Nagham Jajan

Qamishlo – Since the beginning of the international conspiracy against Leader Abdullah Öcalan, attempts to undermine his project based on building a “democratic society” for the peoples of the region have not stopped. Despite the passage of more than twenty-seven years, the repercussions of that conspiracy are still present in the ongoing attacks on Rojava.

Rojava represents in practice the thought and ideology of Leader Öcalan, as it was founded on the principles of democratic confederalism, women’s liberation, and communal life. Therefore, targeting it today is viewed as an extension of the February 15, 1999 conspiracy that began with the isolation of Leader Öcalan, aiming to undermine the gains of the peoples and destabilize the democratic peace project from within.

Kongra Star member Rokan Ahmed explained that the main goal of the conspiracy that targeted Leader Abdullah Öcalan was the annihilation of the Kurdish people:

“First, we condemn and denounce the international conspiracy carried out against Leader Öcalan, which has now been 27 years. This conspiracy was not only against Leader Öcalan, but against the entire Kurdish people and against women as well. Its aim was to annihilate the Kurdish people and prevent them from demanding their rights and existence. Because the Kurdish people struggled for their existence, they found themselves facing this conspiracy.”

“Leader Öcalan restored organization and unity to the Kurdish people”

She pointed out that Leader Abdullah Öcalan was in Rojava until 1998, stressing that his path was always linked to the pursuit of peace and the struggle for a free life:

“In the 1970s and 1980s, the Kurdish people faced harsh conditions that reached the level of existential threat. But with the emergence of Leader Abdullah Öcalan during that period, the Kurdish people regained their ability to organize, unite, and exist. He always emphasized that if there had been an opportunity to recognize Kurdish rights, there would have been no need to resort to armed struggle. However, the absence of this opportunity forced us to leave the homeland and reorganize our ranks, then return again. Until 1998, when Leader Öcalan was in Rojava, he devoted all his efforts to achieving peace.”

Attempts to establish peace and foil the international conspiracy

Rokan Ahmed explained that Öcalan constantly sought to establish internal peace between Kurds and Turks:

“In 1993, Leader Öcalan initiated an attempt to achieve internal peace with the President of Turkey, but forces that rejected this path and insisted on continuing the war prevented its success.”

She added:

“In 1998, he repeated his efforts to establish peace, but he was confronted with the international conspiracy. To find a way out of this crisis, he went to Europe, but the conspiracy was large-scale and several states participated in it. Its goal was to ignite a new war between the Kurds and the Turkish state in order to annihilate the Kurdish people. Nevertheless, Leader Öcalan adopted a different stance, stopped the war again, and put forward peace initiatives. He documented in five volumes the history of coexistence between Kurds and Turks and explained it deeply in his writings—all in order to foil that conspiracy and return the Kurdish people and the peoples of the Middle East in general to their true essence.”

Turning Imrali into a school for the unity of peoples

Rokan Ahmed noted that international powers sought to ignite a wide war among the components of the region:

“In the fourth volume of his defense writings on the Middle East, Leader Öcalan addressed the history of coexistence between different forces and religions. Part of the conspiracy aimed to exclude and isolate him and reproduce an internal conflict extending for thousands of years. But he confronted these plans and stood against the massacres that would have been committed against the peoples.”

She stressed that he waged a great struggle inside Imrali prison:

“The Imrali system is an international system, and everyone who entered it surrendered and lost their thought and strength. But Leader Öcalan turned it into a school for the unity of peoples. Despite the harsh isolation imposed on him for 27 years and the many attempts to force him to surrender, he resisted. He often mentioned that they prevented him from using pen and paper so that his ideas would not reach the outside, yet he continued his struggle for internal peace. This conspiracy did not target only the Kurdish people, but all the peoples of the region in different ways.”

The voice of freedom and the project of the democratic nation

She stated that through 27 years of historic struggle and resistance, Leader Abdullah Öcalan has thwarted all forms and methods of the international conspiracy:

“On February 27, 2025, the possibility of ending the armed struggle and rebuilding the organizational structure of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party after fifty-two years of struggle was announced once again, based on what Leader Öcalan proved—that resolving the Kurdish issue is a gateway to solving the crises of the entire Middle East. This was attributed to the strength of his influence and the depth of his vision.”

She affirmed that on February 15, 2026, the Kurdish people will stand united under the slogan “Freedom for Leader Apo and recognition of Rojava,” adding:

“The freedom of Leader Öcalan will contribute to solving many of the problems of the Middle East. Today, it can be said that the attacks on Rojava are merely an extension of that conspiracy, as they target the project of the democratic nation proposed by Leader Öcalan. Just as he foiled the 1999 conspiracy, he has also foiled the conspiracy that sought to strike Rojava in 2026, stopping the war once again.”

She added:

“The goal of the Syrian revolution in 2011 was to overthrow the central system and build a participatory system that includes all the peoples of Syria. But the interventions of states distorted the revolution and diverted it from its path. Therefore, the Syrian people must realize that these attacks do not target only the Kurds, but all Syrians. To foil this conspiracy, the peoples must unite under the leadership of women and youth, because the war in essence is directed against women.”

She concluded:

“We are certain that if the Syrian people—especially the Kurdish people—remain vigilant in the face of this conspiracy, it will be defeated. We condemn the February 15 conspiracy, as well as the conspiracy that began on July 6 against the Kurdish people.”