The General Presidency Council of the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) released a statement marking the anniversary of the 9 October International Conspiracy that led to the forced departure of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan from Syria, starting the process that resulted in his abduction, imprisonment and isolation.

The statement by KCK General Presidency Council includes the following:

“Twenty-four years have passed since the International Conspiracy against the Kurdish people and their struggle for existence took place in the form of the attack against Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan]. We would like to once again strongly condemn the International Conspiracy of October
09, 1998. We promise that we will never submit to any conspiratorial approach against the Kurdish people and their struggle for existence.

In order to protest the International Conspiracy, to defeat it and to prevent it from achieving its dirty goals, our heroic martyrs turned themselves into a shield of fire around Leader Apo with the slogan ´You cannot darken our sun´. We would like to commemorate them once again in the person of our comrades Halit Oral, Selamet Menteş and Aynur Artan, and we bow respectfully and full of gratitude in front of them.

We salute Leader Apo, who has resisted the conditions of captivity in Imrali and the system of absolute isolation and torture with high willpower and extraordinary intellectual productivity during the 24 years since the start of the International Conspiracy.

When the international capitalist hegemonic powers, led by the USA, prepared to start the 21st century with the Greater Middle East Project, they identified Leader Apo and the Kurdish Freedom Struggle led by the PKK as the biggest obstacle to their capitalist modernist and imperialist interests. Because they had already recognized that the free Kurds led by Leader Apo had the potential to influence the entire Middle East. The Kurds had been divided among the four main countries of the Middle East and the Kurdish Freedom Struggle led by the PKK had succeeded in drawing the Kurds in all four countries into an important struggle. Kurds in the four parts of Kurdistan and abroad, armed with the consciousness of freedom, did not want to spend another century without a leader and without a status. On this basis, they embraced Leader Apo and the freedom struggle without hesitation. They showed great support for this struggle and actively participated in it. Thus, the Kurds gradually became the strongest dynamic of change and transformation in the Middle East in favor of democracy and freedom. The aim of the International Conspiracy launched on October 9, 1998 by the capitalist hegemonic powers, led by the USA, was to eliminate this new free Kurdish willpower, which had begun to increasingly play a central role in the Middle East. For this purpose, they set up the International Conspiracy as part of a dirty cooperation. They did not hesitate to make all kinds of concessions among themselves for the realization of this conspiracy. Because the powers involved thought that if the Kurdish Freedom Struggle was destroyed, they could more easily take over the Middle East and redesign the region as they wished.

While the International Conspiracy had these regional aims, its main aim for the Kurds was to leave them without their own identity, leadership and status in the new century, just like in the 20th century. The goal was to make the Kurdish people lose another century just because they did not submit to the capitalist hegemonic world system and did not give up and surrender their will to struggle against the colonialist genocidal Turkish Republic's policy of annihilation and denial.

However, thanks to the new and unique understanding of resistance, intellectual creativity and productivity shown by Leader Apo, the high level of support of our patriotic people and the unbreakable will of the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla to struggle, the dirty aims of the International Conspiracy have been defeated. In the 24 years since the conspiracy, a more conscious and organized popular reality, a more professional guerrilla and an increased level of the party, political
consciousness and practice have emerged. As a result of all this, the national and social gains of the Kurdish people have been further enhanced during these years of struggle and have successfully created a democratic perspective.

However, the comprehensive aims of the failed conspiracy are today being updated in various forms by the conspiratorial forces and are being tried to be carried out in different ways and methods. Currently, there are huge and diverse efforts to sustain the International Conspiracy.
Keeping Leader Apo as a ´hostage´ and under torture in absolute isolation in the Imrali torture center is one of today´s dimensions of the conspiracy. By keeping the doors of İmrali closed, on the one hand, the Kurds are deprived of their Leader; on the other hand, a historical problem such as the Kurdish problem, which is the biggest and main problem of Turkey, is prevented from becoming a part of Turkey's democratization process by deliberately keeping it in a state of
non-solution.

