Being communal in life and work – Duran Kalkan

Duran Kalkan wrote: “Participation in the commune must, in the true sense of the word, be self-sacrificing.”

18 August 2026 | Gurbet Sarya, ANF

How does one become a communard? How can one respond through practice to the communal systems created in accordance with society’s demands and needs? In the first three parts of our feature, we examined communal experiences ranging from Paris to Spain, from Brazil to the Zapatistas and Rojava. In this section, we will seek an answer to the question: “How does one become a communard in life and work?”

We will explore the Kurdish Freedom Movement’s 53-year communal journey and its organisation of communes under the leadership of Önder Apo, through the article “Being communal in life and work” written by Duran Kalkan, a member of the Abdullah Öcalan Academy of Social Sciences, for the August issue of Komînal newspaper.

Here are some of the key points from Duran Kalkan’s article, in which he says, “Everyone is a communard; the patriot and democrat of our time must also be a communard”:

“A commune is not merely about distributing what already exists equally and fairly; before anything else, it is about working collectively and producing new values. A commune becomes as strong and effective as what it produces and establishes itself within social life. It can sustain its existence only through its production; in other words, it is a system based on self-reliance. Being communal in life and collective in work expresses the essence of the matter. Therefore, approaches that do not rely on self-reliance and self-sufficiency are not correct. Nor are approaches that regard communal life merely as the consumption of what is already available.

In reality, such a life cannot exist, because nothing comes ready-made. Such a situation has emerged among us today and is temporary because it is based on mistaken premises. In fact, it does not correspond to the reality of either organisation or the communal system. It has emerged in a bizarre form, based on certain things, and must disappear entirely in the near future.

PARTICIPATION IN THE COMMUNE MUST BE SELF-SACRIFICING

On the other hand, the communal system requires great responsibility, awareness and organisation. The level of self-sacrifice that has emerged within our Freedom Movement expresses this reality very well. In short, participation in the commune must, in the true sense of the word, be self-sacrificing. The sense of responsibility, awareness, courage, selflessness and organisation possessed by a self-sacrificing person must also be present in every member of the commune. Communal life and collective work can only take place on this basis.

In this sense, the commune is a shared emotional world, a philosophy of life and an awareness of social belonging. It is a way of living, organising and working. It means reproducing life again and again on the basis of goodness, truth, beauty and freedom. Becoming communal means being hopeful and feeling the person beside you. Only those who have dreams and needs can become communal.

The extreme realism and materialism of crude materialism are contrary to the reality of the commune. At the same time, excessively idealising the commune empties the concept of its content and destroys its vitality. In life, work and administration, the commune represents direct democracy. In short, the commune means direct democracy and democratic society.

53 YEARS OF A COMMUNAL JOURNEY

The 53-year communal journey of the Kurdish Freedom Movement under the leadership of Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan constitutes a historically significant accumulation of experience in communal organisation. This accumulation contains very rich lessons, with its rights, wrongs and shortcomings. When discussing communal organisation and turning towards practice in this field, these lessons must undoubtedly be drawn upon.

First of all, let us state that at the foundation of the communal life embodied in the PKK lie the personal characteristics of Önder Abdullah Öcalan. The communal way of life, organisation and work, its ethics, politics, creativity and selflessness have been shaped entirely by Önder Apo’s personal characteristics and the contributions of our martyrs who became integrated with them. Throughout his uninterrupted 53-year revolutionary and socialist journey, Önder Apo has given everything he had, both in thought and in practice, to the Movement and the people, shared everything with those around him and accumulated nothing for himself.

He expressed this clearly in the words: “I have given you everything I had left in me; what more do you want from me?”

A SHARED SPIRIT AND SPIRITUALITY

If we look closely, material resources were almost non-existent during the period when the foundations of communal life were being laid. Therefore, Apoist communality was not shaped by material resources, their abundance or continuity. On the contrary, it was shaped by their scarcity, by their absence—in other words, by poverty.

