Throughout the history of civilization, the development of class society, social formation and national formation, from slavery to the various social formations of our own day, have taken different forms within each of the various tribal and popular communities.

sometimes through peaceful means, sometimes through war, sometimes through cultural and economic methods, and sometimes through political methods, they have led to very positive development for some, the destruction of others, and an intermediate level of development for still others, while internal and external causes have left social and national development in Kurdistan severely stunted. It may be said that our country cradled the first emergence of slavery in human society. All periods of civilization are reflected here in very negative ways, in the form of occupation, invasion and plunder. This, in turn, leads to continual flight to the mountains and to living there within very primitive family and clan systems. Civilization envelops Kurdistan not through its positive aspects but chiefly through its occupying and plundering aspects. Thus, if existence is to be maintained with an identity that we might also call the reality of Kurdishness, refuge must be sought in the mountains. This always confronts us, across many periods, as the only way to survive.

The level of the family, tribe and clan also represents, in a sense, a primitive stage of social development; that is, it expresses the fundamental social form of the primitive communal period. Its national and social level is backward, and its politicization is more backward still. Other economic and social dimensions experience backwardness that is almost many times more severe.

When considering the formation of women, men and the family among us, it is important to draw attention to this historical characteristic; if this formation is approached through comparison with what the development of civilization means for each country and people, as well as through understanding that significance, its nature will become clearer. At the same time, this will lead us to a more accurate understanding of our extremely tangled system of relationships and our social reality, which has become a state of chaos. The woman whom people try to save through traditions alone, and for whose sake they engage in a struggle that drives them backward in almost the worst possible way, the family built around her, and the various notions of so-called honor and morality erected upon this foundation may, quite contrary to what is believed, become a feature that serves the enemy most of all and brings about their own undoing.

We have demonstrated very concretely that the profoundly traditional and rigidly shaped basic moral attitude adopted around women and the family, and the formations of honor, dignity and personality as its most conspicuous expression, actually produce their opposite without anyone even realizing it. In other words, being honorable becomes the true name of dishonor; dignity becomes the mask of indignity, and personality the mask of a lack of personality. Painful as it may be, this is how things stand in our social reality. If this is analyzed more thoroughly and deeply, it will become apparent that what leads us, historically and in the present, to every kind of defeat before the enemy and, as a natural consequence, to still more backward and unacceptable living conditions is the result of the meanings assigned to these concepts and the attitudes adopted toward them, concepts for which we sacrifice almost everything.

The reality of Leadership in the PKK is approached as a struggle that, from its emergence to the present, has seen this clearly and strikingly, has progressively offered the new society and national identity through comprehensive analyses, and has fought against the reality of the encircling enemy as well as the traditional collaborationist and conservative feudal aspects that continually serve it. In this way, what the attitude we call freedom can mean becomes apparent. Society is therefore subjected to very severe criticism. Conceptions of relationships regarded as legitimate are criticized and questioned, and this questioning is carried down to the individual. The dimension of freedom, its reflections in morality and the various forms of culture, and, most importantly, its place within the reality of war are set out. The obstructive role and shamefulness of old ties are exposed. Here everything is turned upside down. What was previously regarded as legitimate is revealed to be illegitimate, what was considered shameful to be not shameful, what was considered honorable to be dishonor, and what was called development to be regression; such an overturning is experienced, and rising to one's feet anew becomes the issue. This makes itself felt and increasingly brings with it a growing discussion within the PKK about what the new life should be like. The problem makes itself felt very clearly and intensely. This is how what was lost in history is brought back onto history's agenda. Just as every problem first comes onto the agenda and seeks its answer, our party likewise brings such an answer onto the agenda. The problem has been well presented. It can be elaborated further. But it comes onto the agenda with the emphasis on the solution and the answer.

We do not content ourselves merely with criticizing and condemning the old; we also bring to light what the new, or what we must create, is, and how we should turn toward it in understanding and practice. It must not be forgotten that independent personalities are necessary to make a correct decision and attain a correct attitude. It is difficult for personalities dependent in every respect, dependent in feeling, thought and behavior, to arrive at free decisions and the forms of life that will follow from them; even if they do, that life is quite distorted. One of the noblest developments achieved in our party is that an attitude of independence in approaches to women and men has been realized with great resolve, patience and effort. The great solution reached in the PKK environment, or the answer given to the problem, is in fact the realization of the independent woman and man.

