ANKARA - Sociology Professor Eva Illouz said, “We hope that Öcalan will inspire other leaders in the Middle East. We hope his voice will reach far and wide. He will be remembered as a leader who truly loved his people.”

 

Professor of Sociology Eva Illouz sent a letter of support to the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) regarding Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan's call for “Peace and a Democratic Society.”

 

Eva Illouz's letter reads as follows:

 

"The decision by Ocalan to dismantle of the PKK, should serve as a model and source of inspiration for many regional conflicts, and most strikingly for the bloody conflict which has torn the Middle-East apart for the last century, between Israelis and Palestinians.  

 

Ocalan had the courage to take a step which marks great leaders, he chose peace over unending strife. 

 

Peace is a beautiful, ample word. Peace is more than peace, it is life itself, it offers children and adults the capacity to imagine their future, it replaces grief with the ordinary hustle and bustle of life,  it makes people come out of the dark shadow of destruction to the light of their plans and projects, it replaces the enemies with brothers and sisters in humanity.  

 

War destroys lives, language and culture. Only peace restores them, make them grow and flourish.

 

May Ocalan be the leader of other leaders in the Middle-East.  May his voice reach far and wide. He will be remembered as the one who truly loved his people."

 

Eva Illouz’s biography

 

Eva Illouz was born in Morocco in 1961. She is currently a professor of sociology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and director of the Paris School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS). The author has written numerous books and articles in the fields of emotions, culture, and the sociology of capitalism. Her works have been translated into nearly twenty languages. She is the recipient of many international awards, including the Légion d’honneur, and is a member of the Center for the Study of Rationality.