ÊLVÎN MIHEMED

Kobanê- Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan has been held in the prison island of Imrali for more than 26 years. For 43 months, he had no contact with the outside world until October 23, 2024, when Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Riha (Urfa) MP Ömer Öcalan met him in the prison island of Imrali. Despite this meeting, a new 6-month ban on lawyer visits was issued against him on November 6, 2024.

On November 26, 2024, Tuncer Bakırhan and Tülay Hatimoğulları, Co-chairs of the DEM Party, applied to the Turkish Ministry of Justice, requesting a face-to-face meeting to be arranged with Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.

The isolation imposed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan targets all Kurdish people, said Almaz Romî, Co-chair of the Ecology Council in the Euphrates Canton, northeastern Syria.

“However, the isolation has failed to reach its goal. The goal of the international conspiracy was to not only arrest leader Apo but also annihilate the Kurdish people. The international powers that took place in this conspiracy thought that they would silence the Kurdish people by arresting their leader. However, the thoughts of leader Apo spread around the world although he has been held in prison.”

‘The people defend themselves with the philosophy of leader Apo’

The international conspiracy conducted against Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan in 1999 has failed to reach its goal, Almaz Romî repeated. “Today, leader Apo is not allowed to meet his lawyers and family members. Despite that, the people of North and East Syria embrace his thoughts and ideology and defend themselves with his philosophy.”

‘Stronger resistance and struggle is needed’

Emphasizing the importance of the struggle to achieve the physical freedom of Abdullah Öcalan, Almaz Romî said, “In his message, leader Apo said that the isolation imposed on him continued. Stronger resistance and struggle is needed to break the isolation and ensure the physical freedom of leader Apo.”