İSTANBUL - During the most recent meeting with his lawyers, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan once again signaled his willingness to be available for talks on a political solution to the Kurdish question.
The Asrin Law Office, which has been representing PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan since his capture from the Greek Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya to the Turkish prison island of Imrali twenty years ago, has issued a written statement on Wednesday's visit to his client.
According to the statement, Öcalan’s main agenda during yesterday’s meeting focused on the historical development of Turkish-Kurdish relations, the ongoing conflict and war.
The statement remarked that Öcalan has once again declared his willingness to be available for talks on a political solution to the Kurdish question, and continued;
"Our client sees the course of the conflict and the persistence of the war policy as worrying. In this context, he pointed to the humanitarian, political and economic losses that have been occurring for forty years and stated that insistence on this policy would have more serious consequences on the regional situation.
Our client pointed out that his efforts to find a democratic solution to the Kurdish question since the Özal era have been sabotaged by the 'contra guerrilla’, adding; “Despite the fact that the forces opposed to resolving the problem are no longer the same today, they still have the potential to trigger a war.”
Referring to then President Turgut Özal’s words that “there can be no solution through conflict” in 1993, he stated that the same situation applies to present, yet he questioned the existence of a will to manifest Özal's resolve today.
Analyzing with an extraordinary effort the State and the State mind, Mr. Öcalan stated that he tried to open a space for the Kurds in accordance with history and the historical conditions and Turkish-Kurdish relations, to replace the turmoil of invented and fabricated history, which is a product of the chauvinist mind.
In this context, he stated that Kurds need no other state but asked whether Kurds will have a legal system. He also remarked that for forty years he has been trying to give shape to a 'Kurdish mind” that observes the Kurds’ pursuit of free living, free human and free society. Mr. Öcalan further highlighted that there is a connection between the wars taking place today and his 20 years of continuous isolation. He noted that despite all these challenges, he has been resisting on the path to peace for twenty years.
Regarding this, Mr. Öcalan said, "I am trying to open a space for the Kurds. Let's solve the Kurdish question. I can eliminate the matter and possibility of conflict within a week. I am ready for a solution, I trust myself. But the state as well as the mind behind it must do the necessary, too.”