It has been 24 years since PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan was extradited from Syria's capital Damascus by international forces on October 9, 1998. Öcalan, who was handed over to Turkey on February 15, 1999 after a conspiracy process involving many countries, was imprisoned in the Type F High Security Prison built on İmralı Island. Öcalan, who was held in isolation for the past 23 years, not only destroyed the plot with his resistance, but also became one of the architects of the developing process in the Middle East. The developments in Syria, where the seeds of a new life were sown, affected the entire Middle East and the world. Inspired by Öcalan's ideas, the people of the region managed to survive the internal conflict that started in 2011 and became hope for humanity with the democratic autonomous system they built. Women were at the forefront of the segments affected by this system, which fell into the history of the 21st century.

 

This new life, created with Öcalan's ideas and perspectives, became the name of “rebirth” for women. Ayşe Efendi, one of the women who resisted by defending her land from the first day of the conflict, is also a witness of the change and transformation that started in her land with Öcalan. Efendi, known as the Yadê (Mother) of Kobanê, resisting the invasion attacks of ISIS, is now the Co-Chair of the Euphrates Region Martyrs' Families Council. 

 

HER MEETING WITH ÖCALAN

 

Having met the Kurdish Freedom Movement while she was studying at university in Aleppo in 1980, Efendi has been a revolutionary who has devoted her life to the struggle ever since. Defining this meeting as "rebirth", Efendi first saw Öcalan at a public meeting in Aleppo when she was 22 years old. Stating that the kilams sung by Seîd Yûsif, who is popularly described as “the king of artists”, were listened to and meals were eaten at this meeting, where Öcalan spent hours analyzing art and culture, Efendi explained the feeling that the meeting created for her as follows: “I got to know the philosophy of the Leader there, I heard the footsteps of the PKK.”

 

Efendi, who attended a meeting in Saudi Arabia for the first time after this meeting, said, “There was a friend named Ali from Suruç. We worked with him, we were distributing leaflets sent by the party,” she said. Stating that she had some political pursuits stemming from the Kurdish identity before, but there it was not enough of an answer for her, Efendi said: "When they asked me how did I became an Apoist, I say that I have always been an Apoist by birth but I met with them in 1980."

 

REBIRTH

 

Stating that Öcalan's going to the village of Elpelur, 5 kilometers west of Kobanê, on July 29, 1979 was a milestone for the Kurdish people, Efendi noted that the people living in the region at that time did not know Öcalan. Stating that Öcalan later went to Kobanê from Elpelur and secretly held public meetings for months, Efendi said, “First, he did not introduce himself. The Syrian regime was oppressing the Kurdish people, people were detained and arrested for speaking Kurdish. For this reason, the awareness of being a Kurd was not developed much. Although he conducted his meetings in secret, people were speaking that someone called Leader Apo has come to town. Then the went to Damascus and Aleppo and held public meetings."

 

Expressing that she was involved in political activities with a group of friends in Aleppo in 1977 before meeting Öcalan, Efendi said that they were secretly celebrating Newroz at their homes at that time. Stating that she found answers to the questions that posesessed her mind after the meeting, Efendi said, “We could not express ourselves, but we were ready for a revolution in our minds. When the Apoists showed up, I was ready to meet them. Consciously, I had a love for Kurdishness. Despite all my savings, my life changed in every way after meeting Apoists. Now there was a Leader, we knew the system better. Our values ​​were shaping up. Commander Agit was one voice, prisons became a different voice with the resistance, Koma Berxwedan's songs became another voice. When these came together, they had a different effect on people. There was a rebirth with the first shot that was fired by the PKK." 

 

THE LIMITS OF FEAR WERE EXCEEDED

 

Describing Öcalan's ideas and perspectives on women as a milestone, Efendi said that women who were previously ignored in society were imprisoned in their homes. Efendi described the change they experienced with Öcalan as follows: “Women were not even aware that they were women. They were ignored in society. A woman was just a dead body, they were there to give birth and take care of children. They were there to be beaten. They had no idea about anything. They were defined as women, but they were not aware of the fact that they were women. Together with Leader Apo, women first demolished the boundaries of fear. The walls of fear were shattered. Leader Apo's ideas and perspectives destroyed what was imposed on women in the name of honour and dignity."

 

REVOLUTION IN THE CENTER OF THE MIDDLE EAST

 

Pointing out that women led the Rojava Revolution, in which the peoples of Northern and Eastern Syria built, Efendi said, “Women who were forbidden to leave the house became an army with the revolution. Women learned about their rights. They organized each other and took back their rights one by one, which were taken away from them 5,000 years ago. Women had been fighting for many years, but for the first time, they achieved a revolution in a place that could be considered the center of the Middle East. It has played a great role in every aspect of life. They were  pioneers in the field of military and diplomacy. At the stage we have arrived at, we have come to the point where there is no revolution without women, no communes without women. Women have proven themselves in every field. A system without women has become impossible to achieve. The Women's Defense Units (YPJ) has given hope to the whole world. Wherever there is an oppressed woman in the world, the woman turned to Rojava. Foreign delegations coming here cannot hide their astonishment at what the women are doing.”

 

HYPOCRISY OF STATES: ISOLATION

 

Reminding that the isolation against Öcalan, whom the Kurdish people call "my will", has been intensifying for 23 years, Efendi continued: "Isolation within isolation is being implemented. This isolation is an isolation not only against Leader Apo, but against the entire Kurdish people. Facts became integrated in the person of the leadership. The key to the evil fate of the Kurdish people is in the hands of the leadership. The Democratic Modernity project that came to life in Northern and Eastern Syria is the project of Leader Apo. Maybe Leader Apo is not among the people physically, but he sheds light on the way of the people with his ideas and perspectives. A century passes and the women will not let the conspiracy succeed. The philosophy presented to us by Leader Apo is enough for us to live together, even if it takes centuries. There is no law in Imrali. The isolation continues with the approval of international powers. The Kurds must unite against the isolation in four parts of Kurdistan. Now the world must put an end to its hypocrisy against Leader Apo. Let them stop being hypocritical against the Kurdish people. Leader Apo should now be among the people physically. Now, Leader Apo must be free.”

 

MA / Emrullah Acar