Abdullah Öcalan, over the 27 years he has spent under the system of isolation on Imrali Island, has thwarted the plots of the conspiratorial forces and their plans against the Kurdish people with a great sense of responsibility and tireless effort. Particularly since February 27, 2025, he has taken the lead in historic steps based on the Call for Peace and a Democratic Society and has persistently worked to develop a lasting solution.
Batufa Cekdar, one of the commanders of the Free Women’s Units (YJA-Star), spoke to ANF about the February 15 International Conspiracy directed at the Kurdish people in the person of Abdullah Öcalan.
Cekdar addressed the reality of Öcalan and the freedom struggle developed under his leadership and explained the aims of the conspiratorial forces and how these were thwarted. Cekdar said: “Abdullah Öcalan is also the creator of ideology, thought, philosophy, and the belief in Scientific Socialism. Öcalan was born on the lands of Kurdistan, which have been the center of communalist, moral, and political socialization since the dawn of history. For this reason, Öcalan became a devoted son committed to the truth of his roots. The saying ‘Every plant flourishes on its own roots’ points to the source of this social and historical truth. In the Manifesto for a Democratic Society, Öcalan also said, ‘One cannot be a socialist without being communalist.’ For this reason, from the very beginning of his revolutionary march, he possessed a communalist way of life and relations. On this basis, he was able to bring forth a socialist personality and leadership.
In every belief system, there are people who believe and live by their faith, but there are also those who exploit that belief for their own interests. Öcalan is not only someone committed to the belief in socialism; he is also the one who created the ideology, thought, philosophy, and belief of Scientific Socialism. Undoubtedly, an idea, philosophy, or ideology cannot endure or take its place in history unless it becomes embodied. The embodiment of such an ideology must first take place in the personality of the one who created it and then become the spirit of the organized structure that he founded. This is the reality Öcalan achieved in his own person and among his comrades. He formed the first group as a collective of comrades grounded in communal life and personally led this effort. After the long and harsh years of captivity under the Imrali torture system, he once again formed a community based on the philosophy of communalist life and became the most self-sacrificing, most modest, and pioneering member of this commune.
He restored to life a history that the oppressive male-dominated state and its caustic, murderous representatives sought to annihilate. He revived the honor of the history of peoples, women, and communalist society. Öcalan made the dignity of women and peoples visible once again when he said: ‘Human history is not merely the history of caustic killers. History is a river that flows in two branches. History is the war between communalist society and caustic killers. The goddess woman is the pioneer and creator of communalist society. The oppressive and caustic male is the pioneer of the imperialist and massacre-based system.’ He challenged the caustic killers. He became the true representative and pioneer of the values of communalist society that were sought to be left in the shadow of the male-dominated system.”
Many forces were involved in this conspiracy
Cekdar also said: “For this reason, the greatest obstacle to the plans of the imperialist conspiratorial forces was Abdullah Öcalan. With the reality of the free women’s line, the organization of a militant people’s identity, the training of self-sacrificing and determined militants, the revival of the seeds of communal society, and all his creative values, Öcalan represented a major threat to the plans of the occupiers. Just as he was a devoted leader of the Kurdish people and Kurdistan, he was also a genuine leader of the peoples of Mesopotamia and, more broadly, of the peoples of the Middle East. This situation constricted the breathing space of the caustic killers who had plans over the Middle East. For this reason, the February 15 conspiracy was carried out by caustic killers against Öcalan, who represented the hope of women and peoples. This conspiracy did not involve a single power, but many forces.
This dark plan was devised by the caustic, murderous representatives of 33 nation-states. The strategic plan of the conspiracy was prepared by states such as the United Kingdom, which have never wanted the Kurdish people and the peoples of the Middle East to attain status and identity. Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, which had been monitoring Öcalan since 1982, followed the Öcalan movement step by step; the cooperation of regional powers and the role of Kurdish betrayal were also part of the conspiracy. Hegemonic powers such as the United States, whose appetite was whetted by the riches of the Middle East, were also responsible for the implementation of the plan. According to Öcalan, the role assigned to the Turkish state was that of guarding the plans of the conspiratorial forces. Undoubtedly, when the interests of hegemonic powers, the occupiers who divided Kurdistan among themselves, and Kurdish betrayal combined, a conspiracy of unprecedented magnitude in human history emerged. The conspiracy against Abdullah Öcalan developed as the result of such a dirty and large-scale alliance.