So what sustained the Apoist commune under these conditions and enabled it to continue and develop? This is the most important question, and the answer is “spirituality.” The greatest unifying force in Apoist communalisation has been spiritual influences and the profound commitment and belief in Kurdish existence, freedom and socialism. It is the organising and unifying power of ideas. Because Önder Apo developed and lived this, an unwavering faith in and commitment to Önder Apo emerged. This shared spirit and spirituality brought about the greatest comradeship in history at the level of self-sacrifice. Thus, the foundation and determining force of communal life is not material wealth but spirituality.

This is the first and most fundamental lesson of Apoist communality. Those seeking to build communes in Kurdistan must first learn this lesson correctly and act accordingly.

IT HAS A BEGINNING BUT NO END

Any kind of thinking about the commune, and even the most ideal blueprint that can be developed, can go no further than establishing certain general principles. There is no template that provides every detail of this work and is valid everywhere. Even the most perfect blueprint will prove inadequate in practical application.

Therefore, one must approach communal work creatively, planning and carrying it out according to the concrete conditions of each place, and considering it within a very broad framework—from beginning with cooperation in a few areas of life to making all of life common. Önder Apo has put forward the most general principle by speaking of “communalising land, water and energy.” Accordingly, communalisation must be developed by taking into account the concrete situation of each place and starting with what is most appropriate.

Communalisation has a beginning but no end; the work of communalisation continues throughout the infinite richness of life.

IT IS CARRIED OUT TOGETHER WITH SOCIETY

A very important aspect of communal work is the fact that it can only be turned into practice by discussing and planning it together with society. This is also where the importance of approaching the work creatively becomes apparent.

A commune cannot be organised through top-down prescriptions and impositions. A commune cannot be organised or sustained unless those who will organise and live in it understand and accept it. Of course, communal work also requires leadership; perhaps the role of leadership is most clearly expressed in communal work. But this leadership cannot take the form of imposing the attitude, “I know best.” Correct cadre leadership means leadership that discusses, plans and implements everything together with the people who will constitute the commune.

Therefore, one must demonstrate the strength and patience to discuss matters with society and become skilled in working with society.

FOCUSING ON REALITY

The way democratic socialists organise communes cannot be through top-down imposition, pressure or coercion; on the contrary, discussing with the people, educating them and persuading them is the correct and fundamental approach. As Kemal Pir put it, “If necessary, we talk for three hours; if necessary, for three hundred hours,” making persuasion our principle. Depending on its importance, this process may take three days or three months, three years or thirty years. But apart from education and persuasion, there is no correct and lasting method of organising a commune. This means one must know how to be as patient as Joseph in the well.

On this basis, we can develop a concrete commune blueprint. For example, if we want to organise a commune in a village or neighbourhood, it is clear that we must first focus on the geographical, social and cultural structure of that place and try to analyse the concrete situation in all its details. Moreover, we try to discuss matters with the people living there in various ways and understand their inclinations. Such an analysis is essential before a commune can be organised anywhere. This requires preliminary work and a certain degree of preparation.

On this basis, reaching a minimum blueprint and then taking the work further and formalising it is an important method for achieving success.

WHAT SHOULD A VILLAGE COMMUNE BE LIKE?

We cannot provide a blueprint containing everything here; we can only help deepen the thinking. The collective organisation of economic life means establishing the foundation for developing communal life.

A village commune is direct democracy. The assembly that makes political decisions consists of meetings in which everyone in the commune participates. These meetings make all decisions concerning the commune and also elect an administration to coordinate their implementation.

Önder Apo said that there would be no conventional distinction between rulers and ruled in the commune, but there could be councils that perform the function of coordinating tasks and roles.

Organising social and cultural life is important in a village commune. For example, the education of children and young people should be part of the communal organisation. The commune should provide everything related to education, from the premises to the teachers. Health issues should likewise be resolved through the communal organisation. Indeed, everything, including religious worship, should be organised through the commune; these aspects of life should not be left to the state or another power.

The issue of education in the mother tongue and the need for appropriate artistic activities should be resolved within the communal organisation.

Security and self-defence are, of course, also important in a village commune. The commune should provide these through its own organisation and therefore should not leave them to the state or another power. Such tasks can particularly be carried out through youth organisation.

