Öcalan is a healthy observation because Rojava is a contemporary movement with many vying interests. When people look at the history of Kurdish struggle they begin seeing how often there was collusion with imperial interests, how nationalism varied, how different states exploited ethnic Kurds. They can examine the faults and victories, how some groups had been excluded from the struggle (such as lesser representation of Assyrian, Turkmen, Arab and Yazidi minorities), the Turkish stance, pan-Turk nationalism, the Assad dynasty, and so on.

Reading about resistance fighters, I found many considered themselves Marxists first, or else Kurdish. I found how different the internationalists were from the YPG and PKK. Found the US collaboration with the SDF, the fight between US-Turkey-Syria over resources in Rojava, how or whether the Kurds are regarded as Syrian separatists, the expulsion of ISIL in Rojava, and so on. It’s a very complex geopolitical situation that anyone can benefit from understanding more of.