When we consider criticism within the party, it will become apparent that one of the most significant pains endured is the attempt, pursued to the death, to bring the existing manner of relationships and the conception of family and clan into our midst. The party responds to this with a principled struggle to the death. For the party demonstrates that these approaches stunt the national and social level and distort society at least as much as the enemy's massacres do. The struggle against this is therefore an ideological and political struggle. Consequently, everyone who wishes to become a PKK member in the full sense, to approach the reality of war, to attain an independent personality, particularly to escape the slavery imposed on women and overcome the system of relationships that works against women, must be independent from head to toe, possess a free attitude, and possess an autonomous will and thought. Their behavior, too, must be wholly an expression of freedom. While linking the party's level of liberation to the implementation of this principle, we must carry this into society. This is a very substantial answer. The PKK has a level of development that may not yet have been fully revealed but must certainly be attained. Society's liberation first finds such an answer within the PKK. It can be said that if this answer is consistently reflected in society, a profoundly radical revolution will already have acquired a solid foundation.

The solution reached in our party is undoubtedly both theoretical and concretely embodied in the ability of such a considerable number of cadres to think and decide independently. We frequently emphasize this: while the old forms of the relationship between women and men are subjected to harsh criticism and shown to be unacceptable, offering such clarity about the free relationship that replaces them, its environment and form, and providing an environment conducive to such an attitude of freedom become the greatest development achieved. To regard a situation that many may not understand or appreciate in its nobility as a very important development in women's work today, to enrich this level further, organize it, and enrich it through action and life is a fundamental task of women's work. Thus, for a women's congress to make the most important development achieved in this area a subject of substantial discussion, to define tasks on the basis of that discussion, and, more concretely, to integrate life is the soundest path to take. Undoubtedly, if this foundation is continually observed, sound results will be obtained whatever relationship is addressed.

Its connection with the reality of war has been clearly demonstrated. To possess such a free attitude means to define one's place within an exemplary life of war, to take one's place in the organizational structure, and to engage in highly active political work. If a level of freedom in relationships is to be established and transformed into a way of life, it is necessary to fight well, become properly politicized, and, for that purpose, organize well. We therefore carefully emphasize that a personality that is not very well organized, politicized on this basis and militarized cannot be free. Especially when the concrete reality in question is Kurdistan and the organization leading it is the PKK, we look at the level of organization of a person who wishes to be consistent here and says, “I am free; I possess free decision-making.” For organization, we look at education; for politicization, rather than at a comprehensive level of breadth and depth, we look at politicization's connection with war, how much it participates in it and how much opportunity it gives it to develop, so that we may know the degree of that person's attitude of freedom. These are certainly closely interconnected. A break in one field can lead to the loss of all the others. They must therefore be approached systematically. As far as can be seen, this also brings with it very strict discipline.

Freedom is not, as many imagine, a lax and stale liberalism. Freedom among us is the attitude of freedom of the most laboring class. Yet it becomes apparent that this, too, will be achieved through a high degree of voluntary discipline. Organization, political engagement and military engagement, in the concrete circumstances of Kurdistan and its reality of war, require living with the highest degree of discipline, proceeding in very strict adherence to principle within the line, dedicating one's entire life to this, and demonstrating exceptional effort for it. Thus, whether woman or man, a militant who does not undertake a high level of organization, does not turn toward its efforts at politicization and militarization, and is not committed to the importance of our labor and personally fulfilling its requirements is deceiving themselves. One must not place too much trust in individuals. If we know that consistency is identical with examining the level of organization, its intense effort in every field, especially its connection with the reality of war, not merely talk of it but its practice, and that we must keep this measure firmly in view, we will have attained the most solid attitude of freedom.

