WAN - Stating that Abdullah Ocalan, whom he met at Ankara University, fascinated everyone, Abdurrahman Ayhan said that the international conspiracy was foiled by the Democratic Modernity paradigm.
Abdullah Ocalan, who began to get to know himself in his family and village society during his childhood years spent in Amara village of Xelfetî (Halfeti) district of Riha, where he was born, began to sense and live his unique laws loaded with dreams. Abdullah Ocalan, who clung to religion as his first general ideology, found himself in a deepening crisis with the activities of the Revolutionary Youth Federation of Turkey (DEV-GENÇ) and primitive Kurdish nationalist reflections in Ankara, where he went for his university years. In the 1970s, which was the bifurcation process of Kemalist Turkey's modernity, chauvinistic, nationalist and religious-oriented political movements affected Abdullah Ocalan, like every young person. Abdullah Ocalan, who started to experience a new decision process under the influence of new ideological and political currents, found himself in the protests that broke out as the left began to fragment.
Abdullah Ocalan was faced with the vacuum created by the March 12 movement on the left, with a youth leadership that he was not ready for, and took on the role of management and de facto president of the Ankara Democratic Higher Education Association (ADYOD). As the crises deepened, Abdullah Ocalan started to look for a way out in a left Kurdish movement, and turned to practical efforts in 1972. In 1973, he held a meeting with a group of friends in Ankara's Çubuk Dam with the thesis of "Kurdistan is a Colony". Following this meeting, the foundations of the PKK, whose establishment was announced on November 27, 1978, began to be laid.
Abdullah Ocalan, who started practical work, started to visit the cities of Kurdistan and Turkey between 1973 and 1978. Abdurrahman Ayhan, who met Abdullah Ocalan when he was a student at Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences, also accompanied the PKK Leader on his visit to Agirî in 1977. Ayhan talked about his memories with Abdullah Ocalan on the 26th anniversary of the international conspiracy developed in partnership with global powers, and made evaluations about the conspiracy and the Imralı isolation.
MEETING ABDULLAH OCALAN
Ayhan said that he met Abdullah Ocalan, with whom he was at the same university and department, in a house in Ankara in 1974, and added that they chatted on the university campus from time to time. Stating that Abdullah Ocalan read the situations in the world very well, Ayhan said: “Sometimes, in the speeches he gave to us in the university garden, he opened up our horizons. Ocalan had a very different personality. There were many revolutionary movements at that time, but Ocalan's speech, perspective, evaluations and communication style fascinated people. For example, I realized even then that he had a great impact on me. Ocalan constantly warned us to be aware of the Kurdish existence and that Kurdistan was a colony and to investigate it.”
THE STRUGGLE CARRIED TO TODAY
Emphasizing that Abdullah Ocalan has carried the struggle for truth to these days, Ayhan said: “Ocalan once again raised the Kurds against the mentality that says 'Kurdistan does not exist and is enchanted' and is still struggling for this. With Ocalan's struggle, the Kurds became heroes and made their voices heard to the world.” Stating that Abdullah Ocalan emphasized that Kurds, who are frequently subjected to destruction and denial, must focus on their identity struggle, Ayhan stated that the PKK Leader is a very different personality with his thoughts and that he constantly encourages people to think.
THE TRAVEL WITH ABDULLAH OCALAN
Ayhan stated that Abdullah Ocalan accompanied him during his visit to Agirî in 1977 and said: "In May 1977, he said to me, 'Let's go to Ağrı with you.' We bought our tickets together, got on the bus from Ankara bus station and came to Ağrı in 24 hours. Ocalan held meetings with non-governmental organizations, associations and the public here and made speeches. His speeches were mostly about Kurdistan being a colony and the denial of the Kurds. I noticed that he was constantly making observations. Ocalan always listened to people. I almost sensed what these people want or how aware they are of being in a colonial situation. Ocalan was making people believe in himself, and I could see from the eyes of the people he was talking to that there was hope for people."
AN IMPORTANT ACTOR IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Stating that Abdullah Ocalan is an important actor for the people of the Middle East to meet their own identities, Ayhan underlined that the international conspiracy is aimed at destroying a people's struggle for existence. Ayhan said: “Ocalan revealed a truth. He explained to both his own people and the people of the world that Kurds must live with their own culture and values. Ocalan waged a struggle in favor of equal and democratic living of all peoples in the Mesopotamian geography. Ocalan has been calling for peace for his people to live democratically since 1993. The ruling powers and the conspiring forces put the conspiracy into action in an immoral way because they believed in both Ocalan's power and ability to achieve peace.”
'PARADIGMA FRUSTRATE THE CONSPIRACY'
Stating that another purpose of the conspiracy was to deepen war policies in the Middle East, Ayhan said: “Because Ocalan's ideas and thoughts were destroying the plans of the dominant powers. For this reason, an international conspiracy plan against Ocalan, involving many countries, was put into action. But Ocalan's stance in Imralı Prison and the paradigm he developed frustrated all of these plans. The most concrete example of this was Ocalan's paradigm coming to life in Rojava. It brought hope to those who were oppressed, exploited and subjected to assimilation.”
Stating that the Imralı isolation system was also a part of the conspiracy, Ayhan said that all these plans were frustrated when the people of the world adopted Abdullah Ocalan's paradigm.
'PARADIGMA BROUGHT HOPE TO THE PEOPLE'
Emphasizing that the Democratic Modernity paradigm offers hope to the people of the world by offering a new life option, Ayhan said: “The paradigm developed by Ocalan is a gift to humanity. Today, the forces that favor war are doing their best to prevent this paradigm from coming to life. Ocalan broke this game of the forces of capitalist modernity. He offered us an alternative to this. This stance, ideology and philosophy of Ocalan gives humanity an opportunity to regain their lost values. That's why the Kurds are aware of this situation, but the whole world needs to understand it well. We must embrace both Ocalan and his paradigm against the mentality that is imposed on us today and tries to take away all our values.”
'WE MUST END THE ISOLATION TOGETHER'
Calling for the "Freedom for Abdullah Ocalan, solution to the Kurdish issue" global campaign launched on October 10, 2023 and the hunger strike actions of the prisoners to be embraced, Ayhan said: “Unless the absolute isolation of Ocalan is broken, neither the Kurdish issue will be solved democratically nor will peace come to these lands. Preventing family and lawyer visits shows us how difficult the ruling powers are. Today, millions of people want the isolation in areas to end. Anyone who wants humanity to live with their own values again in these lands must stop this isolation policy and raise their voice.”
MA / Hakan Yalçın