Since the beginning of the process in Turkey, many journalists have applied to the Ministry of Justice requesting a face-to-face interview with Abdullah Öcalan. No response has been given to these applications.
Nezahat Doğan from Yeni Yaşam Newspaper dedicated the “Monday Interview” page to a list of questions directed to Öcalan by journalists.
The journalists’ questions are as follows:
DICLE MÜFTÜOĞLU – MESOPOTAMIA AGENCY
During the attacks on Rojava, some significant indicators emerged regarding Kurdish unity. However, nationalist circles initiated a debate opposing Kurdish unity to the concept of the Democratic Nation, arguing that unity should take precedence over the Democratic Nation. Is the Democratic Nation a paradigm that sidelines Kurdish unity?
How can a formula be created in which Democratic Unity and the Democratic Nation coexist?
BANU GÜVEN – ILKE TV
It was reported in Yeni Yaşam that after the attacks on Aleppo, you sent a letter to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, stating that there was “a very large plan for Kurdistan and the Middle East and that the attack would continue.” The same report noted that after Rojava, the attack could extend to Shengal, Southern Kurdistan, and even Kandil. How would you describe the actors and objectives of this plan stretching across Syria, Kurdistan, Shengal, and Southern Kurdistan?
Where does Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan’s statement on Iraq fit into this picture?
MURAT SABUNCU – T24
Public opinion polls show that a large segment of Turkish society maintains strong objections and distance over your name. We saw this particularly during the process of the Parliamentary Commission’s visit to Imralı. Do you intend to be a direct or indirect actor in civilian politics, to shape or guide the DEM Party or a party that may change its name, both ideologically and administratively? If so, can the social resistance in Turkey be overcome?
Given that communication possibilities in Imralı do not include social media, can an inclusive roadmap be developed in an environment where some of the questioning and criticism of Kurdish young people cannot reach you?
CANDAN YILDIZ – T24
Mr. Abdullah Öcalan, you have been in prison for 27 years, including years under isolation. Are you the architect of the process? Is there a link between the process and your freedom, and if so, what kind of link?
Additionally, how would the resolution of the Kurdish issue affect the “Turkishness contract”?
CAN DÜNDAR – YOUTUBE
On March 17, 1993, I came to the Bekaa Valley to interview you for the program 32nd Day. It was again a ceasefire period. You were in civilian clothes for the first time. When I asked, ‘Can you imagine one day returning to Turkey and engaging in politics in Parliament?’ you replied, ‘What matters is not my return, but transforming Turkey.’ How do you think Turkey has transformed over the past 33 years? If I repeat my question in a new ceasefire process, would you consider engaging in politics in Parliament one day?
AMBERIN ZAMAN – AL-MONITOR
According to media claims, your relationship with Mazloum Kobanê (Abdi) is described as a ‘father-son’ relationship. Could you share your views about Kobanê? How do you evaluate that he has reached the level of a leader who speaks by phone with French President Emmanuel Macron?
Do you think he could be a good politician?
IRFAN AKTAN – SPOT PRESS COOPERATIVE
In a 1992 interview with Mehmet Ali Birand, you referred to the period of the Four Caliphs and the sectarian wars after Ali, saying that if you approached ceasefire efforts with great responsibility, it was because you did not want to leave behind endless sectarian wars. Yet the ceasefires after that statement, the 1999 withdrawal, the 2009 and 2013–15 processes, and even dissolving the PKK 33 years later do not seem to have eliminated the ground for conflict. Considering the reality of the Middle East, the resurgence of nationalism worldwide, and the aggression of wild capitalism eroding national and international law, do you think the possibilities for implementing your ideological-political line have been exhausted?
ÖZNUR DEĞER – JINNEWS AGENCY
The ‘Women’s Liberation Ideology’ you launched on 8 March 1998 has today crossed continents with the philosophy of ‘Jin Jiyan Azadî.’ In one of your recent assessments, you said women are close to freedom and emphasized that “without women’s liberation, society cannot be free.” At what stage of freedom do you see women today, with their shortcomings and strengths, and what paths must be taken for society’s liberation?
FATIH POLAT – EVRENSEL NEWSPAPER
In Sırrı Süreyya Önder’s 27 February 2025 statement, he added in your handwriting: “Undoubtedly, the laying down of arms and dissolution of the PKK in practice requires recognition of democratic politics and the legal dimension.” Concrete steps were taken last year regarding the PKK side. However, beyond the parliamentary commission, no step has been seen regarding the recognition of democratic politics and the legal dimension. Are there any upcoming steps from the state side, within the framework of your negotiations in İmralı, to expand democratic politics?
