The land of Kurdistan has been experiencing profound upheavals for nearly twenty years. These are, of course, not the same as the upheavals created by thousands of years of enemy occupations on this sacred land.

The most important characteristic of the transformation taking place within the struggle of the Kurdish people—who, despite occupation, have preserved their dignity and existence in the deepest sense—is its social and political dimension. A society’s act of giving names to life through its own language, consciousness, and will, and of interpreting and connecting its experiences with awareness, carries the same meaning as creating reality itself in our time. In this sense, the Kurdistan Revolution reveals both its distinctiveness and its strength as the twenty-first century approaches.

The act of “naming” is connected to the phenomenon of understanding. In ancient times, those who first gave names to things whose meaning had been grasped in the process of sustaining or facilitating life were regarded as sacred. This is because the power to name objects in one’s environment is inseparable from understanding, thinking, and expressing. To name something—to say “this is a human being,” “this is land,” and so forth—also meant becoming aware of everything around oneself, discovering the world, and adding new links to the journey of becoming human.

The power of naming is connected to creativity. It was woman who introduced creativity into human life. While the act of giving birth was a reflection of the creative power within woman, her interest in her surroundings, living beings, nature—in short, life itself—was equally great. The phenomenon of creation became united with the phenomenon of life within woman. Beyond the responsibility of introducing the newborn being to the world, the human community’s need for this process of introduction also placed upon woman the role of being the essential bridge between humanity, nature, and life.

By naming the tree, the bird, the ugly, and the beautiful, woman nurtured the growth of human consciousness. In other words, she created an unwritten history—a history without writing, based upon language. Within this history, woman upheld her existence, her name, and her will for tens of thousands of years without oppressing anyone. In this history, woman was a goddess.

And today, after tens of thousands of years…

Woman continues her effort to rebuild upon solid foundations the reality of the “goddess” that she lost through centuries. She wages a struggle—a harsh one, yet one carried out without losing her sense of justice or her humanity. The task of restoring the conflict between humanity and nature, which patriarchy has stained with human blood, to its original principles once again falls upon woman. Everything must be named anew. The struggle for humanization taking place on the soil of Kurdistan becomes a struggle for woman to reunite with her goddesshood; yet she carries out this struggle without corrupting it.

The power to begin again is one of the qualities humanity has sought to preserve throughout history. To rise again after every pain without abandoning faith, to stand upright and take another step after every blow—this is uniquely human. It is a virtue. Within this virtue there is not only emotional intensity, but also thought, and the realistic perspective that unites them.

The reality of woman in the Kurdistan Revolution—giving meaning to every aspect and every moment of life and uniting them with creativity—also represents a correct approach to the concept of goddesshood. Woman has asserted her existence within this revolution through the hundreds of sacrifices she has made on this path. The rebirth of the Kurdistan woman who renames everything belonging to life and humanity was marked by the date of 30 June 1996.

From its beginnings until today, the history of the PKK reached a new turning point on 30 June 1996, and the revolution advanced to a new stage. Comrade Zilan (Zeynep Kınacı), who created this history and gave that day its name, signed this new phase with her life. What Comrade Zilan carried out was not merely an action. To describe it simply as “a blow struck against the enemy” would undoubtedly be far from sufficient. This stage was described by our National Leader, President Apo, as a “new birth.” Yes, a new birth that carries within it the principles of the revolution—principles as rich as human history itself—the philosophy of a new life, questions about the future, their answers, and the formulas for their resolution.

The action of Zilan became an act of giving new meaning to the world and recreating it. One of its most important features was that it reunited woman with the goddess-power she had lost. Zilan revealed to woman her capacity to create history and to shape her own personality.

What will humanity say about Zilan thousands of years from now?

Those whose understanding of history begins and ends with themselves may view Comrade Zilan and the PKK philosophy she embodied only within the limits of the year 1996. To say, “She intensified the struggle in 1996,” would reflect such a perspective. Yet understanding the principles of life that have been preserved as sacred values and entrusted to the future requires the outlook of personalities who possess a philosophy of life extending across thousands of years. Zilan became the one who named and created that philosophy.

At this point, the bond that Comrade Zilan established with President Apo becomes itself a comradeship stretching across thousands of years. Is there pain within it? Undoubtedly there is. Yet it is a pain that the self-sacrificing personality has resolved in the face of the suffering of thousands of years. By transcending individuality and finding the courage to open herself to centuries, this personality also gave pain a new meaning.

The responsibility left upon the shoulders of President Apo and the martyrs is to reduce the sufferings of thousands of years to the minimum possible. Comrade Zilan’s effort to understand the greatness that President Apo sought to create led her to aspire to greatness herself. This is the transcendence of the self. It is meeting in the militancy of the moment that must be lived, even when separated by thousands of kilometers or even without ever speaking to one another. It is transforming the moment into victory. It is becoming permanently rooted in the conscience of millions rather than remaining merely one individual. It means possessing the power and simplicity to create what is right “in the right place and at the right moment.”

For some, the personality of Zilan is a force to be feared. Because this personality leaves no room for concealment or falsehood. No one can look into Zilan’s eyes and tell a lie. For Zilan is truth; she is something created and spread across thousands of years. There may be those who believe they can continue living in falsehood before the personality of Zilan. But it will not be they who are remembered by humanity—it will be Zilan.

Comrade Zilan established the principles of women’s goddesshood. The women fighters of the Kurdistan Revolution must give meaning to this goddesshood by creating it, by carrying the principles of the revolution into history and expanding them. Is this easy? Certainly not. Fortunately, Comrade Zilan did not reduce the path of becoming a goddess to something simple. Genuine commitment to the path that begins with President Apo and unites past and future within itself must likewise be of this kind.

The philosophy of Zilan should be understood as a manifesto for a new life. It is not merely a duty placed before us by the party and the revolution; it is a right that goes beyond duty—it is love itself.

Source: Serxwebûn / June 1999