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The Kurdistan National Congress (KNC), the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) issued statements marking the 22nd year of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan’s arrest on 15 February 1999.
The KNC said that the “global plot” which ended in the imprisonment of Abdullah Öcalan could not achieve its goal, which was the elimination of the PKK: “In the course of the last 22 years, their wishes could not come true. Neither Mr. Öcalan nor the Kurdish people have given up on their struggle. The Kurdish people’s answer to the 15 February plot was severe”.
The KNC also referred to Turkey’s military approach to the Kurdish question. “The military attacks should not be accepted and Kurdish forces should struggle against these attacks”, they said.
The National Congress called on friends of the Kurdish struggle to give support to the international campaign for Öcalan’s freedom.
TEV-DEM, a progressive umbrella organisation in northern Syria founded in 2011 with the goal of organising Syrian society under a democratic confederalist system, shared their demand for Öcalan’s freedom in their statement. “Leader Öcalan does not only represent the will of free peoples and societies, but also plays a constructive role in establishing democracy and peace through dialogue. Therefore the freedom of leader Öcalan is the only way to solve the crisis in the Middle East”, said the TEV-DEM.
The PYD in their statement stressed that Kurdish people lead their journey towards democracy in the region and worldwide with their resistance and struggle. They also stated that the Kurdish freedom movement and the Kurdish people, who gathered around the movement, pioneered the democratic journey. “Hence, the hegemonic powers wanted to separate the head from the body and use the Kurdish people as a tool”, said the PYD in their statement. “We can understand the global plot against Leader Abdullah Öcalan within this framework. However, this plot encountered the resistance of the Kurdish people, leader Öcalan and the freedom movement”, said the PYD.
The PYD added: “As the General Assembly of the PYD we feel deeply the ‘dark day’ of 15 February, which iscaused pain for our people, and we realise the impacts of the global plot now more than ever. But the global plot still continues. Leader Öcalan should return among his people in order to conduct his historical role for the Middle East”, stated the PYD.
