Leyla Güven, a Kurdish politician who is currently imprisoned in Turkey, passionately advocated for the Kurdish pursuit of freedom in a recent letter, critiquing the existing geopolitical order and reaffirming the Kurdish community’s resolve to embody Abdullah Öcalan’s revolutionary ideals.
On the 25th anniversary of Öcalan’s capture, Güven, former co-chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) and Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP, penned a heartfelt letter from prison to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) imprisoned leader. “Together with our self-sacrificing people, we will resist in all areas of life until we achieve this freedom,” she wrote, expressing a collective determination for liberation.
Güven’s letter, filled with sorrow and longing, questions the inability to break free from the vicious cycle despite embracing Öcalan’s democratic and freedom-loving philosophy. She praises Öcalan’s realistic words, which have resonated not only with the Kurdish people but across the Middle East, acknowledging his significant influence on democracy, ecology and women’s liberation.
Medya News has translated this letter for our readers, providing a glimpse into the deep sentiments and aspirations expressed within the Kurdish community, as articulated by Güven.
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“Dear President,
Another February, another period of sorrow, longing, inadequate approaches, and embarrassment envelops us all. Why can’t we, the first-hand bearers of your democratic, modern, universal, ecological, and libertarian philosophy spread across all geographies, break out of this vicious cycle? We read, delve deep, and try to make sense of it all. Yet, for some reason, we only understand the observations and predictions outlined in your teachings years later. Often we find ourselves saying, ‘The Leader had mentioned this years ago’, and as a result, we start many things too late. Our lives, our style of struggle, always lack completeness. Yet, dear President, every word you wrote in your books and spoke on various platforms is incredibly realistic and valuable. Not just the Kurdish people but all the peoples of the Middle East have found themselves within your paradigm. Across the globe, intellectuals, writers, and artists talk about the vital importance of you being outside, sharing your thoughts with society, especially in a time when the old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born, acknowledging you as the contemporary philosopher of the 21st century.
For years, you have said, ‘Enough with war, ceasefire now, peace now’, envisioning a world where living together on a thousand-year-old brotherhood basis is possible. You proposed a world without oppressors and oppressed, where dying and killing are unnecessary, advocating for a cooperative, sharing society – a world of democratic nations. You rejected all forms of violence except self-defense, but the societal reality you are in was far from understanding you. Yet, tirelessly, you explained this reality in understandable language. You said the goal of a democratic society is to liberate individuals, and democracy is built on the legitimacy of different lifestyles. In countries where democracy flourishes through its rules and institutions, freedoms bloom; in political parties, however, narrow pragmatism peaks in political, social, cultural, and artistic fields, and every ideology must be prepared to pay a price to achieve its envisioned lifestyle.
‘History is hidden in our present; those who do not know their history cannot understand our present,’ you’ve said, pointing out that treasures are to be sought where they were lost. You taught us that our reference should always be the natural society (Neolithic), and that society and women can only be free together. We have taken to heart your words, ‘Society cannot be free until women are free.’ You taught us that life cannot be solely good or bad, it’s a sum of both, and understanding the truth of love is the only way to grasp it, being a longing and passion for freedom, saying, ‘Truth is love, love is free life’. Referring to Zoroastrian philosophy, you highlighted, ‘Think well, speak well, act well’, showing that good morals are the finest communal value, and in a society where morals are in the hands of the immoral, no good can be expected, learning that today, in capitalist modernity, law has replaced morals. Thanks to you, we learned that being moral is not about adhering to divine commands, and one does not need to believe in a myth or legend to act morally, but rather to deeply understand suffering.
We now understand the pain of a people crucified in their own land and that some truths need to be correctly addressed on the complex political map of the era and the sage, knowing that if the past is not reckoned with on the right basis, it will continue to ail our present and future. We’ve learned from stark examples that power blinds those who think they possess it. You taught us that it’s possible to live life fully according to one’s truths, to stand by one’s desires and values, to disregard patriarchal norms, to challenge taboos, and that leading a meaningful life is achievable. While thinking education was the most crucial need, you showed us that thinking, acting, organising, action, and education are all intertwined, highlighting the importance of elevating experience to consciousness, that education is not a one-off event but requires continuity, and that one who does not educate themselves cannot be educated by others, stressing the necessity for the individual to continuously arm themselves with revolutionary values, knowing that without one’s own defence, there can be no democratic politics. It’s not the strongest nor the smartest who survive but those most adaptable to change. We know that those who can perform their renaissance according to the era and time survive. What I mean to say, President, is that we have been enlightened by your philosophy and paradigm; we have strived and tried to enlighten as much as we have understood. We know we are very fortunate thanks to you and we try to make the most of this opportunity. We have gained so much in this regard that it’s endless. The Middle East Women’s Conference held in Amed is one such gain. With the science of Jineology you taught us, we read history in reverse, bringing the Mother Goddess culture back to the surface and reuniting it with women. Because history has been inverted by the dominant forces. That’s why we proudly talk about the Women’s Liberation Ideology, the correct historical narrative, on every platform. Our women’s struggle, which garners great interest worldwide and is proclaimed in all languages with the slogan ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadi’, pays a great price while you are the architect of the existing gains.
Dear President; at this stage, the end of the imperialist mentality and the nation-state system has been reached. While new searches continue in the world, your model of the democratic nation is the most democratic, participatory, ecological, and women-liberating model for all societies, especially the Middle East. For 25 years, you have produced treasures worth of knowledge in your solitary cell. You have created models most suited to the multi-identity, multi-cultural structure of Kurdistan in the Middle East. By producing more than politicians who are relatively free outside, you have presented a manifesto of freedom for the future of societies. Knowing this, international conspiracy forces, violating even their own laws, support the continuation of absolute isolation by playing the role of the jailer, the Republic of Turkey. They fear your contemporary, democratic philosophy in the emerging new world.
Valuable President; you have resurrected a people buried under dead soil and concrete. You have given your life for the rebirth to happen, for the Kurdish people to be liberated, but we have not been able to achieve your physical freedom, despite our efforts, we have still not succeeded. We hold ourselves responsible for every day you spend in isolation. As Kurdish women, we will overcome all deficiencies and have a greater practice for your freedom. Along with our sacrificial people, we will resist in prisons, in all areas of life, and we will realise this freedom. Because through you, a people will be liberated, and we look forward to the day we will see you in the peace dance on the walls of Amed, with hopes of that day, greetings, respects…”
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Leyla Güven is a prominent Kurdish politician and former member of the Turkish Parliament. She has been affiliated with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and has served as the co-chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), an umbrella organisation for various Kurdish groups in Turkey. Güven is well-known for her advocacy of Kurdish rights and her vocal opposition to the Turkish government’s policies towards the Kurdish population. She gained international attention in 2018 when she went on a hunger strike while imprisoned, to protest the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan. Her hunger strike, which lasted for several months, inspired similar actions by other Kurdish activists and prisoners, drawing attention to the conditions of Öcalan’s imprisonment and the broader issue of Kurdish rights in Turkey.
After being released in January 2019, Güven was later sentenced to 22 years and 3 months in prison on charges of ‘being a member of a terrorist organisation’ and was arrested at the home of HDP MP Semra Güzel in Diyarbakır on 21 December 2020. Following her detention, she was taken to court where the sentence was confirmed, leading to her current imprisonment. The Constitutional Court ruled Güven’s re-arrest unconstitutional, highlighting the violation of her rights post-election as an MP.