Comrade Gülnaz Karataş (Beritan), who fell a martyr in the war in the South, made great efforts toward liberation. There was a report this comrade had sent me. I had not yet heard that she had fallen a martyr, and this comrade was always on my mind. She said, “I want to attempt writing a novel by drawing on the Leadership's analyses.” No one among us had ever said anything like that before. She was a deeply interested comrade. I was saying that it would be good if I could meet this comrade and discuss things with her. Then the news of her martyrdom came. She was a very heroic young woman. She had participated in the operation against the Rubarok outpost as a platoon commander and had been wounded in that operation. Despite being wounded, she had taken her stand at the very front on the Southern struggle's front; there, too, she had remained in her position until her ammunition ran out. Then the traitorous collaborationist forces surrounded her and said, “Surrender; we will not do anything to you.” But this comrade's stance was to say, “You have collaborated with the enemy; you are attacking the North's revolution from the South; you are traitors; I will not surrender to you”; shouting slogans for the Party Leadership, she threw herself over the precipice.

This is a meaningful and very courageous act. In fact, she is strong theoretically; she is someone motivated not merely by patriotism or resistance, but also by an effort to understand the analyses in considerable depth, because she wants to develop their dimensions further. This situation means that this comrade of ours could have become a good analyst. Personalities determined to understand, and prepared to demonstrate every kind of heroic resistance for that purpose, also emerge, and this must be valued. We will have to respond well to this comrade's memory. These are not personalities and attitudes to be taken lightly like that.

Following this martyrdom, the comrades also say, “We are committed to this comrade's memory; we will name the battalion after her.” The matter is not resolved by giving her name to the battalion and saying how she resisted. The issue is to keep alive the attitude she followed. After all, it is this attitude itself that produced these results. We take it as our basis. In a sense, this also becomes an example, a model, for the comrades whose development we want to see.

Yet this comrade of ours, who was determined to develop, also encountered considerable difficulties and perhaps made mistakes. But she increasingly deepens her understanding of the correct line and can almost reach a very effective outcome. What I mean is this: if we keep the path open, formidable and even heroic figures can emerge. Indeed, when it was previously said in this field, “Women are quite a burden; what should we do with them?”, I said this: what you call a burden is precisely the opposite; women are actually a great force of self-sacrificing militants. The arrival of those comrades in those places expresses courage as well as an understanding of self-sacrifice, as can be seen in a large proportion of them. You cannot appreciate this; you approach it with utterly antiquated feudal attitudes and attitudes of the established order. This is not a realistic approach. Your strength may be insufficient, and offering correct approaches may also be difficult. But this is my understanding. Indeed, this understanding proved correct. Later many said, “They all resisted in their positions; not one fled. They are nothing like we imagined; this emerged in the subsequent war.” Nor are these results to be greatly exaggerated. Although they show that a somewhat more acceptable level has been attained, the truly great advances may come from now on.

I hope that the efforts we develop for women are both understood and valued highly. Perhaps we will put you under some pressure. A disciplined life may constrict you; but freedom and development have a price, and they cannot be attained without paying it. A cheap solution, a comforting level of relationships and everyday habits may satisfy you, but they will never lead you to freedom. This also produces a shallow personality. We do not want to be content with that. If we wished, we could manage you very easily. You are self-sacrificing militants or ready for any kind of struggle; yet it is also possible for you to be used very easily. Some people do this, too. But I think such a devaluing approach is harmful, and that we must therefore deepen our work with you somewhat, that this would be a more correct attitude. Indeed, when it is also considered that those who went to the country with a very superficial approach easily lost, we have proved that these approaches of ours are worth living.

We want you to possess a substantially independent will, an attitude of freedom and its expression, not to fall easily into mistaken situations, to be somewhat ambitious about achieving the type we wish to create, and at least to possess a patient and persistent attitude in this regard. I think this is better. Undoubtedly, in the coming period, the development our party achieves in freedom, relationships between women and men, family relationships and their reflection in free life will become something actually lived, both in becoming clear and in being realized in practice. This will be entirely bound up with the intensity of struggle and effort. We will not overlook even for a moment that without fighting we cannot save even a minimum of social life. We will reorder our existing national and social level, the reality of the enemy that produced it, and family life and the lives of women and men through war. Of course, not in a treacherous, degraded manner that weakens us and leads to defeat, but by possessing an attitude that leads to success and the new on a free foundation. We will attain the forms that make life more meaningful only through war.

