Abdullah Öcalan (1948- ) — The Idealogue of Rojava

“Abdullah Öcalan is the founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), regarded as one of the Kurds’ most important political representatives and a leading strategist. Ever since his abduction from Kenya in 1999 and subsequent trial and death sentence — commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole — he has been held in total isolation on İmralı island. For almost eleven years, he was the sole prisoner there.”

“Öcalan has written extensively on history, philosophy, and politics, and is regarded as a key figure for a political solution of the Kurdish issue. Since the author has been held totally incommunicado and not been able to consult his lawyers or receive regular visits for many years, this op-ed has been edited from his prison writings and recent statements by his collaborators and sent to Jacobin for publication. His recent works include The Sociology of Freedom (2020) and The Political Thought of Abdullah Öcalan (2017).”

His current thoughts are partially expresses in the following article:

Abdullah Öcalan: My Solution for Turkey, Syria, and the Kurds,” Jacobin, Aug. 7, 2020.

Publications by Abdullah Öcalan in English

Books

• Declaration on the Democratic Solution of the Kurdish Question (Neuss: Mesopotamia Publishers, 1999).
• War and Peace in Kurdistan, Cologne, 2009.
• Prison Writings I: The Roots of Civilization (London: Pluto Press, 2007).
• Prison Writings II: The PKK and the Kurdish Question in the 21st Century (London: Pluto Press, 2011).
• Prison Writings III: The Road Map to Negotiations (Neuss: Mesopotamia Publishers, 2012).
• The Road Map for Democratization of Turkey and Solution to the Kurdish Question (Summary), Cologne, 2011.
• Beyond State, Power, and Violence (Oakland: PM Press, 2020).
• Volume I: Civilization: The Age of Masked Gods and Disguised Kings (2nd revised edition, 2018).
• Volume II: Capitalism: The Age of Unmasked Gods and Naked Kings (2nd revised edition, 2020).
• Volume III: The Sociology of Freedom: Manifesto of the Democratic Civilization (2020).
• Volume IV: The Civilizational Crisis in the Middle East and the Democratic Civilization Solution (2022).
• Volume V: The Manifesto of the Kurdistan Revolution (2022).

Pamphlets Compiled from the Prison Writings

• War and Peace in Kurdistan (Cologne: International Initiative Edition, revised edition, 2017).
• Democratic Confederalism. (Cologne: International Initiative Edition, revised edition, 2017).
• Liberating Life: Woman’s Revolution (Cologne: International Initiative Edition, 2013).
• Democratic Nation (Cologne: International Initiative Edition, 2016).

On the writings of Abdullah Öcalan:

Building Free Life: Dialogues with Öcalan, 2020