IMRALI PRISON, Turkey, — Kurdish national leader Abdullah Ocalan said that Turkish government must take certain steps to solve the Kurdish Question until March and warned that he will give up his role as mediator between Turkish state and the PKK.
Speaking in his weekly meeting with his lawyers in Imrali Island Ocalan said Kurdish side needs to see some trust-building steps to extend the ceasefire which will last after the general elections in June. Ocalan said he will re-evaluate the situation in March and will consider ending his role as mediator if Turkish government fails to take steps for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish Question.
“If the situation remains the same it won’t be meaningful for me to take responsibility. We will see how AKP will respond to our proposals for a solution. We will see how ready AKP is?” Ocalan added.
Ocalan warned that AKP is building a hegemonic political power in Turkey and trying to dissolve every opposition on its way to reach its objectives. He underlined the need for more organized struggle to protect the gains of Kurdish people.
“We don’t demand a federation or a confederation. We don’t want a separate state. Even they let us to build our own state we will reject it. We, as Kurds want to live free, enjoy our democratic rights within the frame of a democratic Republic” Ocalan said.
Ocalan said the arrest of more than 2000 Kurdish politicians as illegal and called Turkish government to release them immediately.
“Did they take arms against the state? No, they did not even use a knife against someone. They were struggling within the democratic system and used their rights as citizens of Turkey. They are now in prison for this. None of them are members of the KCK; they have no relation with the KCK. BDP and our people will resist against these arrests” he added.
Ocalan criticized the Turkish government for releasing Hezbollah members who are responsible for killing of hundreds of Kurdish patriots while detaining thousands of Kurdish politicians.
On Turkey’s relations with Iran Ocalan said that Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan became like identical twins after forming an alliance against Kurdish movement. Ocalan warned that people of Yuksekova, a district of Hakkari province, may be targeted by Iran and Turkey because of its geographic location.
Yuksekova is very close to Iranian border and well known for its popular support for Kurdish movement.
On BDP’s “bilingual life” campaign Ocalan said there is no meaning of life if a person can not teach his mother language to his children. He called Kurdish language “honour of Kurdish people” and “the reason to live and struggle”.