The Kurdistan Workers¹ Party (PKK) has successfully concluded its long awaited 8th Congress. Some key decisions were taken which will shape the political landscape of the region and exert an influence more generally. The impact will be widely felt on the peoples of all parts of Kurdistan and more extensively throughout the Middle East and beyond. 

Some 285 delegates representing Kurds from everywhere participated in the intense Congress debates between 4 and 10 April. The main outcome is the founding of a new Kurdish political organisation to be known as the Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress (KADEK) which becomes the successor to the PKK. 

The new body will seek to maximise unity among all Kurdish groups and will work with any Kurdish organisation striving towards similar aims of democratic transformation and freedom. KADEK does not aim to win power for itself in government, but will support any group that shares its broad objectives. 

The Congress praised the long heroic uprising of the PKK but declared that this form of struggle was now at an end. 

Delegates to the 8th Congress approved a new constitution for KADEK and elected a steering committee. Abdullah Ocalan was elected as its president and his ³Manifesto of Democratic Civilisation² was adopted as the founding manifesto of the new body. 

Within the context of current conflicts in the Middle East, the Congress called on all international and local forces to act more responsibly and in a peaceful manner. 

KADEK will campaign for a democratic resolution to the Kurdish Question and blames the continued conflict for Turkey¹s slow progress in development. The new group will work to achieve unity among all democratic, socialist and social democratic forces and non-governmental organisations in Turkey and elsewhere. 

To achieve this objective, it agreed to take an active role in the work of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK). 

KADEK condemns as real terrorism the persecution and violence carried out against the Kurdish people over the years. 

Women and youth are seen by the new body as offering the greatest hope for the future. It assumes as one of its main duties the bringing of women and youth into political activities. KADEK calls on Kurdish women to join the Party of Free Women (PJA) and encourages women to enter its ranks. 

KADEK draws its strength from the historic sacrifices of the Kurdish people and the inspiring example of its leadership.