On the occasion of the 41st anniversary of the August 15 Offensive, the Coordination of the Kurdistan Women’s Communities (KJK) has published a statement in which it honors the historical character of the day as a turning point in the Kurdish freedom movement.
The KJK statement on Friday includes the following:
“We commemorate the 41st anniversary of the August 15 Uprising at a time when history is being reshaped and Leader Apo is putting forward radical solutions to deep-rooted historical problems. The Kurdish people suffered genocide built on denial and marginalization to the point that even their name was forgotten, and they struggled simply to survive. Yet they avoided extinction, reclaimed their existence, and gained their freedom thanks to the epic August 15 Uprising and the historic resistance that followed.
We honor with deep respect the heroic commander of the August 15 Uprising, Comrade Egîd, along with tens of thousands of our martyrs, and we salute the wounded of war. The bravest sons and daughters of the Kurdish people waged an unbroken resistance for 41 years with great self-sacrifice, transforming every moment into a heroic epic. We also remember comrade Erdal (Engin Sincer), a member of the central headquarters, who was martyred on August 15.
The Kurdish people made the greatest sacrifices; the martyrs forged their social identity, and their courage and spirit were embodied in their very existence. On this 41st anniversary of the August 15 Uprising, we also remember the most recent martyrs of this epic history, comrades Nuradin Sofi, Kocero Urfa, and Bakhtiyar Kabar, and pledge to fulfill their dreams and aspirations. Hundreds of our internationalist comrades joined this noble resistance, considering the freedom of the Kurdish people an essential duty of socialism and linking social liberation with the principle of peoples’ freedom. We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to the memory of our internationalist comrades who joined the Kurdish people’s struggle for freedom and gave their lives for it.
Our people, who have struggled and sacrificed immensely, are the true owners and makers of this resistance. They have endured profound suffering and experienced the great joy of freedom with determination. On this basis, we celebrate the day of resurrection of our people and the peoples of the Middle East.
The August 15 Uprising and our history of resistance illuminated not only the Kurdish people but also the issue of women’s freedom. It secured women’s existence and bound their cause to the path of a solution. The armed resistance of Kurdish women, which began with Bese Anuş and Hanım Yaverkaya, developed into the formation of a women’s army under the leadership of pioneering commanders such as Azime, Bêrîtan, Zîlan, Delal Amed, Cicek Keci, Leyla Amed, Pervar, and Azê Malazgird. With Asya, Ruken, and Sara, the spirit of sacrifice reached its highest level, unyielding in the pursuit of freedom.
It is no coincidence that women, the oldest colonized group, should reveal the history of their freedom through the reality of the Kurdish people, one of the last colonized peoples. The Kurdish people rebuilt themselves on the foundation of women’s freedom, as though the liberation of one required the liberation of the other. The Zagros Mountains became the first geography of social and popular formation. In the face of colonial realities, a deep-rooted history of freedom emerged in the person of women and peoples. In this sense, the August 15 resurrection is also a women’s resurrection day. It revealed a dialectic, wisdom, global politics, and a united resistance and freedom for the peoples and women of the Middle East and beyond.
Leader Apo launched the “Manifesto of Democratic Society” as the continuation of the struggle for existence and its connection with freedom. It is essential for all oppressed identities to define themselves on the basis of freedom, defense, and equality. Solving the issue of Democratic Society – Democratic Republic, based on legal recognition, requires negotiation and dialogue through democratic politics. The democratic solution is the achievement of the efforts of Leader Apo, our martyrs, and our great history of resistance. It means completing the path of identifying the problem, acquiring the capacity to solve it, and putting it into practice. On this basis, we call on all our people to join the democratic solution process in the spirit of the August 15 Uprising and to strengthen the power of resolution.
Our call is directed to the peoples of Turkey and to political and democratic organizations: the ferocious war waged by the Republic built on denial and destruction, and our resistance for existence against it, must be understood deeply. Forced repression produces forced existence, inflicting immense suffering on the people. The democratic society process initiated by our Leader is the last opportunity to break the cycle of conflict imposed on the people through a path of dialogue and solution. The Kurdish people’s resistance for existence must be given meaning through a democratic solution. Understanding and acceptance are themselves the realization of the solution. In this context, it is the duty of all to democratize the concept of the nation, to diversify the idea of a unitary republic, and to build a democratic system for all identities. History has offered us the chance to give our people a better future, and this opportunity must be seen as of the highest value.
On this basis, we congratulate all our comrades, the Kurdish people, the peoples of the region, our women, our youth, our religious communities, and our workers on this August 15, and we pledge to crown this honorable date in our people’s history with the victory of a libertarian solution.”
Source: ANF News