In short, the February 15 conspiracy emerged as the result of the cooperation of global hegemonic powers, status quo forces in the Middle East, the states occupying Kurdistan, and Kurdish betrayal. The February 15 conspiracy was not a beginning, but a result. From the emergence of the Apoist movement until the February 15 conspiracy, many plots were directed at Abdullah Öcalan. Arrests, assassination attempts, the dispatch of agents, and the killing of his comrade Haki Karer, whom he described as “my secret spirit,” were among them. In addition, the car bomb assassination attempt carried out in Damascus on May 6, 1996, and many other dirty plans were set in motion against Abdullah Öcalan. A plan to assassinate him was also made while he was in Ankara, but he thwarted it by taking precautions. Öcalan was aware of the presence of conspiratorial forces. He said, “I am awake even when I sleep, because I know that the hopes of the Kurds are bound to me.””
Öcalan chose a life alongside his people against a massacring mindset
Cekdar said: “This historical sense of responsibility, coupled with vigilance and foresight, thwarted the conspiracy plans. For this reason, Abdullah Öcalan recognized the February 15 conspiracy in advance, as he made other plans. At the time, he analyzed the conspiracy for days with the comrades around him, warned the Kurdish people, and drew attention to the magnitude of the plot. From October 9, 1998, to February 15, 1999, he appeared dozens of times on MED TV broadcasts to explain the danger of conspiracy to the movement, the people, and the public. Earlier, from the moment he left the country, cadres were trained in the areas where revolutionary possibilities were being developed and sent back, while the necessary ground and conditions for Öcalan needed to be created inside the country. Significant sacrifices were made, and heavy prices were paid to make up for the shortcomings in comradeship and to secure Öcalan’s physical freedom. However, this goal has not yet been achieved, and the struggle continues.
Abdullah Öcalan waged a unique resistance and struggle even under the conditions of the Imrali torture system for 27 years. He said on many occasions: “At the beginning of my captivity, I thought of resisting like Kemal Pir and motivated myself in every respect to do so. Then I reflected and said: I am the leader of a people who, for the first time in history, have tied all their hopes to me. There are women who see their freedom in my ideas and thoughts. There is an organization that finds its spirit in the reality of Abdullah Öcalan. I can resist like Kemal Pir, but such resistance would be short-lived, and in the end this people and this movement would be left without a leader. The conspiracy was vast. For this reason, I took such a decision of struggle and resistance.” In Abdullah Öcalan’s own words, he turned a system that those without a great purpose could not endure even for 24 hours into a field of intellectual and paradigmatic production over the years, and in the end, together with a group of comrades, defined themselves as a “Philosophy Commune.”
In a more recent meeting, he said: “What strengthens a person’s motivation is responsibility.” Indeed, Abdullah Öcalan’s historical and profound sense of responsibility became the source of such powerful motivation. For this reason, even under the heaviest conditions, he was able to deepen historical, sociological, and philosophical analyses. As a result, he developed a paradigm that became a source of freedom not only for the Kurdish people and Kurdistan, but also for the peoples of the region and the world, and for all women. This was Abdullah Öcalan’s response to the conspiratorial forces and the February 15 conspiracy. It is true that Abdullah Öcalan has been held for 27 years under such severe conditions of isolation and torture. Yet he never surrendered to these conditions of captivity in spirit, thought, or psychology. He turned that space into a uniquely productive field on a scale unprecedented in history.
Why do I say it is unprecedented in history? Many pioneers of peoples, beliefs, and social revolutions have been subjected to harsh captivity and torture. Many resisted and preserved their honor, their people, and their beliefs. Yet there is no other example of someone who, like Öcalan, transformed such conditions into such an extensive production of intellectual, historical, sociological, philosophical, practical-political, and democratic political science, and elevated this into a powerful paradigmatic formulation. Abdullah Öcalan achieved this and once again left his mark on history. In this way, against the deadly mindset of the conspiratorial forces, he chose a life filled with struggle and resistance that elevated his honor and the honor of his people. Öcalan’s philosophy of life was to choose a free life against death.”
