NEWS CENTRE- On 25 November, Abdullah Öcalan sent a message to women, stating, ‘It is clear that being a woman is hard and liberation is not easy, but women must have the courage to do so. Women must take the lead in removing the dagger of male domination that has been stuck in the back of humanity and building an equal, free and democratic life.’ 

 

Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan sent a message on the occasion of 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

 

Abdullah Öcalan's message is as follows:

 

"Society is not a single-layered class structure but a multi-layered, historical, gender-based battlefield. Humanity's first and greatest problem is the counter-revolution targeting the sociality formed around women, which began with the enslavement of women. Today's domestic violence, murders of women, and patriarchal oppression are all current manifestations of this historical attack. The caste structure that attacked the sociality and communality formed around women later transformed into the council of gods in Mesopotamia, then into Sumerian priests, and from there into pharaohs and kings, perpetuating patriarchal oppression over society. 

 

These days, women are capitalism's most valuable raw material. Their bodies are being marketed, their personalities are being turned into marketing subjects. Their very souls have been invaded; women, invaded by men, live with this dagger of slavery thrust into their backs by patriarchal mentality. The male-dominated social hierarchy, which has created thousands of years of civilisational warfare, produces violence and conflict. Male-dominated civilisation has taken away women's language, their production, their bodies, and then the whole of society. Without seeing this reality, no steps can be taken towards freedom. 

 

Organising is necessary to break free from slavery

 

The problems imposed on women by the male-dominated system must be understood and resolved. When we consider female murders, domestic violence, violence against women, discrimination and exploitation, the level of enslavement is greater than you might think. Women have been completely degraded. Reality has been distorted. The anklets women wear as jewellery and the nose rings they wear have all been passed down from history to the present day as signs and traces of slavery. In capitalist modernity, female slavery has been further deepened, and the system has turned women into decorative and marketing commodities. To break free from this systematised slavery and achieve liberation, there is a need for deep focus and organisation. 

 

It is important to resolve the relationship and conflict between women and men

 

No social freedom movement that does not centre women's freedom can be a true revolution. I find the relationship between women and men appalling. We have resolved relationships by centring women's freedom. The majority of our work consists of women's studies. It is important to resolve the relationship and conflict between women and men. We have thoroughly analysed male domination, which hinders women's freedom and enslaves women in every way. We have developed the sociology of freedom. It is clear that being a woman is difficult and liberation is not easy, but women must have the courage to do so. We must take the lead in removing the dagger of male  domination from humanity's back and building an equal, free and democratic life.

 

 

Abdullah Öcalan”