‘Meeting with leader Apo had a great impact on my personality’
“Meeting with leader Apo had a great impact on my personality. He said that many gains could be achieved when women achieved their freedom,” said Edûle Xelil, who met Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan in the 1990s.
SÎLVA Al-ÎBRAHÎM
Manbij- 70-year-old Edûle Xelil met Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan in the 1990s. In an interview with NuJINHA, she talked about the 25th anniversary of the international conspiracy against Abdullah Öcalan on February 15, 1999. “The conspiracy could not achieve its goal because of Kurdish people’s loyalty to him,” she said.
‘People follow his philosophy’
Edûle Xelil had the opportunity to meet leader Apo (Abdullah Öcalan) first in the 1990s. She said, “Meeting with him had a great impact on my personality. Now, people follow his philosophy. We will struggle to ensure his physical freedom. Before meeting him, we did not know that the rights of the Kurdish people were usurped in four parts of Kurdistan. As Kurdish people in Syria, we could not speak our mother language during the rule of the Baathist regime.”
Edûle Xelil told us that she had met Abdullah Öcalan in Aleppo. “Before the international conspiracy, I met him in Aleppo. There were many people waiting to see him. He told us that many gains could be achieved when women achieved their freedom. I had another opportunity to see him in Damascus.”
‘We knew there was a conspiracy’
Edûle Xelil told us that she felt great sadness when she heard that Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan was arrested. “We knew there was a conspiracy against him. We were shocked when we saw the photos showing that he was handcuffed. It was a tragedy for us. We cried and held a hunger strike for seven days. Young people set them on fire in the four parts of Kurdistan.”
‘We will ensure his physical freedom’
Pointing to the international conspiracy against Abdullah Öcalan on February 15, 1999, she said, “The international silence against his arrest showed us that it was an international conspiracy. The USA was one of the countries supporting the arrest of our leader. 25 years have passed since his arrest but the international community still remains silent. Thanks to the ideology of our leader, the revolution started in North and East Syria. We will keep struggling and ensure his physical freedom.”