Message from Leader Ocalan to International Conference on Peace and Democratic Society

Leader Abdullah Ocalan addressed a message to the International Conference on Peace and Democratic Society held in Istanbul, organized by the DEM Party. 

Veysi Aktaş, who spent ten years in Imrali Island prison before being released last July, read the text of the message on his behalf.

The message was titled: “Let Us Reclaim Socialism through Peace and Building a Democratic Society.”

The full text of the message is as follows:

"Dear thinkers, dear friends, esteemed delegates, and all who still believe in socialism, I address you at a time when negotiations with the state have resumed on Imrali Island, under 26 years of isolation, seeking peace and a democratic society for the Kurdish issue in Turkey. It is extremely valuable and important for me to speak to you here today at the International Conference on Peace and Democratic Society about rebuilding socialism.

As Kurds, we have completed the 52-year struggle of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party for existence and dignity, and we are now entering an era in which a democratic republic and democratic society will be rebuilt.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party has fulfilled its historical mission by ensuring the national existence of the Kurdish people, while also exposing the failures of state-centered socialism. Socialism in the twentieth century emerged as a revolutionary yet negative step but failed to fill the void. In the 1990s, when most people were turning away from socialism, I said: ‘Insistence on socialism is insistence on humanity.’ I dedicated my entire life to rebuilding this hope. This struggle, waged with great sacrifices, has become a legacy realized through theoretical and practical critiques. To adopt this legacy correctly, we must transform socialism from a memory into a living social force that resonates with the people.

Socialist traditions in history should be considered a legacy for building peace and establishing a democratic society, achievable through fulfilling international duties both theoretically and practically.

Although Marxist and idealist socialists have strongly criticized the dominant capitalist system since the 19th century, they failed to develop a decisive stance. Modern capitalism is no longer merely a crisis, it has become a disease threatening humanity. Violent monopolies in the form of nation-states play a crucial role in this collapse.

Just as capitalism cannot be explained solely economically, we cannot attribute the failure of socialist movements only to capitalist oppression; historical and contemporary errors also played a decisive role in this setback.

My criticisms of Marxism should be understood correctly. I do not blame Marx. In his era, history was not as revealed as it is today, there was no environmental crisis, and capitalism was at its peak. Despite this, Marx was ideologically confident and constantly self-critical. He recognized women’s liberation, but since he treated this as a secondary issue, he believed that ending economic exploitation would eliminate their oppression. He tried to explain social history only through class and could not adequately analyze the state and nation-state, which is why major results did not emerge.

Despite these criticisms, I respect Marx’s work and do not doubt his intentions. I assess Marxism independently of Marx. While we may criticize Marxism and real socialism on certain fundamental issues, what we feel as socialists is self-criticism.

Opposition forces must reassess historical materialism to align with the reality of human society. It is important to understand that capitalism did not fall from the sky in the 16th century, its roots go back 10,000–12,000 years to the development of civilization in southern Mesopotamia. Sites such as the Tal Marazan and Tal Cejl highlight this historical beginning. Thus, it is more accurate to describe the current civilizational system as a ‘deadly social class system.’ Archaeological and anthropological evidence shows that male hunter classes, using developed killing techniques, overthrew matriarchal clan societies and enslaved women. This is the deepest division in human history and also a major counter-revolution that destroyed all previous civilizational developments.

Analyzing capitalism from a historical perspective greatly expands our horizons. This system not only fuels internal societal conflicts but, through the development of chemical and nuclear weapons, has the potential to destroy the planet, damage the atmosphere, and plunder natural resources, threatening the end of humanity. One of our fundamental international duties is to provide humanity with a new analysis of capitalism in light of this reality.

The history of the oppressed must be studied from the perspective of communes, self-defensive entities predating classes. This requires a historical viewpoint that sees the first tribes as the beginning of communes, extending to the class we now call the proletariat, or to all oppressed peoples.

Based on this, we say that history is not limited to class struggle but includes it, and it is more accurate to read history as a process of interaction and conflict between societal and anti-societal development dating back around 30,000 years.

I believe your conference, based on the theoretical analyses I presented, will enhance important discussions contributing to a new understanding of political and organizational programs. The fundamental approach in this process is dialectical materialism, but we must go beyond classical dialectic categories. We should view contradictions not as mutually destructive parts but as social phenomena that reinforce each other. Without the commune, there is no state; without the bourgeoisie, there is no proletariat. Therefore, we must approach contradictions not from a destructive historical perspective but a transformative one.

Scientific developments also show that the dialectical method is an effective tool for social analysis, provided it is not practiced absolutely. In this context, it is necessary to renew the dialectic between commune–state and class–state. The collapse of real socialism in the 20th century resulted from a misinterpretation of this historical dialectic: despite state-socialist regimes seizing power, they eventually collapsed. By linking the right of nations to self-determination with the nation-state, it became confined within bourgeois political limits. The concept of the ‘proletarian nation-state’ produced only a state mentality.

I have clarified this fact and stated that nation-state socialism leads to human failure, whereas democratic society socialism leads to success. Today is the time to move toward democratic liberation based on democratic socialism.

On this path, I believe we will succeed in replacing the state with a democratic republic, a democratic nation, and a model democratic society that is feminist, ecological, and democratic.

This awareness has brought our movement to ideological and political modernization, organizational and popular dynamism, leading it toward a socialist program capable of addressing the needs of the century.

Defining the relationship of democratic socialism with the state within the process of peace and resolution, I define my relationship with the state as a democratic one. Understanding a democratic republic requires the state to function within the democratic contract it concludes with society, not as a force above society with a divine nature. Through democratic political strategy, change and transformation within the state become possible, rebuilding society on democratic foundations.

Establishing this strategy on a legal basis will in turn form a firm pillar for lasting peace. Law, as a guarantee and mechanism of balance in the democratic relationship between state and society, is a tool for resolution that prevents violence. It will also play an institutional role in building the democratic republic, consolidating its legitimacy, and reconstructing the social system.

Among the key strategies I proposed for struggle is the issue of democratic integration and its legal concept. The law of democratic integration, which restructures the law to serve society through individual and universal standards and collective rights, should be based on three main principles:

Free citizenship law

Law of peace and democratic society

Laws of freedom

This law of democratic integration will transform the state into a rule-based state and simultaneously ensure the existence institutionally achieved by society, thereby realizing its freedom. The process I launched under the title ‘Call for Peace and Democratic Society’ is a process of dialogue. In a region like the Middle East, rich in ethnicities, religions, and sects, much can be achieved through dialogue and democratic negotiation.

In fact, I see that purposeful socialism should not be built on violent revolution but on a positive constructive approach and an organized existential system, achieved within the framework of democratic dialogue. It is difficult to believe that socialism can be built without comprehensive and deep democratic dialogue, and even if built, it is difficult for it to be sustainable. Lenin also said: ‘Socialism cannot be built without comprehensive and developed democracy.’

With this awareness and belief, I hope our meeting will be successful, and I extend to you my sincere and enduring fraternal greetings and regards.

6/12/2025

Abdullah Ocalan

Imrali Island”

A-H 

ANHA