The conspiracy was thwarted by Öcalan’s stance and collective struggle
Batufa Cekdar said: “When the February 15 conspiracy took place, Apoist fedayeen such as Rojbin Ereb, Berwar Cele, Saristan Botan, and Teyhan, along with dozens of patriots, responded with the ‘You Cannot Darken Our Sun’ actions. By sending an open message to the conspiratorial forces, they said, ‘We will break the hand that reaches out to Öcalan.’ With Abdullah Öcalan’s foresight in preparing and warning the people before the conspiracy took place, and through the fedayeen actions, a ring of fire was formed around Öcalan. The Kurdish people poured into the streets in all four parts of Kurdistan and wherever Kurds live. With the slogans ‘You Cannot Darken Our Sun’ and ‘There Is No Life Without Abdullah Öcalan,’ millions took to the squares. From the young to the old, hundreds of patriots and prisoners set their bodies on fire, turning themselves into flames and sending the message to the conspiratorial forces: ‘This fire will not only burn our bodies, but it will also burn you as well.’
Led by Kurdish women, the Kurdish people knew that they had, for the first time, the chance to have a leader like Abdullah Öcalan and that this chance would not come again. For this reason, they sought to stand by and protect the labor of Abdullah Öcalan with all their strength and existence. In the harsh winter of February, which our people call ‘Resemi,’ they remained in the streets day and night. Despite the cold, they warmed their bodies with the fire in their hearts and did not leave the squares. Across all of Kurdistan, particularly in Northern Kurdistan and Turkey, they turned the squares into hell for the occupiers and the conspiratorial forces. Turkey burned. The world was shaken. Hungry, sleepless, and without pause, they expressed their loyalty to Öcalan with one heart and continued their struggle. This time, with great anger, like a flood of fire, they poured into the squares. This furious outpouring of the people clearly demonstrated to the conspiratorial forces the depth of the attachment to Öcalan. They saw the will and anger of people organized through Öcalan’s labor.
Guerrilla forces, by strapping bombs to their bodies in the spirit of self-sacrifice, displayed a will that shook the ground against the occupiers and conspiratorial forces. In this way, they saw that Kurds were no longer the Kurds of the Sevres and Lausanne periods, but a people who had taken ownership of their own destiny. The conspiratorial forces were forced to say, ‘We did not expect such a great reaction,’ and they received the historical message. Abdullah Öcalan had given Kurds and women a new identity, and this was the outcome. The conspiracy was thwarted thanks to Abdullah Öcalan’s historical stance, the collective struggle led by Kurdish women, the serhildan of the Kurdish people, and their deep commitment. The conspiratorial forces did not achieve their aims. They could not physically eliminate Abdullah Öcalan. They could not break the hope of the Kurdish people and women. They could not liquidate the Apoist movement.”
Kurds spread their wings at the edge of death
Batufa Cekdar also added: “Kurds were not pushed into a pit of death; on the contrary, at the edge of that pit they spread their wings and took flight under the leadership of Abdullah Öcalan. Those wings grew and became a horizon of achievement for all peoples seeking freedom and for militant women. Kurds spread their wings at the edge of death; they overcame death and the conspiratorial forces. This is the reality of the people and organizations built by Öcalan. The conspiratorial forces did not remain idle in the face of this stance. Unable to physically eliminate Öcalan, they sought to neutralize him through the Imrali torture system that has been in place for 27 years. They attempted to wear him down step by step in that place of torture. In line with the understanding of hegemonic powers, they sought to keep Kurds perpetually wounded and, through this, to keep the status quo collaborators in the region standing. The enemy kept Öcalan under constant siege, and the Turkish state, at every opportunity, pursued plans of attack against Abdullah Öcalan, the freedom movement, and the Kurdish people.
In order to, achieve their aims, they also violated all international rights. In other words, Öcalan and our people were deprived of their freedom and all their rights. Captivity under heavy conditions continued for years. Throughout these 27 years, Öcalan’s feet did not touch the soil. He could not take a free walk in nature. All of this stemmed from the fact that the conspiratorial forces were still active on the ground. Öcalan drew the attention of all conspiratorial and murderous forces. This situation became the modern Leviathan of the system of capitalist modernity. Öcalan’s captivity emerged as the result of an international conspiracy involving 33 states and other forces; in the same way, the system of captivity and torture has been implemented and maintained by the decision of these forces. Öcalan’s physical freedom would mean that Kurds gain status. Yet the conspiratorial forces continue to insist on their plans and seek to implement them across the region.
