Sozdar Avesta, member of the Presidential Council of the KCK, spoke about the 25 years Abdullah Öcalan has spent in Imrali and the resistance he put up against isolation. Avesta also underlined the importance of the international campaign demanding freedom for the Kurdish people's leader. 

Avesta said: "With respect, with love and longing, I would like to greet Rêber Apo [Leader Abdullah Öcalan] who has put up great resistance in Imrali. I also greet everyone who has been taking part in the Long March protest against the conspiracy. I also salute and celebrate the resistance of the guerrillas who have been the most meaningful and valuable comrades to Rêber Apo over these past 25 years.

For 25 years, Rêber Apo has interpreted the conspiracy in every sense. World War 3 started with the conspiracy against Rêber Apo. If Rêber Apo had not taken a responsible approach at that time, World War 3 would have started between Kurds and Turks and this war would have lasted 100 years. An uninterrupted genocide would have been committed. The forces involved in the conspiracy wanted to design the region according to themselves. Therefore, they saw the Kurdish Freedom Movement, which was waging a struggle under the leadership of Rêber Apo, as an obstacle. Because Rêber Apo was now a determining factor in the Middle East. The Freedom Movement was fighting against the invaders, and a spirit of resistance was developing in a society that was becoming more conscious. Again, important developments took place in the women’s liberation struggle. In the person of Rêber Apo and the Freedom Movement, the peoples of the Middle East now had a vanguard and chose the path of the freedom struggle. Therefore, the conspirators united and wanted to eliminate this obstacle."

Avesta continued: "These powers realized that they would not be able to maintain their hegemony in the Middle East as they wanted unless they eliminated Rêber Apo. Powers such as the USA, Israel and England, which took part in this conspiracy, also prevented the solution to the Kurdish question. The conspiracy was mainly carried out by these powers, but regional powers such as Russia, Greece and the KDP also played a role in this conspiracy.

When Rêber Apo evaluates that process, he states the following: 'Turkey and the peoples of Turkey are a forest. The hegemons wanted to make us turn into a ball of fire, throwing us into that forest to burn both sides together.' Rêber Apo saw these games and put up a relentless resistance. The attacks against Rêber Apo, and therefore on our movement, on Imrali are also the result of the politics of conspiracy. Rêber Apo has been held hostage in Imrali for 25 years. The role of the Turkish state here was to act as a gendarme."

Avesta added: "Our people will also remember that Bülent Ecevit, the Prime Minister of that period, said in a statement, ‘We do not know why they handed Apo over to us’. The conspiratorial forces reduced the rights of the Kurdish people and the freedom revolution to a subject of bargaining. In this way, they wanted to liquidate the Kurdistan Freedom Movement, the women’s revolution and the unity of the peoples. The conspiracy has continued in different forms until today. If the conspiracy has not achieved its goal today, the stance of the Leadership and the paradigm of Democratic Confederalism undoubtedly have a share. Rêber Apo has turned Imrali into a place where all the problems of humanity can be solved. He created a new paradigm against capitalist modernity. Rêber Apo avenged the conspiracy by developing the paradigm of ‘Democratic Modernity’. After the conspiracy, the Rêber Apo brought the process to the present day with 25 years of relentless resistance.

When the conspiracy was achieved, Kurds all over the world made effective protests. There were martyrs in these protests. Hundreds of people from the age of 12 to 70 years old, especially in dungeons, in Kurdistan and all over the Middle East, turned their bodies into torches of fire. In Europe, people were martyred during the protests in front of the Israeli Consulate in Berlin. Thousands were arrested. But they stopped life as we know it for weeks. All of our people in the four parts of Kurdistan started a great resistance. Rêber Apo called on the people to prevent this process from reaching a dangerous dimension and intervened in the process. In this 25-year period, our people and friends continued their struggle in the fields on the basis of Rêber Apo’s ideas and philosophy. Especially since 2007, moves have been developed for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo."

Avesta said: "Rêber Apo has already frustrated the conspiracy with the paradigm he developed. However, both the forces involved in the conspiracy and the forces that support the conspiracy in line with their interests do not want this problem to be solved. NATO itself is carrying out this process. Gladio, which is part of NATO, continues this process. Today, these forces are waging a great war against the Freedom Movement in the person of Rêber Apo. They are holding Rêber Apo hostage in order to make the Freedom Movement surrender. Especially in the last 8 years, they want to renew the conspiracy with attacks aiming to completely destroy the Kurds. As early as 2009, Rêber Apo said: “I give good news to our people: we have thwarted the conspiracy”. This was the truth. The conspiracy did not achieve its goals, but they did not give up either. They are carrying out different attacks to continue the conspiracy. For example, currently, a heavy isolation has been going on in Imrali for 3 years in order to leave Rêber Apo breathless. Our people have given thousands of martyrs, wounded and veterans in the last 25 years. There has been great resistance in every part of Kurdistan and abroad.

Breakthroughs have been made every period for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo. For 12 years, protests have been held in Strasbourg for the physical freedom of the Leader. Again in 2020, the “Dem Dema Azadiyê Ye” campaign was launched. The only campaign that will really nullify the conspiracy is that Rêber Apo’s ideas and philosophy reach the peoples, women, the oppressed and intellectuals. We have seen the effect of reading Rêber Apo’s books in these campaigns. In all areas, friends of our people came together and carried out such events where Rêber Apo’s books were read. This was very important. At the moment, there is a long march to Strasbourg led by the youth of Kurdistan and internationalist youth. The march which started from Serhat in the form of 2 branches is a new action and very valuable. Again in the prisons, prisoners of freedom have been on hunger strike since 27 November. Outside, the Mothers of Peace and our people are organizing actions in support of the prisons.

When we take all these into consideration, the stage that the struggle has reached in the 25-year period now accepts no other option but to make freedom permanent. The people of Kurdistan, their friends and internationalist forces can no longer tolerate the captivity of Rêber Apo. That is why they have brought their struggle to the highest stage. This is a sacred thing. Our people and friends have realized that they can achieve Rêber Apo's freedom."

Avesta underlined that "for 25 years, the conspiratorial forces have done everything, but they could not get the result they wanted. Rêber Apo is not an ordinary person, he is a nation, he represents all nations. Rêber Apo was the architect of the women’s liberation line. Therefore, it is now a danger to keep Rêber Apo captive. Rêber Apo resists for all humanity, for the whole society. We must realize that we also owe a debt to Rêber Apo. After 25 years, we are  closer than ever to Rêber Apo’s physical freedom. Therefore, we must develop our struggle more."