ALIŞER DELEK – JOURNALIST
At this historic turning point, when the PKK’s 12th Congress decided on organizational dissolution and ending armed struggle, based on your principle of ‘preferring the rational over the perfect,’ how do you plan to overcome the ontological difference between the state’s ‘unitary structure’ and ‘single homeland’ sensitivity and your model of ‘Democratic Confederalism’ and ‘autonomy,’ using concrete and common legal terminology that would both ease Turkey’s concerns about division and constitutionally secure Kurdish existence?
SEMIHA ALANKUŞ – JINNEWS AGENCY
You describe women’s freedom as ‘the truth of society’ and ‘the heart of democratic modernity.’ How would you explain to a woman living amid war, male-state violence, and normalized daily attacks that ‘liberation’ and ‘removing the dagger from her back’ is not only a political goal but also self-defense and an ethical choice? How does women’s internal fear, what you call ‘fear of freedom’, affect the development of organized women’s struggle?
IRFAN DEĞIRMENCI – YOUTUBE
What do you think about the government labeling those fighting for LGBTI rights as an ‘organization’ and targeting them, especially since declaring 2025 as the ‘Year of the Family’?
Do you have a message for LGBTI citizens who are being punished under vague accusations such as ‘violating public morality’?
YILDIRAY OĞUR – KARAR NEWSPAPER
What do you think about Selahattin Demirtaş? What role could he play in the future of Kurdish and Turkish politics?
EVRIM KEPENEK – BIANET
There was a generation that directly experienced the heavy conflict of the 1990s, unsolved murders, village evacuations, rights violations, and armed struggle. Today there is a younger generation that did not directly experience that period but inherited trauma, anger, identity consciousness, and a demand for justice. What would you say to these young people today?
What would you advise them as to forms of struggle?
If a Kurdish young person asked you, “I will not forget the past, but I don’t know how to move forward. What should I do?” What would you answer?
SERDAR ALTAN – JOURNALIST
While envisioning democratic society, you also speak of transformation from a socialist perspective. As the PKK dissolves and armed struggle ends, how do you address the transformation of the organization’s cadre structure that would lead democratic society, and how do you assess possible resistance?
DENIZ NAZLIM – SOLFASOL NEWSPAPER
After your February 27 call, the PKK decided to lay down arms and dissolve itself. However, debates arose about whether the call was limited to the PKK. Turkish officials insisted it also included PJAK in Iran and YPG/YPJ in Syria. Does the decision to lay down arms include these groups, or is it limited to the PKK?
What does it mean that state representatives make such claims despite no explicit call in that direction?
SUNA ERDEM – JOURNALIST
Have you ever felt regret at any moment since the beginning of the struggle?
Would you, from today’s perspective, have handled any step differently to reach the outcome sooner and with fewer losses?
GÜRKAN ÇAKIROĞLU – WRITER
We have spoken much about the past and suffered greatly. Now that the state has abandoned the assimilation-based Kemalist paradigm and accepted your integration-based paradigm, what is your vision for the future?
What are your next steps in paving the way for the “Century of Turkey”?
How will the journey from two peoples to one nation, from nation-state to democratic nation, manifest?
INAN DEMIREL – TELE-2
According to the AK Party–MHP alliance, your call for disarmament and dissolution of the PKK included the SDF-YPG from the beginning. Is there ambiguity here? Did your call include the YPG?
HILMI HACALOĞLU – YOUTUBE
Kurdish politics has long described this as a “100-year problem,” distancing itself from the Republic. Yet in the November 24 meeting transcript with the parliamentary commission, you emphasize “Democratic Republic” and say the AK Party has taken serious steps in building it. In a country where court rulings in favor of academics for peace and political prisoners are ignored and separation of powers is compromised, how do you think Turkey is approaching a democratic republic? How do you define “Democratic Republic” and “Democratic Middle East”?
HÜSEYIN KALKAN – YENI YAŞAM
Kurdish people and their friends rose up worldwide to protect the Rojava revolution, forcing those planning massacres to step back. How do you evaluate this in terms of the “Peace and Democratic Society” paradigm?
ROB VREEKEN – DE VOLKSKRANT
Did 40 years of armed conflict bring any result other than the deaths of thousands?
NEZAHAT DOĞAN
You say “defining women correctly and determining their role in social life is essential for a correct life.” In today’s world, as seen in the Epstein case, how can women escape the grip of systemic violence and move from a virtual, individualistic, sexist artificial life to the formula of Jin Jiyan Azadî?
How can moral-political decay and corruption be overcome?
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