In an in-depth interview with ANF, Xebat Andok, member of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council, talked about the interests pursued by the hegemonic powers when they launched the international conspiracy against Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan on October 9, 1998, in the course of which he was abducted to Turkey in violation of international law. Andok also talked about Öcalan’s successful resistance against it, as well as the related significance and opportunity of a possible true peace process for Turkey:
First of all, I salute Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan, the greatest fighter for freedom, with respect, love, and gratitude, and reaffirm my commitment to his struggle once again. Again, I also respectfully and gratefully honor all the martyrs of the revolution, especially those who gave their lives resisting against the international conspiracy that started on October 9, 1998, targeting Leader Öcalan. And I reiterate our promise of victory to them. The international conspiracy was carried out under the leadership of Britain, America, and the further hegemonic powers. But they and their intentions were laid open by Leader Öcalan. It is for this reason that everybody who is interested can easily see and understand the true character of this conspiracy.
The mentioned hegemonic powers today are still acting in the same way. Led by Britain, America, and Israel, they planned this conspiracy and coordinated it with the partnership of all the other NATO forces, while also abusing the means of South Kurdistan through particularly instrumentalizing the Barzani family. Undoubtedly, if there had been a system in the South with its own will and resistance power, this conspiracy would not have succeeded. The hegemonic powers used the political forces in the South as a tool for their own purposes. As a result of the conspiracy, our leader was abducted and was handed over to Turkey. Although Turkey claims to have played a major role in the planning and implementation of the conspiracy, its role was actually minor. In an interview, then-Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit clearly stated, “We couldn’t understand why they handed Abdullah Öcalan over to us.” This shows the Turkish state’s place in this conspiracy. Today, the same games and the same plans continue. The Turkish state still pursues similar policies and insists on the same mentality towards the Kurds. The Turkish state has to look at what has happened through the last decades and ask itself, ‘Why were these things done?’ and ‘What was the purpose?’ In its propaganda, the Turkish state constantly says that the hegemonic powers act together with them against the freedom movement, but the interests of the hegemonic powers in the world are incompatible with either conscience or morality.
The aim of the hegemonic powers was to create hostility between the Kurdish and Turkish peoples and to provoke war. Today, the games of these hegemonic powers continue. When a hegemonic power approaches you, you must question the reason for it. Because their approach is never sincere but is based on calculations of interest. Everything is a matter of interest and bargaining for them. The Turkish state must see these realities clearly and reflect on them.
Leader Öcalan thwarted the plans of the hegemonic powers with his resistance. Why did the hegemonic powers target Leader Öcalan? Because he had a free personality that developed since his childhood. Leader Öcalan never accepted the molds imposed by society and the existing system. He built his social identity with his own will. On this basis, he had a unique stance even towards his own family and his society. He rejected the capitalist modernity system on the Kurdish issue. He took a free personality as his basis and did not make himself subject to any power. When he founded the party, when he became the vanguard of the people’s cause and struggle, the hegemonic powers wanted to draw him into their own systems. But he did not accept this because he insists on his free will, independent thought, and stance. That is why they targeted our leader.
Our leader’s struggle thwarted the hegemonic plans for the Kurds and Kurdistan. These hegemonic powers had left Kurdistan stateless and kept the Kurdish people in the grip of genocide. They instrumentalized the Kurdish people whenever it suited their interests. But it was Leader Öcalan who disrupted these plans and destroyed their games. The KDP defends Kurdish nationalism and the cause of establishing a state. This leads to the Kurds being used as a tool against other peoples. Our leader, however, with his ideology and struggle, has freed the Kurdish people from this position of instrumentalization and brought forth the free Kurd. For this reason, they saw him as a threat to their interests and conspiratorial plans, and so they directly targeted him.
After the collapse of real socialism, belief in socialism itself weakened; people struggling for socialism, democracy, equality, and freedom lost hope. Leader Öcalan took on the responsibility of representing socialism under the most difficult and adverse conditions. During this period, he adopted the understanding that insisting on socialism would mean insisting on being human and developed the freedom movement on the foundation of this understanding. This approach changed the destiny of the Kurdish people. Today, this approach has become even stronger and broader. When the hegemonic powers carried out their conspiracy against him, they thereby also conspired against democratic socialist society.
The hegemonic powers entered a new period of intervention in the 1990s within the framework of the Third World War and targeted the Middle East. This war is an ideological war; they aimed to change Middle Eastern culture and, at the same time, radically transform the political structure in the Middle East. Today again, we see that major changes and transformations have taken place in the Middle East, and this process is still ongoing. These processes are chaotic periods. It is known in the social sciences that chaotic periods are historically the most critical because small developments can lead to major consequences.
