PKK Central Committee member Nedim Seven spoke to ANF about the anniversary of the 15 February 1999 International Conspiracy that led to the abduction of Abdullah Öcalan in Kenya.

In the first part of the interview, Seven condemned the conspirators and added that the aim of the conspiracy was to eliminate Öcalan and dismantle the Freedom Movement.

Seven said: "This plan was to be implemented within six months. At the time, the U.S. Secretary of State, who led the conspiracy, said, 'We will dismantle the PKK within six months.' But the people of Kurdistan, in Bakûr (North Kurdistan), Başûr (South Kurdistan), Rojava (West Kurdistan), Rojhilat (East Kurdistan), and around the world, stood by Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan]. Millions of people rose up, defended their freedom and future, and thwarted the conspirators' plans. In the end, they admitted, 'We did not know the PKK was such a strong organization.'

Many states were behind this conspiracy. However, it was Leader Apo who rendered the conspiracy useless. His new ideological system, developed against capitalist modernity, was a revolution at mental, intellectual, and paradigmatic levels. The second crucial element of resistance against the conspiracy was the sacrificial and vanguard role of the Kurdistan guerrillas. The guerrillas sacrificed their lives to stand by Leader Apo. The third element was the people of Kurdistan standing by their leader everywhere. Although the conspiracy was thwarted at the time, it has continued in different forms for 27 years, aligned with the goals of capitalist modernity. Against this, the struggle and resistance of the Leadership, the Freedom Movement, the people of Kurdistan, and our internationalist friends continue."

The role of the CPT is to protect states!

Seven spoke about Öcalan's defenses, and said: "All of Leader Apo's defenses include comprehensive legal, political, organizational, and mental evaluations. Everyone should know this: What was the role of the U.S.? What was the role of the UK, Israel, and the European Union? The European Union also played a significant role in the conspiracy. How? When the Leadership was handed over to Turkey, there was no legal or political justification. The Leadership was kidnapped in Kenya by Gladio forces and handed over to the Turkish state. Leader Apo evaluates this as a major Gladio operation. This is an inhumane conspiracy. Never before has such a conspiracy been orchestrated against anyone. When the Leadership was taken to Imrali, the European Union sent the CPT (European Committee for the Prevention of Torture). Although the CPT presents itself as an institution protecting human rights, it was essentially part of the conspiracy and played a role in imposing a long-term isolation process."

Seven said: "The CPT should have addressed the issue within the framework of the legitimate cause of the Kurdish people, the peoples of the Middle East, and society, but instead, it treated it as an individual legal matter. Today, it continues to play the same role. If you pay attention, although the CPT is supposed to act independently according to legal procedures, it prioritizes protecting the interests of the states. Legally, they say, 'The CPT cannot publish its reports unless the relevant state approves.' But this is not true. For example, this was not the case in the Azerbaijan issue. The CPT acted independently in many other matters as well. Therefore, the role of the CPT and the stance of the European Union are not legal but entirely political. However, thanks to the struggle of the Kurdish people, Leader Apo, and the Freedom Movement, this conspiracy, now in its 27th year, has been thwarted."

The aim was to crush the hope of the people

Nedim Seven noted that, when looking at the history of peoples' resistance, there are different examples, but no revolution in the world has implemented a system similar to Imrali. "For instance, many revolutionaries, resisters, and seekers have never seen such a system in any revolution. It is a genocidal, massacring system that the Leadership has called a 'proto-Guantanamo.' As you know, Guantanamo was created for the radical Islamist militants of Al-Qaeda. This project was based on torture, inhumane practices, and physical destruction. They applied the same method against Leader Apo. The aim of this system was to crush the hope of the peoples, revolutionaries, and patriots through the Leadership.

When the conspiracy began on October 9, 1998, Leader Apo was forced to leave Syria. He had to go to Greece, then Italy, and Russia. Notice that immediately after the conspiracy began, the people of Kurdistan, the Kurdistan guerrillas, and Kurdish resisters played a historic role. [...] The people of Kurdistan, who saw the Leadership as a hope for freedom, embraced his thoughts and new paradigm and stood against the conspiracy by setting their bodies on fire in all four parts of Kurdistan and abroad.

For the first time in history, such a level of solidarity was seen. One of the pioneers of this was comrade Halit Oral. We saw the greatest impact of the Leadership's ideas in Rojhilat (East Kurdistan) and Iran. From Urmia to Tehran and Qazvin, thousands of people took to the streets. In Başûr (South Kurdistan), hundreds of thousands rose up in Sulaymaniyah and Hewlêr. Across Europe, people stood by the Leadership. A great sense of hatred and vengeance developed against Gladio and the conspirators. In a place like Germany, four valuable patriots fell as martyrs in front of the Israeli Consulate to stand by Leader Apo. In Russia, comrades Taylan and Jêhat set their bodies on fire in front of the Kremlin. Such solidarity has never been seen in history. This was a reflection of the longing for freedom. This was the belief in standing by Kurdistan. This was standing by patriotism and the goals of freedom. That is why they sacrificed their bodies."

