NEXEM ÇAÇAN

Qamishlo (Qamishli)- Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan’s philosophy of freedom has inspired women to take strong and determined steps in their struggle for freedom. Women breaking the chains of slavery have strengthened their struggle for freedom. They have achieved important gains and rights by leading the revolution in North and East Syria.

NuJINHA spoke to Sureya Hebeş, who was first displaced from Afrin to Shahba and then from Shahba to Dêrik (Al-Malikiyah), a city in the Jazira Canton of North and East Syria, about how she met Abdullah Öcalan and her struggle for freedom.

‘The love for freedom never ends’

 “I am very lucky to have met the philosopher of the philosophy of freedom,” said Sureya Hebeş, who met Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan in 1994. “At that time, we carried out activities for freedom and raised the voice of women for freedom. We were organized ourselves despite the oppression and cruelty of the regime.”

Abdullah Öcalan’s ideology represents freedom not only for the Kurdish people but also for all oppressed people, Sureya Hebeş emphasized. “Leader Apo (Abdullah Öcalan) paved the way for freedom. His ideology has already tugged at the heartstrings of the people of all ages and cannot be destroyed. The love for freedom never ends.”

Sureya Hebeş told us that they had secretly organized people in Aleppo and recalled the words of Abdullah Öcalan saying, “I dug the well of freedom with a needle tip.”

“I get strength from these words. We organized not only the Kurdish people but also the Arab people in Aleppo’s neighborhoods during the rule of the Baathist regime. The first freedom fighter of the Arab people was Aziz Arap. His mother was Arab and he had a great love for leader Apo’s philosophy of freedom. Leader Apo created existence out of nothing. We struggle for freedom. We express our will against tyranny and oppression, demanding our rights. We follow in leader Apo’s footsteps.”

‘His philosophy of freedom has spread to every corner of the world’

Sureya Hebeş dreams of Kurdistan, where not only Kurds but also all the people can enjoy their religions and culture freely. “Leader Apo attaches great importance to the diversity of religions and nations. In a free Kurdistan, all ethnic and religious groups can live freely. People all over the world have gotten involved in the freedom movement (Kurdish Freedom Movement) and fought for freedom. Leader Apo’s philosophy of freedom has spread to every corner of the world.”

‘Kurdish women have become a symbol of freedom for women all around the world’

Women's movements emerged in Rojava Kurdistan and the Middle East thanks to the struggle waged by the PKK (The Kurdistan Workers’ Party), leader Apo and the martyrs, Sureya Hebeş emphasized. “Thanks to our martyrs, women’s struggle has strengthened in Rojava Kurdistan. Kurdish women have become a symbol of freedom for women all around the world.”