15 February marks the anniversary of the international conspiracy that led to the Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan’s abduction to Turkey in 1999. Since then, Öcalan has been held as a political hostage on the prison island of Imrali, most of the time under conditions of total isolation. Kurds and their friends are going into action all around the world to demand the lifting of Abdullah Öcalan's incommunicado detention and the resumption of peace negotiations and conditions for the Kurdish leader in which he can live and work freely in order to contribute to the solution of the Kurdish question. 

The Co-Presidency of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council released a statement marking the 24th anniversary of the international conspiracy, stating the following:

“The international conspiracy against Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] is now entering its 25th year. We would therefore like to condemn all forces involved in the international conspiracy carried out on the basis of the Kurdish genocide in the person of Leader Apo. We would also like to commemorate with great respect and gratitude all the martyrs of revolution and democracy in the person of the comrades Halit Oral and Aynur Artan, who formed a ring of fire around Leader Apo by lighting up their bodies against the conspiracy under the slogan `YOU CANNOT DARKEN OUR SUN´. We respectfully bow in memory of them and reiterate once again our promise to the martyrs that we will lead their struggle to victory.

All the comrades who were martyred under the slogan ´YOU CANNOT DARKEN OUR SUN´ led the struggle against the international conspiracy, played a leading role in the development of a deeper understanding of the conspiracy and its defeat and thus carried the freedom struggle to a new level. After the start of the international conspiracy, a struggle against it also began. Yet, the conspiracy continues until today.

Leader Apo was kidnapped at the Greek embassy in Kenya on February 15, 1999 as a result of a conspiracy and eventually handed over to the Turkish state. The abduction of Leader Apo and his transfer to Turkey constitute the biggest international conspiracy of the 20th century. The international conspiracy was led by the US and Israel, supported by European states and coordinated by NATO. Many other states and powers also took part in it by providing direct or indirect support. Therefore, the February 15, 1999 conspiracy is one of the biggest international conspiracies not only in the 20th century but in history. It is an indisputable fact that there are major plans behind such a conspiracy.

The answer to the question of why such a conspiracy was carried out against the leader of an oppressed and exploited people like the Kurds, and why Leader Apo was given to the enemy of the Kurdish people, i.e. the colonialist Turkish state, by the powers that rule the world, reveals many dirty plans being carried out in Kurdistan and the Middle East. The international conspiracy and the plans behind it can be understood by asking and answering this question.

The international conspiracy against Leader Apo is related to the Middle East policy of the capitalist modernity system. The fact that the international conspiracy took place at a time when the US was planning to intervene in the Middle East and that this planned intervention was carried out afterwards proves this. Since the US considered Leader Apo and the PKK as obstacles to its policy, it wanted to neutralize them before intervening in the Middle East. Therefore, the international conspiracy was started as part of the US Middle East policy. Leader Apo himself stated that the role of the Turkish state in the conspiracy was limited to that of a guardian and that the US and NATO had actually planned and carried out the conspiracy. Because Leader Apo stood against the policies of the forces of capitalist modernity against the Kurdish people and the peoples of the Middle East and insisted on his stance of freedom, the US made such a decision and carried out the conspiracy. Many forces, especially NATO members, took part in this conspiracy under the guidance and directives of the USA.

The role of the Turkish state, as Leader Apo stated, has not been more than that of a guardian. Since the Turkish state has an anti-Kurdish character, it has approached these developments on the basis of a revenge mentality. By creating the PKK and launching the Kurdish freedom struggle, Leader Apo re-created the Kurdish people and thus defeated the plans for the Kurdish genocide. The genocidal colonialist Turkish state, enraged by this, acted with the goal of subjecting the Kurdish people once again to annihilation and denial by neutralizing Leader Apo and destroying the PKK, thus taking revenge on them. Yet, due to his high level of consciousness and responsibility, Leader Apo prevented a Kurdish-Turkish war and made sure that the conspiracy would not achieve its goal by making everybody understand the international dimension of it. Because the conspiracy was aimed at the physical annihilation of Leader Apo and the liquidation of the Kurdistan freedom struggle. This could have meant the beginning of a Kurdish-Turkish war that would last for decades. As a matter of fact, after the start of the international conspiracy, Bülent Ecevit, Turkey´s prime minister of the time, said that he could not understand why the conspiracy had been carried out. This admission clearly reveals that the conspiracy was carried out by international powers within the framework of their policies.

Due to his belief in and commitment to freedom, Leader Apo gave the most meaningful answer to the international conspiracy by developing a new paradigm based on democracy, ecology and women’s freedom in İmralı and by presenting this manifesto of the 21st century to the peoples, women and all oppressed. By further developing the struggle on the basis of the new paradigm put forward by Leader Apo, our movement has initiated great developments in Kurdistan and the Middle East. Today, not only the peoples and women of Kurdistan and the Middle East, but also the peoples, women and all oppressed groups all over the world support and put into practice the ideas of Leader Apo. Looking at these results, we can clearly say that the conspiracy has not achieved its goals since the utopia of free life developed and led by Leader Apo has gone beyond the borders of Kurdistan and has reached the peoples and women of the world.

Even though the international conspiracy has not reached its goals, it has not been completely defeated and put to an end either. The aim of the forces behind the conspiracy is to finalize it by continuing the Kurdish genocide, thus also bringing the conspiracy against Leader Apo to its conclusion. The conspiracy against Leader Apo therefore constitutes a conspiracy against the Kurdish people. The İmralı system is a system created to bring the conspiracy to its conclusion. As long as the İmralı system and the physical captivity of Leader Apo continue, the conspiracy will continue as well.

The international conspiracy is being carried out today by the AKP-MHP government. The AKP is essentially a party founded to serve the goals of the conspiracy and to continue the Kurdish genocide. The AKP and Tayyip Erdoğan were brought to power for this purpose. However, when the AKP alone was not able to intensify the conspiracy and bring it to a conclusion, the AKP-MHP alliance was formed, a fascist regime was established and the Kurdish genocide policy was further intensified. All the attacks by the AKP-MHP government are based on bringing the conspiracy to its conclusion. In this sense, the AKP-MHP government is the biggest Kurdish enemy and conspiratorial power. Consequently, the complete defeat of the conspiracy is possible only through the overthrow of the AKP-MHP government, which is an anti-Kurdish, fascist and conspiratorial power. As seen once again in the recent earthquake, the AKP-MHP fascist government is also the enemy of the peoples. This great disaster is a result of the colonialist, profit-seeking policy of this fascist power.

Undoubtedly, the conspiracy has been prevented from achieving its goals due to the struggle against it. In the future, the international conspiracy can be confronted and defeated by increasing the struggle on the basis of breaking the İmralı torture and isolation system and ensuring the physical freedom of Leader Apo. It is very important that the support for Leader Apo and the struggle against the conspiracy have gained an international dimension today. The Kurdish people and their international friends aim to further increase the struggle against the conspiracy on a global scale and to completely defeat the international conspiracy by destroying the Imrali isolation and torture system in its 25th year and ensuring the physical freedom of Leader Apo. On this basis, we call on the patriotic people of Kurdistan, the international friends of the Kurdish people and all revolutionary democratic forces to show their protest against the conspiracy more strongly and to increase their democratic struggle even more. We also call on all the forces taking part in the international conspiracy to abandon their stance and to not support the Kurdish genocide policy of the fascist AKP-MHP government.”