Leader Apo uses even the smallest opportunity to serve the revolution

Highlighting how the International Conspiracy was thwarted and the historical role of Abdullah Öcalan, Nedim Seven stated: "Leader Apo uses even the smallest opportunity to serve the revolution. It’s like digging a well with a needle. Through the methods of the International Conspiracy and Gladio, Leader Apo was handed over to the Turkish state. Both the people of Kurdistan, the Freedom Movement, and the friends of the Kurdish people experienced a great shock. Because we had learned everything from Leader Apo.

The PKK, ERNK, ARGK, and all revolutionary organizations were managed according to Leader Apo’s style and methods of struggle. Leader Apo gathered the people around him by building freedom, national consciousness, and organization through his ideas and thoughts. Leader Apo fought against the genocide system with patience, determination, and perseverance. Sometimes he stood firm for days in his cell, sometimes against the inhumane tortures of fascism. He was kept under severe isolation for years. They wanted to break the will of the Leadership with all this pressure and torture, but Leader Apo was not the person they had calculated him to be. The truth of the Leadership was once again proven before history, humanity, and societies."

Seven added: "The organization established by the Leadership, despite all its shortcomings, criticisms, and questioning, advanced along his line and has fought for the physical freedom of the Leadership to this day. For example, you know about the court process. When Leader Apo was handed over, they had created a certain design. According to this design, the Leadership was captured on February 15, and the death penalty was decided on June 29.

February 15 is the date of one of the great uprisings of the Kurdish people, the Şêx Seîd rebellion. June 29 was a date when executions took place. In other words, the occupying enemy had planned this by taking history into account. They had a special purpose for this. However, the Kurdish people, through a great struggle, succeeded in creating change in the genocidal, fascist, and occupying system of the Turkish state. For example, at that time, the death penalty was abolished. With the abolition of the death penalty, Leader Apo said, 'Let it be celebrated as the August 2 Rose Festival.' Why the Rose Festival? Because the death penalty had been abolished in the genocidal, occupying, and denialist Turkish state. This decision was not just for the Leadership. The death penalty is inhumane. This was a step.

Other steps taken by Leader Apo have continued with different processes since 1993. For example, the first ceasefire in 1993, the mediation of Celal Talabani, the talks with then-President Turgut Özal, the March 17, 1993 ceasefire, its extension until June 8, the declaration of another ceasefire on December 15, 1995, and the start of the third ceasefire on September 1, 1998… All these ceasefire processes and initiatives were for resolving the Kurdish issue through negotiation and dialogue. These were all the efforts of the Leadership. This was the basis of the Kurdistan Revolution Manifesto. However, the PKK was forced to arm itself and fight. As a result, the war reached a certain stage, and the process of solution and negotiation began. Since 1993, all the efforts of the Leadership have created a resistance line based on negotiation, solution, democracy, and freedom. This process continues today."

When physical freedom of the Leader is achieved, we will accept negotiation

Nedim Seven said that "the Freedom Movement, adhering to the Leadership’s line, made new decisions and took new steps at every congress each year." He emphasized the role of the Freedom Movement, adding: "Most recently, on October 10, 2023, the initiative 'Freedom for Leader Apo, Status for Kurdistan' was launched. This initiative was essentially started by friends of the Kurdish people. Because the PKK developed an internationalist, democratic, and socialist line. At this stage, this initiative was launched under the leadership of the friends of the Kurdish people and has now entered its third year. For the physical freedom of Leader Apo, in Kurdistan and outside Kurdistan, the friends of the Kurdish people, patriots, and revolutionary movements took steps at the highest level. The processes of 1993, 1995, 1998, and most recently the Oslo talks between 2013-2015 were methods that laid the foundations for a solution. In other words, the problem can be solved without war."

Seven continued: "However, unfortunately, the Turkish state and its representatives, especially the AKP government, used this entire process for their own power interests and acted not to solve a century-old problem but to maintain their own power. The decisions taken at PKK congresses, especially at the last 11th Congress, made it clear that nothing will be accepted without ensuring the physical freedom of Leader Apo. When the physical freedom of the Leader is achieved, we will accept negotiation, solution, and other steps taken. The Turkish state, the AKP government, and Devlet Bahçeli ultimately had to go to the Leadership.

As you know, the 10 years from 2015 to 2025 passed with the concept of denial, destruction, and genocide. During this period, especially the destruction operations carried out in the Media Defense Areas, the occupation of Afrin, the attacks on Girê Spî, the occupation operations against Shengal and South Kurdistan, and the attacks on Maxmur aimed to destroy the Freedom Movement, completely eliminate the guerrillas, break the will of the Kurdish people, and render Leader Apo ineffective. Today, the war continues even more fiercely."