Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan revolted against the invaders to liberate not only the Kurdish people, but all oppressed peoples. The fascist Turkish state is currently trying to supress the will of the Kurdish people through the aggravated isolation imposed on him in Imrali prison. The resistance of sick prisoners in Turkish prisons has once again proved that the genocidal state cannot crush the will of the Kurdish people.

In order to end the isolation of Kurdish leader Öcalan, a hunger strike was launched in 2019, led by jailed HDP MP Leyla Güven in Turkey’s prisons and in public. Following the hunger strike, lawyers of Öcalan, Rezan Sarıca and Nevroz Uysal met with their clients in İmralı prison on March 2 and 22, June 12 and 18 and July 7, 2019. After these visits, all applications for further visits were repeatedly rejected. Öcalan’s last contact was with his brother Mehmet Öcalan by phone on March 26, 2021. Since then, the aggravated isolation imposed on him has continued.

The Co-Chair of the Maxmur People's Assembly, Neşat Kara, and the Martyr Families Association Co-spokeswoman Sultan Yıldıztan spoke to ANF about the denial-destruction policies of the Turkish state and the aggravated isolation of Kurdish leader Öcalan.

‘THE DEMOCRATIC NATION SYSTEM WILL THWART INVASION PLANS’

Neşat Kara pointed out that the Turkish state attacked Öcalan ferociously to yield results from its denial and annihilation policies. “Everyone interprets the world war at the national level. But, in fact, it is only Öcalan that offers an alternative, power and solution model. The sovereign powers, on the other hand, want to remove all alternatives that oppose them in order to pursue their occupation policies. Öcalan had previously said that 'they take pro-freedom Kurds as obstacles and attack them to implement their policies and projects against the Middle East and Kurdistan’. The enemy is aggravating the isolation in order to carry out its dirty policies. The only way to defy the isolation is to better apply Öcalan's Democratic Nation paradigm. Hunger strikes, signature collection campaigns, marches, rallies and various activities have already been organized for the physical freedom of Öcalan. As the Kurdish people and specifically the residents of the Martyr Rüstem Cûdî Camp, we must be able to carry out these actions in better ways in order to ensure his physical freedom. The establishment of a Democratic Nation System based on Öcalan’s paradigm is the only way to break the isolation. This will thwart the plans of the invaders,” Kara said.

THE ENEMY CAN NEVER SILENCE US

The Turkish state's policy of maltreatment and torture in prisons continues. Dozens of prisoners have died in prisons so far due to the hostile attitude of the Turkish state, particularly towards sick prisoners. Maxmur Martyrs' Families Association Co-Spokeswoman Sultan Yıldıztan condemned the isolation of Öcalan and the torture of sick prisoners in Turkey’s prisons. “They want to silence us by aggravating the isolation of Öcalan, but they will never achieve their goal. They will never be able to silence us. Erdogan's fascism will be defeated in the face of the struggle of the Kurds,” she said.

“Dozens of prisoners have died in prison and they are claimed to have committed suicide, but that is not the case. We know very well how brutal the enemy could be and how they maltreat the prisoners. The Kurdish people must now revolt against this brutality. This isolation of Öcalan is not an ordinary situation. They want to isolate the entire Kurdish people in the person of Öcalan. Therefore, we must protect the Kurdish leader and our jailed children.”

GUERILLAS ARE MAKING HISTORY IN THE MOUNTAINS OF KURDISTAN

Yıldıztan noted that the Turkish state has been attacking the guerrilla-held Medya Defense Zones in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) in cooperation with the ruling party KDP since April 17. “After each attack on the guerrilla forces, Turkish officials keep saying that ‘We will finish off the PKK in a few days’. However, Kurdish guerrillas have been putting up outstanding resistance. Turkish forces do not even take care of their dead members that were killed in battles. The resistance in the mountains of Kurdistan paralyzed the Turkish state. The Turkish state used all kinds of technologically advanced weaponry against the guerrilla resistance. They launched an operation dubbed "operation claw-lock", but they themselves were locked in the mountains of Kurdistan. A 'Siwar hatin peya çûn' (They came on horseback and left on foot) situation is now taking place in Zap, Metina and Avaşîn. The Turkish forces cannot advance further. The guerrillas who are making history with their resistance have once again shown that the real terrorist is the Turkish state. If the Turkish forces are currently attacking Rojava, Maxmur and Shengal, it shows that they have already been defeated by the guerrilla forces.”