Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan sent a message to the 14th Ishtar Assembly Conference, held in the Martyr Rustem Cudi Refugee Camp in Maxmur (Makhmur) in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) under the slogan “Let Us Organize the Democratic Society and the Communes, Let Us Build a Free Life with the Leadership.” He extended his greetings to the conference.

 

The message from Öcalan reads: 

 

"During the Maxmur Women’s Assembly Conference, I hope that women will elevate the struggle for freedom and equality, and that they will fulfill their duties and responsibilities in building Peace and Democratic Society.

 

A new period is beginning. A democratic and communal system will develop under the leadership of women. The Democratic Communalist Process is a renewed form of the women-mother society. Reaching social reality is possible only through this method. Unless male power is overcome, the truth of society will not emerge in the realms of philosophy, science, ethics, aesthetics, and religion. As Marxism has demonstrated, unless the dominant male culture buried deep within society is eradicated, the victory of socialism will not be possible. Achieving socialism passes through women’s freedom. Without women’s freedom, there can be no socialism. In this sense, the foundation of the political, economic, and cultural activities of our Maxmur Women’s Assembly must rest on this principle.

 

Our people of Maxmur, forcibly displaced from their homes and lands, have—despite all difficulties, oppression, and pressure—never abandoned their identity and culture. They succeeded in building a new life in the desert, becoming an inseparable part of our freedom struggle, whose place in our history of resistance is undeniable.

 

It is important that the Kurdish people be recognized within a legal framework, that channels for democratic politics be opened, and that rights and freedoms be guaranteed through a lasting solution. The return of the Maxmur people will become meaningful under such conditions. For the return to the country to take place, a political, legal, and social basis must be created. This must be addressed not individually or at a family level, but collectively and within a political and legal framework. The people of Maxmur, who are victims of war and conflict, are also subjects of Peace and Democratic Society. I believe that the successful conclusion of the Peace and Democratic Society process will pave the way for their return to their lands, and I greet our people and your conference in this context.

 

With endless greetings and love,

 

Abdullah Öcalan

 

15.10.2025"