TJA to march from Amed to Ankara: Öcalan's freedom is our freedom

2025-09-25 13:51:33


	 

	AMED - TJA will organise a march from Amed (Diyarbakır) to Ankara on 1 October with the slogan "We Walk to Freedom with Hope". 

	 

	Tevgera Jinên Azad (Free Women's Movement-TJA) made a statement at Cemil Paşa Mansion in Amed regarding the march it will organise from Amed to Ankara with the slogan "We Walk to Freedom with Hope". 

	 

	Peace Mothers' Assembly, TJA activists, Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) provincial and municipal co-mayors and many women attended the statement. 

	 

	The statement was read in Kurdish by DEM Party Mêrdîn (Mardin) MP Beritan Güneş and in Turkish by TJA member Hülya Alökmen. The statement included following: 

	 

	“Every step we take is grounded in the legacy of decades of resistance. For us, hope is the light, and freedom is the horizon. As we walk shoulder to shoulder toward that horizon, this path will echo with the footsteps of the most righteous cause. As women, we walk for Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan, who has been a beacon of hope for the Kurdish people against policies of denial and assimilation.

	 

	Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan, who has persistently called for a democratic solution to the Kurdish question, is the only true interlocutor for peace. We address the government, which insists on continuing the İmralı isolation regime by disregarding its own legal norms and imposing deadlock through delay: the freedom of Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan is the freedom of women and of all peoples. The path to a truth-based resolution begins with the total abolition of the İmralı isolation system. The litmus test for democratization is the freedom of Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan. Ensuring his conditions of freedom will open the door to democratization and peace.

	 

	In the Middle East—transformed into a zone of crisis by nation-states and now subjected to attempts at redesign—the implementation of the paradigm proposed by Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan is of vital importance, especially for women and oppressed nations. As the central actor, Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan must be able to live and work under conditions of freedom. He is the key figure who can ensure lasting peace in the Middle East. On this basis, we call on the state to fulfill its obligations to justice.

	 

	In accordance with the rulings on the 'Right to Hope' Turkey must enact legal reforms that bring about structural change and immediately establish the mechanisms to ensure the freedom of Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan. The pluralistic 'Commission for National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy' formed under the Parliament, can only fulfill its mission by meeting with Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan. The role of Parliament in solving this issue is essential. The only interlocutor for a solution is Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan. The commission must urgently meet with Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan, who has fulfilled every requirement of the call he made on February 27—an appeal that has sparked hope and excitement among the people.

	 

	The implementation of the 'Right to Hope' will move this process forward and open the road to peace and freedom. The right to hope has become a vital necessity, and the demand for a solution is no longer exclusive to the Kurdish people—it is now the shared demand of the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural societies of Turkey and the Middle East, and of all peoples across the world. From South Africa to Ireland, from Latin America to various corners of the globe, examples have shown us: no peace process has ever succeeded, and none ever will, while the key actor remains imprisoned. Therefore, the international community can no longer afford the luxury of remaining silent in the face of the reality that 'another life is possible.' Silence puts not only Kurdistan but the entire region’s future at risk. Strong ties have been forged between the universal perspectives of Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan on women and the international women’s liberation movement. From here, we call on the women of all peoples: join in solidarity with the Kurdish women’s struggle for freedom and peace, and help grow our common resistance.

	 

	As women, we have lost a century under the weight of war, poverty, and oppression that came with state-based civilization. With the perspective and struggle of Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan, who said, 'The woman question lies at the root of all problems,' we began our search for freedom. We have never separated our own freedom from the freedom of our society. But we also know this: our freedom is only possible with the freedom of Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan. For the Kurdish people, who have overcome the question of existence itself, the time is now: the time to meet in a free society with a free leadership.

	 

	The Kurdish people, who have lived under the grip of cultural genocide for over a century, have preserved their existence through resistance. Today, they demand to be recognized—through their language, culture, and beliefs—as a fundamental component of a democratic society, on the basis of justice and equality. A country in which the rights of the Kurdish people are constitutionally guaranteed, their will is respected, and their collective rights are recognized, will lay the foundation for true social peace. This must be a process that ends denialist politics.

	 

	Women, Kurds, Alevis, and all oppressed peoples and beliefs—who throughout history have responded to erasure with resistance—will continue to grow their struggle and raise their voices until their rights are guaranteed. Once again, we declare: we women will no longer tolerate a century of constitutional exclusion and political statelessness! The obstacles in front of our rights must be removed without delay, and our rights must be secured through legal and constitutional guarantees.

	 

	Throughout history, women have carried the heaviest burdens of war, poverty, and repression. And yet, they have always been the pioneering force behind social peace, freedom, and transformation. Today, as women demanding peace and a democratic society, we walk to pave the way toward resolution in a land that has endured the harshest forms of repression, isolation, denial, and crisis for years.

	 

	We welcomed the 'Call for Peace and a Democratic Society' made by Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan on February 27 with great excitement. And we state our determination: we will realize this call through our organized women’s struggle.

	 

	For this reason, from October 1st to 7th, we walk from Amed to Ankara under the slogan: 'We Walk to Freedom with Hope.' We march for the freedom of Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan and to overcome the obstacles that block our collective rights. Step by step—from Amed to Urfa, Antep, Adana, Mersin, and Ankara—we will weave freedom, stitch by stitch. Accordingly, we declare:

	 

	The physical freedom of Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan must be secured immediately in order to achieve lasting peace.

	 

	The parliamentary commission formed under the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) must meet with Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan without delay.

	 

	Immediate steps must be taken to constitutionally guarantee the existence, identity, culture, and language of the Kurdish people. Our mother tongue, our culture, and our beliefs—along with all our collective rights—must be protected under constitutional law.

	 

	The usurpation of political will must end. Our co-mayors, elected by the democratic will of the people, must be reinstated. The co-leadership system, which strengthens women’s political representation, must be officially recognized.

	 

	Male-dominated, sexist, and militarist language and policies must be abandoned. A common language of social peace must be built.

	 

	And finally, we say: now is the time to walk together—now is the time to achieve freedom together, through Leader of the Peoples Abdullah Öcalan.

	 

	We know this: Peace and a democratic society will come through women. Freedom will belong to all of us. It is we, the women, who will build the democratic society and the new life."