants to prevent this. That is why it is launching attack after attack. It is attacking Til Rifat, Shahba, Manbij, the Qereqozakh Bridge, and the Tishrin Dam. Its goal is to destroy everything in North and East Syria, and first and foremost the DAANES. It is afraid of this system.

The new government in Damascus is enjoying the current situation. They are happy that everyone is visiting them. But if they do not draw conclusions from the practices of Bashar al-Assad and the Baath regime, if they do not build a democratic, federative, autonomous model that takes the views of all the formations in Syria, they will not last long. Because the reason for the fall of the Baath regime in both Iraq and Syria was the monist, centralized mentality. They maintained their power in this way for years, and this led to their downfall. In fact, this is also what is happening in Turkey right now. There is even more dictatorship in Ankara than in Damascus. That’s why Turkey wants to replicate its model elsewhere so that it is not their turn to change. However, the solution to the problems lies in a democratic model. When a model is built in Syria where all peoples, beliefs, and cultures live together, then Syria can be an example for the whole Middle East. If the new government in Damascus does not do this and just implements the plans of the Turkish state, then Damascus will not be what Damascus is all about, nor will the problems and crises in Syria end.

The system established 13 years ago in North and East Syria, which is based on peoples leader Abdullah Öcalan’s political philosophy, has proven to the whole world that when women are liberated, society is also liberated. That is why the peoples see Rojava as sacred and take it as an example. But the Turkish state has been continuing its attacks on Rojava since the very beginning of the revolution. Also most recently, two journalists were targeted and murdered. Why is the defense of the revolution particularly by women so crucial?

The revolution of North and East Syria is a women’s revolution. It can be said that it is like a shining star for humanity to emphasize the importance of the revolution. When the attacks on North and East Syria began, YPJ fighters in Aleppo and Til Rifat put up a great resistance. Some of them were captured and martyred. They tortured the fighters with great immorality, which shows the mentality of the gangs and how much they fear the revolution. Also, members of the Zenubiya Women’s Assembly and three members of the Manbij Women’s Assembly were massacred brutally by the gangs. I commemorate all those women with respect and bow to their memories with respect. The uprising of women in North and East Syria and their defense of the system they built is very important and valuable.

The SNA is composed of ISIS mercenaries. Their main goal at the moment is to defeat the women’s revolution, to slaughter and rape women, and to trample on the values of women and humanity. Women have both defended and developed their gains in North-East Syria. What should be their approach in the future? The development of the gains should be extended to the whole of Syria. They are marching, holding rallies, and meetings, and making statements to the whole world; these are of great importance and should be spread to the whole of Syria. The declaration issued recently by the Syrian Women’s Assembly was very important, because this is exactly the time when the work of the Syrian Women’s Assembly can achieve the most. They should have a decisive say in what kind of Syria should be created, what kind of constitution should be set up, and what role women should play in the new Syria.

Diplomatic and political efforts must be carried out for a democratic Syria. As much as we follow in the press, there already are important efforts in this direction. As the Women’s Movement, we draw strength from this great struggle and support it at all costs. As the Women’s Freedom Movement, our stance against this mentality that is responsible for so many women being deliberately massacred in war is known. The struggle and resistance are very important. Therefore, another important task is women’s self-defense. There is YPJ as a defensive force, and there is the internal organization of women’s self-defense. All women should be able to defend themselves in the revolutionary people’s war. Not only in Rojava and North and East Syria, but throughout Syria, all women should be able to protect their right to life, their right to self-defense. They should be conscious, organized, and educated. There should not be a single woman that is left unorganized. Especially now, this is vital for survival. Because they are in more danger now than ever before. Self-defense must be developed.

Also, the topic of unity is very decisive in Rojava and North and East Syria. Women should lead the struggle for unity. There have recently been statements by the SDF Command, also by the DAANES, various different organizations, religious scholars, and friends of the Kurdish people about Kurdish unity, but still some people turn a deaf ear to these statements and do not want unity. A hundred years ago, the Kurds did not go to Lausanne united; they were deceived and have been held captive by the agreement that was made back then until today. Now they are trying to do the same thing in Damascus. Again in the 21st century, they aim to make agreements regarding Rojava without Kurdish unity. They want to start a process without free and united Kurds. The women can stand against this; they should stand against it with their criticism and stance and not accept it. They have this consciousness and this power. Women can lead the way to unity. Women in all parts of Kurdistan and abroad are united. This is important. They have relations with women of different nationalities; in Syria they are united with Arab, Assyrian, Durzi, and Alawite women. It is the women who should play more of a pioneering role and mission in this process, particularly in terms of national unity. The women’s revolution is a democratic, ecological revolution based on women’s freedom and the freedom of society. In fact, society cannot be liberated without the liberation of women. The defense of women’s rights in Syria is led by Kurdish women.

Both the Syrian Women’s Assembly and defense forces such as Kongra-Star and YPJ are great achievements. They should develop them even more. There may be martyrdoms, the struggle may be heavy, but our people have also learned that one cannot be free without being prepared to pay a high price. I remember that during the Afrin resistance, there were mothers who stated that they could go hungry but could not go without a country, could not live without freedom. Women cannot live without freedom, and they should never surrender. Therefore they must strengthen their unity and defend their gains.