BARJAM JODI

KOBANI_On the ninth of October 1998, the Kurdish cause entered a pivotal phase with the beginning of a series of intenational moves that ended, four months later,with the arrest of leader Abdullah Öcalan on 15 February 1999.

Since that date, the issue of leader Öcalan, his arrest, and his isolation has formed a fundamental axis in the Kurdish political scene, while his ideas and positions, according to his suppporters, have turned into part of a political and intellectual path that transcended the borders of Kurdistan.

To review the background of the "international conspiracy" against leader Öcalan, its repercussions, and the transformations witnessed by the Kurdish cause, leading to his call on 27 February 2025 for peace and democratic society, our agency conducted the following dialogue with the advisor of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), Zelal Derik:

On 9 October 1998, a series of international developments and events began that ended with the arrest of leader Abdullah Öcalan on 15 February 1999. How can this process be assessed from various aspects? Do the available data indicate the existence of prior preparations or plans, before the features of this process became clear and appeared in the open?

The Kurdish revolutions and uprisings that occurred always faced conspiracies, whose aim was to break the will of the Kurdish people and their position and prevent them from possessing a political status or entity. Many conspiracies succeeded in achieving their goals, but that did not happen, particularly, in the case of leader Öcalan and the conspiracy carried out against him.

I want to clarify something here: the conspiracy of 9 October did not begin on that day. It began from the first moment leader Öcalan took his first step. In 1979, when the Islamic Revolution began in Iran, an attack also occurred on the British Embassy. During that attack, documents were seized stating that a Kurdish organization had been founded in northern Kurdistan and Turkey, and that this organization should be eliminated.

From that year, the plans began and entered into implementation through the arrest and martyrdom of many comrades, in various ways and methods. In the end, the Turkish state, headed by Britain, France, and Israel, reached the conviction that leader Öcalan should be arrested.

 

On 9 October 1998, this international conspiracy began. Even at that time, leader Öcalan realized that there was a plan being hatched against him. For this reason, he prepared the people and the party for a phase of unknown features, and many meetings were organized, and he delivered many speeches via television.

At that time, the dominant powers had closed all of Syria's borders and had prepared to bombard three different locations. The leadership officially left Syria, and with most of the votes of the members of the Greek Parliament, he was officially invited, then left Syria.

And certainly, that invitation and the movements that took place in many countries were part of the conspiracy, and they were all planned. Leader Öcalan says in this regard that his journey from 9 October until 15 February was like the journey of the Jews who were exterminated in the trains. There is no doubt that leader Öcalan's position and resilience also had a great impact, otherwise they could have implemented their plan much earlier. The countries he passed through, such as Greece, a country lacking democracy that witnessed the killing of many great figures, and Russia, which was the center of the emergence of the Soviet Revolution and then its collapse, and Italy, whose president said, "they crucified me like Jesus Christ," and finally Kenya, were all stations within this conspiracy.

You have explained the conspiracy from all its aspects, and here the same question arises: How did leader Öcalan transform the power of this conspiracy? And to what extent did the conspiracy achieve its goal?

It is important to assess to what extent this conspiracy reached achieving its goal. The 15th of February is on the one hand a black day, and on the other hand a historic day. On this day, the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Che Guevara, was arrested, as was Sheikh Said, and finally leader Öcalan was arrested.

Therefore, the choice of this day was not an ordinary event, but they wanted to send an important message to the Kurdish people and their movement. All methods of torture and violence were used against leader Öcalan, yet his will did not weaken. On the contrary, he changed the course of the process through the philosophy of the democratic nation, women's freedom, and free society, and made the struggle greater.

It is true that he is not physically with us, but he always lives among us through his ideas and beliefs. Therefore, no one should believe that we have separated from our leadership. This cause, this connection, and this conviction have become greater, and have transcended the borders of Kurdistan.

 

Therefore, if the conspiring states had realized that, they would have dealt with the Kurdish cause differently. They wanted to narrow the cause of the Kurdish people and eliminate it, but it became greater and broader in scope. For this reason, we have always seen that the narrowness of these conspiring powers appeared clearly, and that the conspiracy turned against them.

After 27 years, leader Öcalan appeared before the whole world through the path of peace and democratic society and announced the beginning of a new phase. What are the backgrounds of this call?

If we assess today the conspiracy and the path of peace and democratic society together, we can say a lot. When the conspiring powers realized that this path would not be defeated through arrest, torture, and isolation, they were forced to resort to different methods. But these steps were not for the sake of leader Öcalan and the Kurdish people, but were also linked to their own interests. When the Iran war began, Devlet Bahçeli himself said that Turkey is next after that.

Leader Öcalan sent messages to the states occupying Kurdistan, related to these developments, and stressed that if the Kurdish cause is not resolved, great catastrophes will occur. This is why he says: "I left history to speak for itself." Bahçeli, in whose hands was the decision to execute leader Öcalan, is the same one who asked leader Öcalan for that.

These developments and changes in their policies are not for our sake, but to protect themselves from the current catastrophes. Nevertheless, we see that the process is being delayed and that they are not taking the required steps according to what should be.

28 years have passed since the conspiracy, and now it is said that there is a path of understanding and peace. What is your message in this regard? And to what level should this path advance?

When we talk about the conspiracy against leader Öcalan, we certainly are not dealing with him as a person or as affiliated with a party, whether from the side of the conspiring powers or from our side. Everyone knows that unless his status is addressed, the issues of Rojava, northern Kurdistan, eastern Kurdistan, and the Kurdistan Region will also not be resolved.

Therefore, the destruction of weapons under such circumstances may not be impactful, because unless the Kurdish cause is resolved through the leadership, we cannot talk about a successful path. We see that the path is weakening many times, just as we see that Erdoğan threatens Israel through us, and Israel threatens Turkey through us. Leader Öcalan knows all these matters. This is why when we talk about the Kurdish cause, we do not confine it to the Kurdish nation alone. On the contrary, if the cause of the Kurdish people is not resolved, other peoples and states will not be able to live in peace.

There is nothing we can lose. 27 years have passed since the conspiracy, and we are entering its 28th year. The leader dedicated himself as a sacrifice for the people, and the Kurdish movement grew on the same philosophy and offered sacrifices.

Therefore, if the Turkish state does not want to collapse, it must sit with leader Öcalan and reach an agreement with him. And let the conspirators know that the conspiracy failed. The Kurdish people will remain until the end connected to their leader, and we have pledged in the most difficult circumstances not to abandon the struggle.

We have faith that the process will be crowned with success, but the state is delaying it to achieve some of its interests and weaken our position. As for our message, it is Leader Öcalan and the people will never abandon each other. And our struggle is to bring down the conspiracy from its roots and continue our struggle.