IT MUST BE SHAPED AROUND FREE WOMEN

A communal society is, of course, an educated and organised society. All sections of society are educated and organised on this basis. Both in these areas and in other spheres of communal life, the organisation of women and youth is important and plays a leading role. We have previously discussed the historical and contemporary role and position of women in the communal structure.

Without the women of a village becoming educated and organised and without female leadership emerging, communal life and work cannot be organised or made permanent in that village. If a life based on women’s freedom is not created, it cannot be called a commune. The commune’s free life is formed around free women. For this reason, it is essential for women to be educated and organised.

Although not identical, youth organisation is of course also extremely important. A village youth that has communal education and organisation can, through its dynamic leadership in every field and its activity in areas such as the economy, social life, culture and self-defence, become the creator and guarantor of the communal organisation and life of that village.

Thus, the organisation of the communalist youth movement at the level of the commune is just as important and necessary as its organisation at the national level. These levels should not be set against one another; on the contrary, they should be regarded and operated as mutually reinforcing and developing one another.

Communal organisation is the nucleus of democratic society. Democratic society is also the fundamental force of democratic integration. Therefore, in order to advance the struggle for democratic integration and achieve a solution, communal organisation in villages and neighbourhoods, and in every sphere of life, is the most fundamental need.

Something is only realised when it becomes a necessity. Communal organisation has also become a vital necessity for Kurds. Therefore, without asking whether it is possible or not, it is essential to recognise this fundamental need and fulfil it. To do this, one must be able to imagine, think and, so to speak, even dream about it. What we are trying to do is to help develop such thought and imagination. If this succeeds in inspiring some courageous and selfless people to act, it will have achieved its purpose.

HOW DOES A PROFESSIONAL COMMUNARD WORK?

Undoubtedly, in building Democratic Modernity, democratic communalist ideology applies not only to professional revolutionaries but to the whole working and oppressed society, particularly women and young people. With the exception of a small ruling bourgeois stratum, almost the whole of society must organise and live along democratic communalist lines. Everyone is obliged to participate in building democratic society. Everyone is a communard; the patriot and democrat of our time must be a communard.

The role and task of professional revolutionary cadre leadership have not diminished; on the contrary, they have increased. Therefore, every professional revolutionary and every democratic socialist militant must become a professional communard. The social leadership of our time must be provided by professional communards.

For this reason, Önder Apo defined the cadre of our time as “truth organised and turned into action” and stated that this cadre would live and work according to the philosophy of “one mouthful, one cloak.”

MUST ORGANISE ONE AFTER ANOTHER

A professional communard is someone who spends all twenty-four hours of the day concentrating on the commune, developing new studies and plans, entering deeply into society to discuss democratic communal organisation with people, and taking practical steps on this basis. They are a skilled organiser of communes, a successful builder of society, an excellent educator and persuader. Their sole task is always to think about the commune and move from one place to another, developing communal organisation one after another.

For example, if they go to a village, they hold the necessary meetings and discussions there, draw up a plan, assign practical tasks to people, and then move on to another village or hamlet. Once they have done what is necessary there, they move on to another area, a neighbourhood or a workplace.

A professional communard does not content themselves with working on just one commune; they go beyond this and work on five or even ten communes simultaneously. Each one may think that this person is concerned only with their own commune and is a member of their commune; in reality, they are working with almost dozens of communes and leading their practical implementation.

After staying in one place for a while and planning what is necessary there, they move to another, and then another. Later, they return to the communes where they first began their work, supervise the practice that has been carried out, address shortcomings, make new plans and move on to another communal project.

MUST WORK TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY

Can such work be done? Yes, it can! In the past, professional revolutionaries carried out mass education and organisational work in this way; today, professional communards can build communes—the mass organisational work of our time—in the same way.

They only need to have confidence in themselves on this basis and believe in success. They must think of nothing other than organising communes twenty-four hours a day and not concern themselves with trivial tasks. They must simply devote themselves to the task of being a communard with love and make self-sacrificing work their principle! They must go among the people to discuss and work together with them. They must believe that a new communal world can be created and integrate themselves with society in order to build it.

A movement with such professional communards will overcome every difficulty and obstacle and ultimately proclaim to the whole world the victory of building a communal society.