Ehmed Reşad, one of the former patriots who had the opportunity to meet Abdullah Öcalan, underlined that at the stage the Kurdish people have reached today, the address of both solution and success is Imralı. Reşad spoke to the ANF about his meetings with Abdullah Öcalan and the impact those encounters left on him, describing Öcalan’s calls as a historic turning point for the Kurdish people.
Reşad said that the traces of meeting Abdullah Öcalan remain vividly alive in his memory and stressed that securing Öcalan’s physical freedom is the key to achieving a solution.
Seeing Abdullah Öcalan was a turning point for me
Ehmed Reşad said that meeting Abdullah Öcalan gave him a profound “sense of existence,” and continued as follows:
“We saw him during the 15 August event in Lebanon, at the Mahsum Korkmaz Academy. Abdullah Öcalan appeared and spoke to us. At that moment, I felt as if it were my birthday, as if I had been reborn that day. I experienced many different emotions. In that moment, I was seeing my leader, and countless feelings filled me. When I looked at my leader with my own eyes, I encountered an existence; that moment itself was an existence.
Later, in 1992, I saw my leader once again. We were as a group and met with him. The moment our leader entered the room, the same feelings I had experienced the first time emerged again. Those emotions came back to life; I felt that sense of existence once more.”
We pledged ourselves to a free life
Ehmed Reşad also said: “Before seeing Abdullah Öcalan and before the freedom movement emerged, we could not feel our own existence; we were dead. But with the arrival of Öcalan, in whose person the secret and essence of a free life and living in Kurdish are embodied, when we saw him, we made our pledge and began to work and labour along that path.
With Öcalan’s conversations, a person’s character changes; one forgets oneself and begins to build an egalitarian life within. In this way, a person also transforms their own personality.”
The authorities fear Abdullah Öcalan’s ideas
Ehmed Reşad also shared his assessment of the fear the authorities hold towards Abdullah Öcalan and said: “The authorities fear Abdullah Öcalan’s ideas because his ideas are right, and they would bring an end to their rule. In its place, they would build a free and egalitarian life. That is why he has become a source of fear and a threat for those in power.
For this reason, they launched the conspiracy. Through this conspiracy, as in other revolutions in Kurdistan, they believed that once the leader was imprisoned, that revolution would collapse as well. But Öcalan left behind an idea and a force. Because of this, thousands rose up, became militants, and threw themselves into the struggle for the freedom of the Kurds and Kurdistan.
Öcalan would always tell us the stories of great revolutions; he spoke of Vietnam, of the Soviets, and gave many other historical examples. Öcalan has risen not only for the Kurds today, but also for all peoples, and he defends all peoples. Other peoples see this and unite together with Öcalan.”
Kurds are no longer the Kurds of the past
Ehmed Reşad said that the Kurdish people are no longer in their former position and concluded his remarks with the following words:
“Abdullah Öcalan has now issued a call for peace. Many historic steps have been taken, both by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and by Öcalan himself. The project is moving toward success. We are no longer handing over our weapons; we are burning them. The state must now take steps as well. Everyone should know that the Kurds are no longer the Kurds of the past. From now on, we want our leader among us; our leader must urgently be with us.”