May 9, 2004
Dear Reimar,
Thank you for conveying Mr. Ocalan’s comments to me. I am pleased that he finds my
ideas on libertarian municipalism to be helpful in thinking about a future Kurdish body
politic.
I also appreciate your efforts to mediate a dialogue between Mr. Ocalan and myself. I
beg you to understand that I am a very frail 83 years old; that I can no longer sit before a
word processor for hours and write articles or even letters; and that even reading for more
than a few hours per day is difficult for me. (Even with this brief letter, I had need of
Janet’s help.) I am obliged to spend much of my time in bed. As such, I am not in a
position to carry on an extensive theoretical dialogue with Mr. Ocalan, as much as I
would like to, and can at best provide only brief and incomplete responses. I deeply
regret the loss, but have increasingly to come to terms with the inexorability of aging and
mortality.
Mr. Ocalan seems concerned to impress on me that he needs to draw on other intellectual
sources as well as mine, especially Middle Eastern ones. He should please rest assured
that I would be deeply troubled if he did not make full use of those other sources as well.
Please give Mr. Ocalan my best wishes. My hope is that the Kurdish people will one day
be able to establish a free, rational society that will allow their brilliance once again to
flourish. They are fortunate indeed to have a leader of Mr. Ocalan’s talents to guide
them.
With warm regards,
Murray Bookchin