Newroz message of Öcalan read out in Amed

Kurdish National Leader Abdullah Ocalan, called for a PKK congress to begin an era of peace. Here is the full text of Ocalan's message:

TO ALL OUR PEOPLE;
I am greeting the Newroz of all our people and friends who take side with peace, equality, freedom, and democracy.  

The crisis which is caused by neoliberal policies imposed to whole World by imperialist capitalism and its despotic local collaborators destructively takes effect on our region and country. In this crisis environment, ethnic and religious differences of our people and cultures are being disappeared by meaningless and brutal identity wars. Neither our historical nor modern, neither our conscience nor our political values can keep silent and can be desperate against this political landscape. On the contrary, an urgent intervention is our religious, political and moral responsibility. 

Our struggle for democracy, freedom, and fraternity and honourable peace of our country’s people is now at a critical stage. This struggle of our movement for 40 years which has been painful did not come to nothing but now is on the stage which cannot be maintained in the same line. History and our people demand democratic solution and peace which is proper for spirit of our time. We are faced with mission to start a new process on the basis of the 10 articles which are officially declared in historical Dolmabahçe Sarayı. 

With the agreement on principles under declaration, I see it historical and necessary to hold a congress to stop the armed struggle which is carried by PKK against the Turkish Republic nearly 40 years and to determine political and social strategies and tactics which are suitable for new period. I hope that principal agreement is reached in the shortest time and following the formation of the truth and reconciliation commission comprised of parliament members and members of monitoring delegation, we can realize this congress. The new period starts then with this congress. In this new period, we are entering the new process in the Turkish Republic on the basis of free and equal constitutional citizenship as a democratic society with democratic identities living together in peace and fraternity. In this way to get over the 90 years Republic history which is full of conflicts, we are walking to future with knitted real peace and universal democratic criteria. The real history of Newroz is to greet of this process in the presence of yours. However, the facts which are right for our country and our people should at the same time be valid for our region, which is full of sacred. The reality of capitalist imperialism in the last two hundred years in general, especially the last one hundred years is:  On the basis of nation state nationalism, ethnic and religious identities have been set against each other; I mean the policy of divide and govern which has been in effect until now!

We should know that, the last brutality of imperialist powers, which do not give up their ambitions on the Middle East come out in the image of ISIS. This organization forcing the meaning of brutality, slaughtered Kurdish, Turcoman, Arabian, Ezidies and Assyrian people as well as women and children.    

Anymore, the day is the day to terminate this brutal and disastrous history and to transform it into a fraternity and democracy, which are suitable for our real past. 

According to my belief, it is necessary to move to common life with open democratic identities through democratic politics by overcoming nation sates which are caused by confrontational, exhausting, disastrous nationalism. For this, I call on the nation states to perform the new type of democratic easement with the democratic politics and again I call on the nation states to build new democratic collective house of Middle East in themselves. Moreover, I call on the women and youth who beat the wings for freedom and who are the overwhelming majority of our society to take active part and to succeed in the economic, social, political and security fields of forthcoming period. Besides, I am greeting the resistance and victory of Kobani which has great meaning for our region and also for the international World. On this basis, I am greeting the “Soul of Eşme” which has been improved as a kind of symbol of new history. 

The assessments I have made above are a precious call for a social rebuilding, revision and restoration of our history and present day. 

Again, I am greeting this historic Newroz of yours and of all the people of the World. 

Long live Newroz.
Long live fraternity of People"