ISTANBUL, TURKEY
In his interview with his brother, the peoples’ leader Abdullah Ocalan addressed the Kurdish people directly telling them to stand strong during the ongoing processes.
“If you cannot bring power nobody can solve your problem. You will become power. The table in Turkey is two-legged. You have to be the third leg. If the table is three-legged it would not fall. The formation of the third leg comes with growth” he said.
Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who was abducted to İmralı Type-F High-Security Closed Prison was seen by his brother Mehmet Öcalan yesterday following mass demonstrations around the world for a meeting with the Leader after a fire broke out on Imrali island.
Political prisoners Ömer Hayri Konar and Veysi Aktaş also met with their families. On the other hand, Hamili Yıldırım, the other detainee in İmralı, could not hold the family meeting due to the illness of his interviewer.
MEETING EXPLAINED
Mehmet Öcalan, who met with his brother Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı, talked about the meeting.
“We couldn’t meet for about 8 months. We applied to the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office every 15 days for a meeting. However, we were not given an answer. Or various reasons are listed. They accepted our application after the fire on the island.
On Monday (March 2), they informed us that they would take us to the island through our lawyer friends. So, we came. Ömer Hayri Konar and Veysi Aktaş’s brothers and I went to the island.
I can say this: we were searched at the Gemlik Police Station. It wasn’t normal but let’s say it is normal. So very humiliating searches were made. As a person, I do not accept this. Neither is it moral nor is it helpful for the state of Turkey. I’m a 69-year-old person. The same for the other friends too. This should not be the case even if I was young.
During the second search, when we stepped our foot on to the island, I think they call it the second liaison office. As far as I guess, it is in the hands of the gendarme. A very bad search was made. It is not a situation that people will accept. People cannot handle it. But we had to accept it. In the second search, everyone came there. The ranks, soldiers with black glasses, and all were armed. It resembled a state of emergency. They were all there. We had a very bad search. This team came to the second search point with us as soon as we got off the ship. Everywhere was full of soldiers and guards. We have accepted this search necessarily. Otherwise, they know that nobody will accept such a search. An inhuman search.
We went through that search. We went into prison. No intense search was made in prison. They made a normal search. They took two of our friends through first, they kept me out. I waited for 10 minutes. Then they called me. At that search point, how many times did they say ‘come and go’ from the x-ray device? It was an excuse. I said, “Even if I pass 100 times, it is going to beep.” After that, we went to the meeting.
They first took me to the meeting. I went there to an old table. It was a big table. They said “sit” to me, I didn’t sit. I knew the Leader would come. I waited for a few minutes. When they went in and out I realized that the Leader came. The president came in and without shaking hands ‘They informed me. I guess you have a fever. You have a cold, “he said. Therefore, we did not shake hands. He sat on the south side of the table, I sat on the north side of the table.
The Leader asked the guard “I will probably meet for 1 and a half hours. Isn’t it?” But the guard didn’t say anything. Then we started our meeting.
The Leader asked, “Why did you come, for what reason?” I said, “There was a fire here. People and institutions took democratic action. I am guessing that they made us meet for this reason.”
He said to me, “Yes, but it didn’t affect us.” Then he went on, “I’ll ask you some things. You will convey their summaries to me. ” The Leader spoke mostly. He also asked what the public thought from the outside, who could solve it, to solve the Kurdish problem and to solve the problems in the Middle East. He asked me to answer without commenting.
I said, “80 per cent and 90 per cent of our people living in the Middle East and the region say that only Leader Öcalan can solve this problem.” The Leader replied: “Yes, I know these too. The issue is our issue. We have to be strong for the solution of the Middle East problem.” After that, he went into the details. He gave input on Rojava and for democratic institutions in Turkey.
HDP
He said, “I guess HDP has had a congress?” I replied “Yes they had a congress. Participation in the congress was very high. A lot of people came to the congress from outside. It was a very good congress.”
The Leader specifically said: “Now I’m explaining to you. If you do not become a power in the region; look there is a two-legged table in Turkey. There are leftist movements in your formations. There are predominantly Kurds. There are other peoples too. You have to be a foot, too. You will be power there. If the table has three legs, it does not fall. The two-legged table, however much the system tries to protect it, is constantly doomed to fall. Therefore, our formation is the Kurds, the third leg. The formation of this third leg also happens with growth.”
