ARJÎN DİLEK ÖNCEL

 Amed- “I drafted a ‘Manifesto for Democratic Society,’ which has to be regarded as a historical transformation. This Manifesto has the necessary attributes to successfully substitute the 50-year-old Manifesto of ‘The Path to Kurdistan Revolution,’ Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan said in a video message published on Wednesday following his “Call for Peace and Democratic Society” on February 27, 2025.

After the historic call of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan on Wednesday, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Executive Council Co-Presidency released a statement saying, “We are determined to take the step Leader Apo has asked of us. However, it should be known that the process cannot proceed unilaterally and only with the steps taken by us. Accordingly, the process must be approached correctly and the necessary steps must be taken.”

Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Spokesperson Ayşegül Doğan announced on Wednesday that they would be in Sulaymaniyah on July 11, 2025 to attend the ceremony to be held by guerrillas.

NuJINHA spoke to women of Amed about the recent developments. All women told us that they expected concrete steps to be taken by the government.

“We welcome the process,” said Lamia Demir, stressing that the war (conflict) had killed Kurdish young people for years. “We want the end of this war. All we want is peace.”

Lamia Demir thinks that the war also has an impact on the economy in the country. “People suffer from poverty. Yes, we have lost many people but enough is enough. All political prisoners should be released.”

‘We want both peace and justice’

Zerife Tunç, another woman in Amed, demanded the immediate release of political prisoners. “No one wants war. We want both peace and justice. The government must take concrete steps now.”

Fatma Kurşun criticized the AKP government's policies towards different languages, especially Kurdish language, demanding education in Kurdish. "We demand our right to education in our mother tongue be recognized.”

Fatma Kurşun drew attention to the state-appointed trustees to Kurdish municipalities and said, “We do not want trustees to be appointed to our municipalities anymore. We want our elected mayors and enjoy our language and culture freely. Our language should not be seen as a second language. We demand education in Kurdish language for our children.”