10 December has been designated Öcalan Books Day. Peace in Kurdistan said it "wholeheartedly endorses this new initiative in the belief and expectation that it will help widen the interest in Abdullah Öcalan’s ideas and vision.

Öcalan is a serious thinker of great originality and scope whose arguments over several decades are ambitious in encompassing many areas that are simply never addressed by most traditional political parties and movements."

Peace in Kurdistan added in its statement that "Öcalan's original insights are set out clearly within the pages of his many books which involve topics as wide ranging as new forms of democratic and social organisation that transcend the state, relations between men and women, humanity’s dependence on nature, the urgency of the ecological crisis, communications between peoples with cultural differences and a vision of a new set of values that envisage individuals and communities living in peace with one another.  

Öcalan’s ideas have been circulating for many years in various publications which have now been issued in numerous different languages. While Öcalan is the outstanding political leader of the Kurdish people, his ideas are of significance to everyone. One of his central aims is to forge unity among the different peoples of the world so that they can unite in a common purpose to create a better world that is fully responsive to the needs of all the people."

The statement continued: "The urgency of this vision is evident in the fragility of the planet which is the foundation for our very survival as a species and which provides abundant resources that are vital to sustain our basic needs.

For decades Öcalan has consistently argued that peace is the essential prerequisite for creating a more harmonious and egalitarian society where differences of ethnicity, religion, gender and social background are respected but ultimately understood to be secondary to those aspects that we all share, namely our existence as human beings with similar needs for respect, fulfilment, joy, knowledge, leisure, love and friendship.

Peace in Kurdistan has over many years worked tenaciously to promote the widest possible interest in Öcalan’s thought and has encouraged the reading of his books and pamphlets."

The statement added: "Through campaigning activities, through holding meetings, seminars, issuing statements, Peace in Kurdistan has achieved much success in developing contacts with various activists in grassroots movements, opening up dialogue with academic researchers, legal experts, social anthropologists, feminists, historians, human rights advocates and trade unionists, in an effort to make connections between their work and outlook and the ideas of Abdullah Öcalan in their widest aspect.

Naturally we fully support the aims of the Öcalan Books Day and would strongly urge everyone to read and study Ocalan’s ideas and draw important lessons from them because his ideas do really touch on everyone’s lives in many surprising ways.  

Öcalan Books day is a celebration of a great individual and a celebration of our common humanity."

Peace in Kurdistan ended its statement underlining that "Abdullah Öcalan is a remarkable human being and of course deserves to be given the freedom that we all should be entitled to enjoy. He has already made an enormous contribution to the great storehouse of ideas that are the common property of all humanity, but he still has much more to offer us and, without doubt, Öcalan has much more to say."