PAJK Coordination member Ayten Dersim said that the PKK is a philosophy and a way of life.
PAJK (Kurdistan Women's Freedom Party) Coordination member, Ayten Dersim, said that Abdullah Öcalan has always aimed to grow through constant renewal, and added: Understanding President Öcalan means joining him. It means implementing what he says and bringing it to life. And that requires waging a proper and committed struggle.
The 12th Extraordinary Congress of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was held between May 5 and 7 in two different regions within the Medya Defense Areas, simultaneously and in parallel. Ayten Dersim, one of the delegates who participated in the congress, said: I salute our free human President Öcalan with love and respect. I commemorate all the martyrs who fell in the struggle for freedom and bow respectfully before their memory. I renew my pledge to walk the path of truth in the names of Comrade Fuat and Comrade Riza. This has been expressed by others as well, and I would like to address it in my own way. This is not the first time President Öcalan has shared such guidance with us. Since the 6th Congress and in every subsequent phase, all his preparations, perspectives, theories, and ideology have aimed to renew and expand the PKK. International powers that intervene in the Middle East have continuously tried to reshape the region with their own policies, ideologies, and philosophies, and this process continues today. President Öcalan has always said, ‘Those who do not renew themselves will be renewed by others; those who do not change will be changed.’ This became especially evident in the context of Iraq. While defining democracy, President Öcalan states that ‘democracy develops through internal dynamics, internal strength, and internal consciousness.’ In addressing the PKK, he once again laid before us the necessity for the PKK to go beyond fulfilling its historical role, to become a social force built upon its own internal dynamics, strength, and ideology.
Öcalan has always assigned a mission to women
Dersim added: President Öcalan defined the essence of the PKK as woman, and we tried to shape ourselves around this essence. Once again, I saw clearly that if women within the PKK were not able to fully walk in line with President Öcalan’s philosophy, ideology, and strategy, along with all the shortcomings and limits, I, as a woman, also bear responsibility for this. President Öcalan always assigned a mission to women. Alongside that mission, he pushed us into struggle by fostering greater ideological depth, philosophical advancement, and a passionate, even romantic, devotion to freedom, transforming all of it into an organizational system and a means of struggle. He said, ‘Do not wait for change from the other side; you must have the power to transform it.’ When he said that the PKK has fulfilled its historical mission or reached the end of a chapter, I understood this through his statement: ‘Today, history is hidden in the depths of our being.’ History is a living being. The PKK is also a living being. It is not merely a name. The PKK is a philosophy, an ideology, and a measure of life. The PKK brought itself into existence. That is why, when President Öcalan says a being has been completed, this is how I understand it. In terms of the organizational aspect of the PKK, its approach, its methods, and how it has dealt with growth, there are areas where it has not been sufficient.
We are faced with great roles and responsibilities
Dersim continued: Understanding President Öcalan means joining him in practice. It requires implementing his words, embodying them in life, and waging a proper and determined struggle for this purpose. President Öcalan completes this process. This is also how I personally approach and interpret it. In the restructuring of the Middle East, it has become clear that the current charter of the PKK, despite its significant roles and responsibilities, is no longer sufficient. This is why the charter and program must now be embraced by society, internalized through people’s own strength and consciousness, and brought into lived reality. In this sense, the PKK is a culture. It has formed a foundation of ethics, consciousness, and existence. Now, it is time for us to build that existence. Grasping the essence of President Öcalan is the key to making our 52-year-long struggle, the reality of our martyrs, the values created, and the level we have reached, permanent. The socialist culture laid out by President Öcalan is truly a democratic one. His model of governance is a communal life, a collective unity built on mutual respect and the empowerment of one another. We have studied President Öcalan’s political report. From this, I personally state that the path forward, where history awaits us with new responsibilities, requires us to expand the values we have created, to restructure ourselves, and to engage with renewed strength. The foundation of this lies in consciousness, mentality, and thought.
The duty and responsibility fall on us
Dersim underlined that President Öcalan has laid all of this out extensively in his defense writings and continues to do so. When we reread them now, we realize it is as if we had never truly read them before. From this point on, our task is not simply to preserve the values that have been created. This is not about a dogmatic, rigid, or one-dimensional approach. What is needed is to expand these values with a socialist, democratic, and freedom-oriented perspective, bound to them with a love that reaches the level of passion. We must truly deepen that love. The duty and responsibility for this fall on us. As an individual, I am undergoing a serious process of self-criticism in this regard. I see once again that what we failed to do in the face of history is not something simple or minor. From now on, I am fully aware that such shortcomings will no longer be accepted by history. In the presence of this congress, I want to renew my personal commitment to this truth.[1]