During the war between Iran and Iraq, the freedom movement made good use of this process and strengthened itself. The hegemonic powers feared the ideology of democratic socialism. They saw that control was slipping from their hands in the Middle East. Therefore, they put the international conspiracy into action and sought to neutralize Leader Öcalan. However, he took a stand against capitalist modernity based on the philosophy of free women, democratic socialism, and the spiritual-cultural values of the Middle East. That is why the conspiracy was not only against one person but also against society, humanity, and an ideology.
Now, 27 years have passed since the beginning of the conspiracy against Leader Öcalan. These 27 years have also been years of the highest level of resistance. It was necessary to show resistance so that the hegemonic powers would not achieve their goals. It was our leader who created this resistance. Leader Öcalan has shown the greatest resistance against the international conspiracy from the beginning to the present day. Because he had a conscious history and an understanding that grasped the goal of this conspiracy. He stood against the conspiracy by defending the interests of the people under all circumstances. It is thanks to the resistance and will of Leader Öcalan that this conspiracy was thwarted. Undoubtedly, the Kurdish people, drawing strength from their leader’s stance, resisted and continue to resist. At the same time, the Kurdistan freedom guerrilla lived the most decisive acts of resistance in all areas of Kurdistan. Also, the international friends of the freedom movement embraced our leader’s struggle and stood against the conspiratorial forces. Countless comrades, like Halil Oral, took action against the conspiracy and turned their bodies into fireballs. In the four parts of Kurdistan, in the prisons, mothers, children, and the entire people joined this resistance. The source of all this resistance is again Leader Öcalan, because he is not just an individual but the symbol of this spirit of resistance and consciousness of freedom, the pioneer of the resistance against the conspiracy. Everyone who took his stance as their basis fought against the conspiracy, and the conspiracy was thus thwarted.
It was the intention of the hegemonic forces that, as a result of the International Conspiracy, the Kurdish people were to be left defenseless, but Leader Öcalan, with his resistance in Imrali, reversed this situation and became a universal leader. Leader Öcalan is now recognized as a pioneer by everyone. People are uniting around Leader Öcalan because of his philosophy and stance against capitalist modernity. Kurdish women and women around the world, in particular, identify with his struggle as they get to know what Leader Öcalan stands for and are therefore fighting for the dismantling of the Imrali system. As our leader has stated, the conspiracy has not yet been fully thwarted.
Leader Öcalan defines the forces of capitalist modernity as a kind of colonialism and expansionism system. Capitalist modernity wants to spread everywhere and establish dominance in every field. It has penetrated everywhere spatially, but it has not been able to fully establish its dominance mentally. However, its influence continues to a large extent. The system developed by our leader against the system of capitalist modernity is of a completely different nature. Leader Öcalan wants to develop a system based on nature, humanity, and society. In his prison writings, our leader has clearly stated that he draws his resistance power against the conspiracy from his own will and mind. From the very beginning, Leader Öcalan has taken the uniqueness and equality of peoples as his basis.
The problems of the Kurds are not, as is commonly believed, solely internal problems of the Kurds. These problems were created by international powers. This is because the colonialist mentality of the Turkish state and other regional states has been combined with a policy of denial and annihilation. The real problem is the mentality of capitalist modernity. As long as this mentality exists, the Kurds will be seen as a ‘problem’, and the Kurds will be forced to resist in different ways in order to survive. The 21st century has been a century of armed struggle. However, the leader now wants to change this. He aims to ensure that the Turkish state no longer views the Kurdish people as a problem. The real solution requires the ideological transformation of the Turkish state. Leader Öcalan has always strived to resolve the Kurdish issue on the basis of dialogue and equality. The process being carried out today was also launched based on these efforts. The goal is to resolve this issue within the framework of democratic politics and prevent further war.
However, the Turkish state does not take a positive approach to this; it does not adopt the right attitude towards Leader Öcalan. The leader does not allow himself to be used by the Turkish state. Still, the Turkish state is trying to liquidate the movement. They won’t be able to do so, but they thereby weaken Leader Öcalan’s peace efforts. Unfortunately, there is no climate of trust today. The steps taken so far are unilateral, and they have been taken by Leader Öcalan. What needs to be done now is to transition to a true peace process. If the forces of capitalist modernity support the Turkish state in its denial of the Kurds, this will further alienate the Turkish state from the Kurdish people. This will deepen the lack of trust. Since this is an internal issue, what needs to be done is to abandon the mentality of denial and annihilation and approach the leader. If the Turkish state truly wants to make peace with the Kurds and establish Turkish-Kurdish unity, this is only possible by accepting a mental transformation. The existence, identity, rights, and will of the Kurdish people must be recognized.
This process is a historic opportunity. Leader Öcalan has shown great dedication in every area. He is doing his part with the same determination in this process. This is a great opportunity for the Turkish state. This opportunity must be seized.