Leader Apo's case is the fundamental case of the century and its solution will constitute the solution for the century. The solution of such a historical case that has greatly influenced this century is of course not possible without revolutionary struggle. However, the political and legal grounds opened by the revolutionary struggle must also be utilized strongly. As our people and the democratic public know, the legal grounds for the physical freedom of Leader Apo have now emerged. The sentence imposed on our Leader is about to be completed according to international law. However, the anti-Kurdish colonialist, genocidal fascist Erdoğan-Bahçeli regime is engaged in a great legal conspiracy regarding this issue. They are trying to create lawlessness by imposing disciplinary penalties on our Leader without any material basis. They weave this web of penalties a little more tightly every day, just like a spider's web. Their aim is to prolong the ´hostage´ situation and the conditions of captivity of our Leader forever. In order to make this possible, they do not even inform his lawyers and thus try to prevent any objection to the so-called disciplinary penalties they have imposed on our Leader. In this way, they aim to nullify the ´violation´ verdict of the ECHR regarding the ´aggravated life imprisonment´ sentence that the Turkish courts developed especially for Leader Apo. Along with the ongoing complete isolation of our Leader, everyone must see the reality of this legal conspiracy and every struggle possible must be waged to prevent it. The Council of Europe, to which structures such as the ECHR and CPT are affiliated, is as responsible for the continuation of this situation against the law, human rights and democracy as the international conspiratorial forces. The Council of Europe must do its part regarding this matter and respond to the expectations of the Kurdish people within the framework of the principles of human rights, democracy and justice.

Leader Apo has overcome the torture conditions of imprisonment in İmrali with the power of free thought, developed a new paradigm of a society based on democracy, ecology and women´s freedom and presented it to the Kurdish people as well as to all oppressed and exploited peoples of the Middle East and the world. This new world of ideas and thought, which Leader Apo has lived and revealed, constitutes a program of salvation for all the peoples of the Middle East and the world, especially the Kurds and all peoples of Kurdistan. For many years now, he has shown a tremendous level of thought under the torture of absolute isolation. As his thoughts are being translated into different languages and made available to different peoples and democratic humanity, they respond by supporting and embracing Leader Apo. The friends of the Kurdish people have multiplied even more on this basis over the past 24 years. Thus, a very valuable and meaningful friendship and brotherhood relations with the peoples of the Middle East as well as with various peoples in Europe and in many other parts of the world have developed. Because Leader Apo seeks to establish a relationship of democratic peace and brotherhood between the different peoples, beliefs and cultures. This relationship of Democratic Modernity is beginning to produce new values for humanity, democracy and freedom. This is beginning to be accepted as the only way out of the fundamental social crises caused by the statist, power-oriented system that the capitalist ideology has built in the form of the nation-state and industrialism. Today, the level of global support for Leader Apo and the demand for his freedom develop together.

In recent years, the work for the freedom of the Leader, led by various labor organizations and trade unions and supported globally by leading intellectuals, writers, academics, artists, lawyers, feminists, ecologists, anti-capitalists and anarchists, has reached an important level. In particular, the recent applications for a meeting with the Leader, led by legal circles in Kurdistan and Turkey, with the collective participation of lawyers from both the Middle East and Europe, is a very important and very valuable approach to the legal struggle. This 'application struggle' initiated by lawyers is an important area of struggle and can be further strengthened to achieve results. On this basis, we would like to salute everyone, all our friends and their valuable struggles who participate in, support and work for the end of complete isolation and for the freedom of the Leader. At the beginning of this new year of the International Conspiracy, we would like to once more express our strong belief and expectation that the international work for the freedom of Leader Apo will be carried to a new level.