For this reason, Abdullah Öcalan has spent more than half a century under a harsh system of isolation and torture. Although he has been forced to breathe within a space of only a few square meters as a pioneer of freedom-seeking peoples, he has continued the struggle. This was not limited to the year 2007 alone. Even a bird approaching his window was prevented in ways that affected his life. Nothing living was allowed to reach him. His wish to live a life intertwined with nature was obstructed. For 16 years, Öcalan remained alone on Imrali Island. After 16 years, three comrades were brought to him, yet they were able to meet only for a few minutes per week. Even these meetings took place under dozens of cameras, guards, and conditions of isolation. A severe regime of isolation was imposed for nearly 10 years. After the large hunger strike actions led by Leyla Guven and her comrades, and following the self-sacrificial actions of nine comrades, meetings were allowed on several occasions and then blocked once again.”
Öcalan gave history a new perspective
Cekdar concluded as follows: “For many years, as a movement and as a people, we were unable to receive information from Öcalan. This showed the great threat faced by Öcalan and the Kurds who are identified with him. The conspiratorial and occupying forces sought to ‘discipline’ the Kurds through this method. However, this plan remained an empty fantasy and an invalid idea even in the minds of the conspirators themselves. The fedayeen guerrillas alongside Öcalan and our dignified people outside, continued the struggle and resistance in the streets for a long period. Abdullah Öcalan managed the process under the system of isolation in Imrali through countless writings, assessments, and analyses, contributing to social organization and the construction of a democratic society through the nine Defense texts, a roadmap, and five political-practical analysis books; most recently, he left his mark on history with the Manifesto for Peace and a Democratic Society. Every book written by Öcalan carried a unique historical, sociological, philosophical, and scientific weight.
Taken together, all of these works amounted to a breakthrough and showed the representatives of capitalist modernity and the caustic, murderous system that they would never be able to undermine such effective work. He gave history a new perspective and redefined the history of struggling women and peoples. At the same time, he tore away the masks of the dictators of the age and the caustic killers, exposed the secrets they had concealed through fear, and illuminated the dark chapters of social history from the standpoint of women. This left a great legacy for women, for peoples, and for the Kurdish people.
Abdullah Öcalan’s Defense texts have been translated into 22 languages and read by tens of thousands of historians, sociologists, scientists, philosophers, revolutionaries, and millions of freedom advocates. The Defense texts have been incorporated into textbooks and curricula and used as educational material by dozens of universities and hundreds of academies. Öcalan’s declarations opened new avenues for historical, sociological, and philosophical research, instilled new courage and understanding, and became a guiding source for academic studies. Under historical and dark conditions, despite the caustic, murderous forces, peoples and women gained the power and determination to claim their rights. While young people were losing their sense of existence and becoming lost within the capitalist system, these Defense texts shone like a light at the end of the tunnel, and through them young people found themselves, their minds were opened, and they were able to see the truth. In the hearts of young people, the hope for meaningful and real life took root.
The essence of the Defense texts and, more broadly, the theoretical and paradigmatic corpus produced by Öcalan in Imrali offered the strongest alternatives to capitalist modernity. Society, peoples, and women now have a model and an alternative. The Defense texts opened, as it were, a legal doorway for the freedom of Öcalan and our people. In the face of the conspiratorial forces, the resonance of the Defense texts and the manifesto was profound, creating a powerful impact on peoples, societies, women, and academic researchers. Doors of solidarity with the Kurdish people were opened across all seven continents. For the first time, peoples and women gained a collective and communal perspective of struggle in the face of the modern capitalist Leviathans. The philosophy of a free life created by Öcalan found expression here.
Therefore, the ideas he developed from the outset, and especially the perspectives he articulated in Imrali, offer a perspective of freedom for all the peoples of the world, women, and our people. Öcalan’s political practice and method further strengthen the path toward truth. His stature is evident here as well: despite the harsh system of isolation and torture and confinement to a few square meters, his paradigm transcended the limits imposed by the conspirators and reached all seven continents. In essence, the thwarting of the conspiracy stems from this, and this is the result of Öcalan’s work.”
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