Zilar Sterk, a member of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Executive Council co-Presidency, spoke to Fırat News Agency about Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan’s arrest on 15 February 1999.
Defining the 15 February as a “global plot” that was planned and initiated by international powers, Sterk noted that “the global plot did not only target the Kurdish people, but also democracy in Turkey”.
Sterk stated that the ideas of Öcalan pave the way for a solution to all the social crises around the world caused by capitalism. “The philosophy put forward by leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] against capitalist modernity, and the theoretical framework of his democratic social modernity project, gives hope to people worldwide”, she said. “That is why the international campaign for his freedom has rapidly spread throughout the world”.
Sterk saluted the resistance of Öcalan in Imralı High Security Prison. “The magnificent response given by leader Apo to his isolation in Imralı and his powerful stand against systematic torture feeds the resistance of our people and the guerilla forces of Kurdistan”, she said.
She said that Kurdish people consider the 15 February to be “genocide day” and accordingly they have put forward a resistance to oppose the plans that were set in motion by Öcalan’s arrest.
Stressing the place of women’s leadership in the struggle of the Kurdish people, she noted that women around the world lead the international campaign called “End fascism, occupation, isolation, time to ensure freedom”, which was launched by the KCK on 12 September 2020.