He commented on democratic institutions in half of the meeting. “The people should not serve themselves, personalities should serve the people, not themselves,” he said. He had many greetings for the newspapers. “Strengthen the media. Make a contribution. I send many greetings to the media worker friends. They should strengthen both journals and televisions,” he said.
I said that the HDP was holding its congress, the participation was high and the protocol was strong. He saluted the new and old co-chairs and wished them high success. “I think that the Party (HDP) is the strongest institution among democratic institutions. A party gets stronger with labour. It becomes stronger by giving effort. It does not get stronger with words. You see my situation, right? I have been working for 50 years. I will never forgive whoever is in these institutions for the interest of his family, for himself, for relatives and exploits values. Society paid huge prices. Everyone must fight for this society. There are many people here, not only for the Kurds. If all peoples unite, you will become power. The solution comes in this way.
I work day and night at this age. I’m looking for solutions. I’m not doing anything for myself. But we made a promise to these people. These people paid so much. We have been working for 50 years, there are values. We paid a lot. If you are united and strong, you will solve the big problem. Nobody will come and fix your problem. Fundamentally, you are the power for solution. The party is not the property of personalities. It does not belong to a person,” he said. With these evaluations, I understood that he was following the party closely.
ROJAVA
He made comments about Syria. The Leader said, “there are Arab tribes in Rojava. You would send my greetings and respect to all of them. Again, send my greetings and respect to the people working in the institutions there. Those who work in Rojava are very valuable. I congratulate them for their work. They are conducting a sacred study. I wish them success.
Turkey is next to the American from time to time, then next to the Russian. This is not the solution. There is no cure. The solution is this; The forces in Rojava need to be a wider power within the integrity of Syria. This is necessary for the integrity of Syria. The formation in Rojava is for the integrity of Syria. If the formations there are not made up of Kurds, Arabs, Armenians, and Christians, they cannot achieve the integrity of Syria tomorrow. The strategy in Syria is very accurate and convey my respect and greetings without discrimination to all those working there and making effort,” he said.
THE THIRD FOOT
“If you get strong, you will solve everything,” said the Leader, regarding the solution. So I said to him, “The pressures continue intensely. You’re saying do something in Turkey but that foundation is no longer.”
The Leader replied, ‘You can still do this; you have to strengthen your institutions. You can get results if you work well. What does it mean to work well? It is a service to the public, not to individuals. Struggle happens this way. You know me well, Mehmet. Look, you know how I fought. I even fought against my mother. I went against this world when I was only 7 years old. You know very well,” he said.
“Yes I know you did,” I said. The Leader replied, “Everything happens with struggle, with the right struggle. You have to be strong so you can solve these problems. This way you can solve the Kurdish problem in the Middle East and let’s name it. Nobody can solve the problem for you if you don’t have power. We say that it is a two-legged table table table in Turkey. You have to be the third leg. How will this happen? It happens with power. It happens if you do this. It happens if you make an effort. Yes, a table is required. This is done by serving people and giving labour.”
HE KNOWS US
The president knows us well. I never spoke. Yes, maybe his body and physical structure are in İmralı Island, but his thought is with us. He knows what we do, how we work. Let me give one example. He said to me, ‘You can do something around Urfa. You all have a task. Not by sitting back like this. You can also give labour there. You will serve. You will give effort, your friends will give it. We have those villages and we have friends. There are those Turkmens. Greet all of them,” he said.
SEND MY GREETINGS, I AM IN GOOD HEALTH
The leader said “I send my greetings to everyone who struggled against isolation in Rojava, Bashur and Rojhilat, in Europe. I congratulate their struggles wherever the Kurds fought isolation. I am in very good health. I know how to live. You are seeing me, how do I look?” He looked good as far as I could see. His health and morale were also in place.
“I wish you success,” he said. “Will another meeting happen again?” I asked. He did not answer my question. “Everything depends on your challenge. If you make progress, everything is resolved. But if you do not, it will continue. Both isolation continues and bloodshed continues. Everyone should do their best accordingly. ”
MA / Ferhat Çelik – Safiye Alağaş