Another expression of this is the development of the levels of understanding that have been so severely damaged in our society. We come to this: when we see how much our society is at odds with itself, how people pierce one another like thorns, how confusion of concepts and chaos persist within the family, in almost every tribal and clan environment and among very different personalities, and especially how impoverished we are in respect and love, it will be better understood that the war we wage is, in a sense, a war for love, respect and understanding. In Kurdistan, the path to love, respect and understanding must also be tied to the reality of war within a line and to fulfilling all its requirements. If you want to reach an environment capable of greater love, then you will have to possess greater opportunities to fight. This is certainly a correct assessment, but it is also something connected with concrete daily effort. Let no one expect love and respect without fighting and making the effort this requires.

This, too, is one of the greatest reflections of the Kurdistan revolution in personality. We have also demonstrated this successfully. What remains is the need to organize well on this basis. Along with the opportunities for this, an opportunity for militarization has also emerged, as is so often desired. The contribution of the existing environments to militarization cannot be underestimated. Most importantly, we make revolution in order to be loved and respected more, and to attain the noble forms of life proper to the human species. We are obliged to fight in order to reach the concepts lost in our society and our national body, concepts we need at least as much as bread and water, and their reflection in life. Whoever says they wish to attain what is worthy of them in these matters must fight. And they must fight successfully so that they can attain freedom. This, too, is the essence of the slogan.

Undoubtedly, this subject can be explained still better through revolutionary literature. Through a struggle in revolutionary literature itself, it is also possible to reach the psychological dimensions of personality, the organization and clarification of relationships between women and men, and the dimension we call beautification through art and its other forms. This means adding the revolution's dimension of beautification to art as well. Its path, too, has been laid out in connection with such a revolutionary war.

We are approaching Newroz. The National Women's Congress is being developed, and March 8, International Working Women's Day, is being considered. The convergence of several such meaningful days makes it appropriate to address the problem once more. The relationship between the sexes is also, unquestionably, a relationship between classes. It even has a connection with the national level. Dreams of a false life do not bring much happiness. Life is merciless. Dignity and love are not easily won, and romantic love in particular is by no means as easily won as people say. Yet we must still value one another. I can even say this: if a woman knows how to make her entire personality pure, simple and like a spark of intelligence, to possess a charming manner and to be as sensitive as she is courageous, if she shows an interest in making this prevail in every sphere of life and demonstrates the power to discuss and act, such a woman can attain a position resembling that of goddesses. Instead of seeing yourselves as dependents seeking refuge with others, you can possess such richness and greatness that everyone can seek refuge with you. I see this possibility, and one should take pride in it. Far from being oppressed and demeaned as a sex, it is possible to possess such virtues. This is also grandeur. Where is anything shameful in this? Where are slavery and shallowness in this? These things are connected with great struggles, and I am not speaking only of war in a crude sense, but also with possessing the power of organization and action as much as the power of very noble thought.

We, too, have always sought to develop our concern for you within this framework. Thus, this is how we express respect for the reality of women in general and, specifically, for the unbearable life of women in Kurdistan, which must certainly be overcome. Although what we have done is not insignificant, it still represents the beginning of this work. From now on, drawing also on our experience, we will struggle better. The days ahead are days that people can more readily accept and dare to live. Thus, as we move toward the Women's Congress, it is very important, alongside being clear about these fundamental issues, to confront ourselves with explicit tasks and not fall short in the effort they require. If an effort is made to understand the party well on this basis and what is necessary is done, we can be sure that we are on a good path.

As your congress work proceeds on this basis, we believe that you will achieve important successes. We are certain that all comrades will fulfill their responsibilities on this basis more than ever before. We believe that contributions from all battlefields will also move things forward. We wish them all great success in this field as well, through making their contributions in full. We salute the conclusion of the congress with outstanding development and success, and offer our greetings and love.

Long live the Kurdistan National Women's Congress!

Long live the PKK that leads it!

March 5, 1993