In the 21st century, Leader Apo's ideas regarding women's freedom illuminate the path of Kurdish women more and more. The struggle waged by Kurdish women, who set out with his ideas on women's freedom, has led to very serious developments in Kurdistan and the Middle East. The huge willpower of Kurdish women in the political, military and social spheres is transforming into a serious awakening and consciousness among Kurdish women in all parts of Kurdistan, as well as among the women of the neighboring peoples with whom Kurdish women live together and are
closely intertwined. This has now become an unstoppable development. No state power is enough to suppress this conscious, enlightened and questioning will for women's freedom. We see this on a daily basis, most notably in the misogynist practices carried out by the current fascist regime of the Turkish Republic against Kurdish women in North Kurdistan [East Turkey]. We also see it in the assertive stance of the women of Rojava in the war against the enemy of humanity, the misogynist ISIS gangs. Finally, we can see it in the women's uprising that has developed around the slogan of "Jin, Jiyan, Azadî" in Iran and East Kurdistan [West Iran] for Jina Emînî, who was detained and tortured to death by the morality police in Iran because her hair was visible. The stance for women's freedom emerging in all four parts of Kurdistan and abroad and the level of ideological-paradigmatic inspiration this stance receives from Leader Apo continues to play a very important role in terms of defeating the International Conspiracy.

The Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla, receiving its basic ideological, philosophical and organizational inspiration from Leader Apo, has been the most fundamental force that has prevented the International Conspiracy from succeeding in the past 24 years. This is thanks to the guerrilla´s determined struggle and strong will. The guerrilla has an unbreakable bond with Leader Apo and regards him as its main moral center. Thanks to the strong morale and consciousness it receives from the Leader, the freedom guerrilla continues to show its strength and will to resist under all circumstances. The colonialist genocidal Turkish occupying army is currently using inhuman ways and methods against the guerrilla in Kurdistan in an unprecedented way. It is using all of NATO's war capabilities against our guerrilla forces in a very brutal way. Since last year, it has been using chemical and poisonous gases against our guerrilla forces, which it had otherwise not been able deter despite using the latest NATO technology. Realizing that chemical and poisonous gases did not achieve the desired results and that the unprecedented resistance continues, the Turkish occupying army has now added tactical nuclear weapons and thermobaric weapons. All these inhumane ways and methods used against the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. The balance sheet of these war crimes committed by the colonialist, genocidal, occupying Turkish army is being shared with the public on a daily basis by our HPG Press Center [Hêzên Parastina Gel – People´s Defense Forces]. Those responsible for these war crimes are being held accountable one by one on a daily basis and will continue to be held accountable. No one should have any doubts about this. Most recently, our comrades martyr Sara and martyr Rûken carried out a revolutionary operation against the colonialist police center in Mersin's Mezitli district, punishing dozens of war criminals. This revolutionary operation carried out by our comrades was extremely successful and accurate in line with the resistance of Zîlan and Agit. It has had very serious ideological, political and military consequences and has sent serious messages to all different forces. We would like to salute with great respect the successful sacrifice attack of our comrades martyr Sara and martyr Rûken shortly before the anniversary of the International Conspiracy. The professional and sacrificial style of their attack has clearly demonstrated what everybody´s stance against the conspiracy should be like. It has shown what professional, mobile and autonomous guerrilla units need to operate like. This has once again demonstrated that at the center of all developments in Kurdistan stands the strong will and decisive stance of the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla. Everyone should therefore once again acknowledge that without this determined and strong-willed stance of the guerrilla, not even a leaf in Kurdistan would be able to move.

In order to break the complete isolation of Leader Apo, to crush the total war plans of the Turkish state against the Kurds, and on this basis to defeat the conspiracy in its new year, we call on our people living in all parts of Kurdistan and abroad, together with their international friends, to carry out this struggle at the highest level possible until all desired results are achieved. On this basis, we call on the Kurdish youth and Kurdish women to increase their organization and strengthen their actions to ensure the health, safety and freedom of our Leader.”