END TURKEY'S WAR ON PKK

Irmak: Isolation is a continuation of the conspiracy against Öcalan

HDP former deputy Selma Irmak said that the aggravated isolation imposed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan is a continuation of the international conspiracy policy.

ANF
NEWS DESK
Monday, 26 Dec 2022, 

Kurdish politician Selma Irmak, a former MP of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and former co-chair of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), spoke to ANF about the isolation regime imposed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, the closure case against the HDP and the increasing crackdown on the Kurdish politics.

Irmak said: “The aggravated isolation is imposed on the people who see Mr. Öcalan as their will, on the lasting and honourable peace between peoples, on social justice, and on a democratic and political solution.”

Irmak remarked that the ongoing closure case against the HDP is not legal but based on political motives. According to Irmak, the closure case is a judicial operation of the AKP/MHP government seeking to consolidate the nationalist conservative votes and to curb the HDP's power to determine the direction and outcome of the upcoming elections and politics.

THE STATE REGARDS ORGANIZED KURDS AS A DANGER

Irmak emphasized that the AKP/MHP government is trying to complete the regime change and the principles of maintenance of the state have now changed. She continued: “Of course, it would be insufficient to link the HDP closure case only to the upcoming elections. In fact, it would be more realistic to say that it is a deep-rooted, historical and extremely strategic state policy carried out against the growing organized power of the Kurdish people who do not surrender despite all forms of unlawfulness, tyranny and systematic violence, and against all the resisting and dissident segments of the society. As the organized struggle of the Kurds grows and becomes institutionalized and moves up to an influential and decisive position in the country's politics, the state regards the Kurds as a danger to its survival. Reactionary and religious movements and conservatism are no longer considered dangerous for the survival of the state. The organized struggle of the Kurds is perceived as a danger.”

THEY WANT TO BREAK PEOPLE'S ORGANIZED POWER

Irmak stated that the closure case against the HDP should be viewed with the historical background of the state. She stressed that the early republic excluded the Kurds from the political sphere, keeping them in a spiral of violence. “The closure case will once again exclude the Kurds from the political sphere. Decisions such as cutting treasury grants to the HDP, and imposition of political bans are just the first steps of this strategy which is very likely to be implemented. But I think that the most important intervention will be to break or at least to limit the organized popular power.”

HDP CLOSURE CASE IS NULL

Irmak underlined that the operation to shut down the HDP would not be successful, just as the operations against the Kurdish political movements in the past failed. She said: “There is a reality that the Turkish state and the power elites have not understood. We are not talking about a popular movement organized by parties. There are parties that the people recreate with their own power. You can shut down parties, but you can't shut down people. You can never eliminate a people who do not give in. This case is null. It is political. It is a covert propaganda which will be frustrated by the people again.”

THE STATE SHOULD RETURN TO THE NEGOTIATIONS LAUNCHED BY ÖCALAN

The Kurdish politician recalled that Öcalan had proposed negotiation talks in 1993 so that the Kurdish question could be resolved permanently through an honourable peace. She said that the state had no other option but to return to the negotiations initiated by Öcalan. Irmak continued: “As the public opinion knows only too well, Öcalan wanted to initiate negotiations along with multiple calls for a ceasefire. However, the negotiation processes failed each time as a result of the state's insistence on military methods and hawkish policies. In conflict regions all over the world, problems have not been handled through military methods and hawkish policies. Resolution of conflicts has always been possible through negotiations. The Kurdish question is now in the negotiation phase. The state should realize that this problem cannot be resolved through violence, lawlessness, massacres, defamation and murders.”

ISOLATION OF ÖCALAN IS AN INTERNATIONAL POLICY

Irmak said: “Just as an international conspiracy handed over Mr. Öcalan to Turkey, the isolation of Mr. Öcalan is an international policy. It is noteworthy to see that even a civil institution like the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) does not fulfil its duty of monitoring torture and ill-treatment, asking permission from Turkey.”

ISOLATION IMPOSED ON THE KURDISH PEOPLE

Referring to the Asrin Law Office statement that the CPT did not meet Öcalan during its visit to the Imrali prison, Irmak said: “It is obvious that this information needs to be confirmed. The CPT’s visit aroused concern and suspicion among the Kurdish public. The CPT and similar institutions should know that this isolation is not legal and has nothing to do with the practice of ordinary disciplinary punishments as state officials have declared. This aggravated isolation is imposed on the people who see Mr. Öcalan as their will, on the lasting and honourable peace between peoples, on social justice, and on a democratic and political solution. And, of course, it is a political decision. The rightful backlash and protest of the Kurdish people against the isolation of Mr. Öcalan all over the world is also a resistance against the state's deadlock and hawkish policies, and against the subjugation of the Kurds.”

Activists drop Öcalan postcards to thousands of houses in London

Kurdish activists dropped Christmas and New Year postcards to thousands of houses in London in order to raise concern over the isolation imposed upon Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.

ANF
LONDON
Monday, 26 Dec 2022

The British Kurdish People's Assembly and its components dropped Christmas and New Year postcards to thousands of houses in London, England to raise concern over the isolation imposed upon Kurdish leader Öcalan. A photo of the Kurdish leader was included into the Christmas cards. The cards inform that the Kurdish leader has been held captive in an island prison for 24 years. Many Kurdish activists, especially women's and youth commissions, take part in the distribution of more than 20 thousand postcards.

The New Year's cards dropped by Kurdish activists on the thresholds and the mailboxes of London houses give the following information: “We know that you will receive many requests for charities during this season of goodwill.

We just want you to remember the Kurdish people whose leader is in an island prison, as in Mandela's South Africa.

Kurdish leader Öcalan has been in aggravated isolation since 1999, unable to see his family or lawyers, in violation of all laws and human rights. We have very serious concerns about his health and safety. And unfortunately, the international institutions responsible for this are not fulfilling their duties. For us, Abdullah Öcalan represents honourable peace and hope for the future. Please write to district MPs requesting them to ask the UK Government and put pressure on Turkey and the Council of Europe.”

Those who may want to get more information are asked to visit www.freeocalan.org and www.kurdishassembly.org. The last part of the card said "Freedom for Öcalan, peace for Kurdistan".

POSTCARDS TO 20 THOUSAND HOUSES

Türkan Budak, co-chair of the Kurdish People's Assembly of London, said that the campaign did not take place at the planned time due to the second Paris Massacre.

Budak stated that they strongly condemned the Second Paris Massacre. Budak said: “We will continue to expose the dirty policies of the Turkish state and its hostility towards the Kurds. In this campaign, we wanted to draw people's attention to the isolation imposed upon Öcalan. Today, the Kurdish people living in Britain took to the streets and dropped New Year's cards to 7,500 houses. Our goal is to deliver these postcards to more than 20 thousand houses in three days.”

Budak added that “And we remind once again how a people's leader has been held in captivity in an island prison for exactly 24 years, and yet how he has promoted peace and democracy in the Middle East.”

'UNTIL ÖCALAN IS FREE…'

Kurdish Community Centre activist Yalçın Tetwan, who delivered the postcards to houses, said: “For the last two years, Öcalan has not been allowed to meet with his lawyers or his family. As the Kurds living in Europe, we condemn these inhumane practices of the Turkish state. The Turkish state should know that we will not feel liberated until Öcalan is freed. We will not surrender to fascism. We will break the isolation, we will liberate Öcalan.”