Mehmet Öcalan spoke to Firat News Agency, ANF regarding the messages given by his brother, Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan, whom he met on September 11 after months of ban on communication within the scope of the isolation imposed upon him in line with pro-war policies pursued by the AKP / Palace against the Kurds.
Mehmet Öcalan said the Kurdish leader did not want to meet him when he was finally allowed access to İmralı on September 11. According to Mehmet Öcalan, it would take the Kurdish leader to come to the meeting scene just 5 minutes during their previous meetings throughout 18 years, but he came to see his brother 30-40 minutes later this time only after he was convinced by the administrators of the prison.
Öcalan said his brother was very furious due to the most recent developments, adding: “I already guessed that he did not want to get out for the visit. The prison administrators therewith went near him for a talk, and they managed to convince him in 30-40 minutes. He wouldn’t have met with me otherwise. His first words on seeing me was: “Okay, you came here but my words will be too heavy for you to carry. You could hurt both yourself and me. This is because I will tell you the truths and I wouldn’t have come here if I were in your place. When I told him that I had gone there on demand of the people, he said he knew and understood that.”
Mehmet Öcalan quoted the Kurdish leader as saying the followings: “I am a democrat and revolutionary. I will not surrender to the state or anyone else even if I have to stay here for another dozens of years. I can continue living like this till the end of my life without breathing a single sigh. I am clear on this subject.”
Mehmet Öcalan said his brother talked to him with anger for 50 minutes, and all his words were about the Kurdish movement and the state but not individuals. Accordingly, Öcalan said that: “Both the state and our movement are coming here when they are in a deadlock. This is not acceptable.”
Mehmet Öcalan said this was the first time he had seen his brother so angry, furious and outraged during their meetings on the island for the past 15 years.
Mehmet Öcalan quoted the Kurdish leader as saying the followings regarding the coup attempt of July 15: “I have repeatedly warned against the probability of such coups as long as the Kurdish question remains unresolved. The way to coups and such attempts will always remain open unless the Kurdish question is resolved and a democratic Turkey is built. Such coups and attempts will be staged by various persons if this gap is not filled. The current environment in Turkey is always convenient for coups, and I told the state officials about this reality scores of times. It makes no difference who will stage these coups, and these may vary but the main thing is that the coup mechanism will always be in effect.”
According to his brother, Öcalan’s messages focused on Kurdish institutions and structures rather than the people, and he told the followings regarding Öcalan’s remarks on the destruction of Kurdish cities and towns during the self-rule resistance mounted by the people:
“The leader described self-rule as a reality, made comprehensive evaluations and voiced criticism. He is following the developments in Kurdistan, Turkey and the Middle East better than all of us. He monitors and assesses both the process and the agenda better than us despite restricted means. He knows very well who has done what. He asked ‘Why couldn’t you save Mehmet Tunç when he said that they had been encircled, blockaded and were running out of time.”
Accordingly, Abdullah Öcalan also commented on the Rojava Revolution, saying the followings: “We had neither arms nor money when me and a few friends went to Rojava. We had nobody else near us. We had nothing but we managed huge things under the rule of Hafez Assad who was an influential name in the Middle East. We introduced the Kurds to the world in Rojava. As part of the Rojava Revolution, the US and PYD exchanged support against ISIS until quite recently. However, the US has invited the Turkish state to Rojava over Jarablus a few weeks ago. This must be analysed very well. I guess the US pursued such a strategy to weaken both the Kurds and Turks at this point. Turks wouldn’t have been able to enter Jarablus if the US hadn’t wanted so. Their goal is to make both parties confront each other here. We formed the basis of today’s movement in Rojava when we went there without arms and money. We managed this by advancing step by step. The gains attained in Rojava today are the outcomes of the project we had revealed there years ago. Rojava has an armed force of 50 thousand fighters today. If it will not be able to save itself today, when else can it do that? What can I do at this point?”
Mehmet Öcalan said the Kurdish leader told the followings as to the appointment of trustees to DBP municipalities: “The municipalities cannot stand against this system unless they become integrated with the people. I wish our elected administrators in municipalities had done so, but I am afraid they couldn’t manage that. Now, there will just be some resistance against the trustees for a while, but this will remain inadequate. Those people are partaking in the administration of many structures in Kurdistan but what have they done so far? If the municipalities have failed to become integrated with the people, and if the people did not flock to municipalities in thousands and tens of thousands after the appointment of trustees, then it means the municipalities have not done their duties. This is unacceptable. Municipalities are the positions we have gained with our will and now they are being seized, in the face of which they remain deaf and dumb. They could not realize their projects. The municipalities have been turned into a factory system and the employees are present there just for retirement. Do not hand over your municipalities. Flock to municipalities in thousands and protect them. There will be nothing to do once you lose them. Your will is being seized and you will just watch yourselves losing it because of your failure to become integrated with the people.”
Mehmet Öcalan said the Kurdish leader also shared his views regarding the ending of the process for the resolution of the Kurdish question that had been initiated with the manifest declared in 2013’s Newroz in Amed. The Kurdish leader told the followings in this regard: “The state ended the process after the agreement reached in Dolmabahçe on February 28. It was not us but the state, which is now ruled by Erdoğan and his AKP, to turn down the table of negotiations. During our last meeting, the state delegation told me that they would come back to the island and talk to me 15 days later after the agreement announced in Dolmabahçe. However, they turned down the table afterwards. I waited for them but they did not come. We had no fault during the resolution process and we could have done anything it required. If the state had agreed on keeping the process going, we would have fulfilled all our responsibilities one by one.”
According to Mehmet Öcalan, the Kurdish leader said he and the other 3 inmates in İmralı Prison talked and exchanged views regarding the resolution and worked on a project to this end at the moment. Accordingly, Abdullah Öcalan said that: “If the state is ready, it can send two people to the island and we can start the negotiations. We are ready for that. Apart from that, anyone can do whatever they want. I am not afraid of the state. They can execute me here but never take possession of my will.”
Source: FIRAT NEWS AGENCY ─ ANF