PKK guerrillas have expressed their feelings regarding the 66th birthday of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan, describing his birthday of 4 April as a date of rebirth. 

Abdullah Öcalan, a beacon of hope for the Kurdish people and all the peoples of the Middle East who yearn for freedom, is 66 on 4 April. Kurdish guerrillas described their emotions as their leader's birthday approaches.

‘He gives us enthusiasm for life’

YJA-STAR guerrilla Agirin Gare, who is to attend 4 April celebrations for the first time in the mountains, explained how excited she was. “To talk about the leader, read his works and understand him is a great source of inspiration for us. The Fourth of April is the emergence of a society, of a people and a reality. With the leader's birth a people on the verge of extinction were reborn."
Gare added that they sent their love to İmralı island, saying even if the leader was not with them in person he was with them in spirit.

‘4 April is the sprouting of new seeds'

TEV-ÇAND member Xebat Med said that 4 April was not just an ordinary birthday, but signified society and nature, adding: “All our people see it like this. For instance, on 4 April saplings are planted, and new seeds sprout."

Xebat said that the planting of saplings on this day is not just a simple ritual, but that the real purpose is the paradigm of the ecological aspect of Abdullah Öcalan’s ideology. Xebat concluded, saying: "Every year on 4 April hundreds of thousands of people flock to Leader Apo's village of Amara. In the guerrilla areas, too, saplings are planted and we dance and speeches are made regarding the significance of the day."

YJA-STAR guerrilla Madora Ararat said that Abdullah Öcalan was waging a struggle for all the peoples of the Middle East, and that he had made a significant contribution to the liberation of women, adding: "Today, as women we are going forward hand in hand within the framework of the leader's perspective and paradigm. On this occasion we pledge once more that our struggle will continue until his freedom is assured."

HPG guerrilla Dijwar Batman said that with the birth of Abdullah Öcalan the darkness that had enshrouded the Kurdish people vanished, adding: “There have been many leaders in history, but none of them were able to gather people from Moslems, Christians, Jews, that is, from different religions, faiths and cultures. But leader Apo has mobilised people from all races, religions and nations and united them. Now all these communities are waging a struggle for his freedom. The leader's birthday is the birthday of all oppressed peoples, and also symbolises the advent of a new system opposing the existing state system."

YJA-STAR guerrilla Azime Botan said 4 April was an important date for them, and that the leader's birthday also marked the emergence of women.

‘We will develop an ethical and political society'

HPG guerrilla Azad Cizre said: “We too celebrate 4 April by planting saplings. We will wage a struggle for the freedom of the leader in return for the values he has created for humanity and the possibilities for free life he has propounded. We will give him the biggest gift by developing an ethical and political society."