While the PKK so-called chairmanship council calls for
all Turks of Kurdish origin to stage a political rebellion
on Feb. 15, the second anniversary of the capture of
Abdullah Ocalan, younger brother Ocalan talks war
 
 

Mert Gozde
Feb 8, 2001
Ankara - Turkish Daily News

The so-called chairmanship council of the Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK) separatist terrorist organization issued a written statement pointing out that the
Turkish state has not taken one step within the scope of the peace strategy put forwards by
Abdullah Ocalan and the PKK and called on all Turks of Kurdish origin to stage a political
rebellion. Following this, Osman Ocalan talked war.

O. Ocalan asserted that the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) wanted to govern the country
by itself and not as part of a coalition and said this would mean the strat of a war against
Kurds and the forces of democracy together with heightened resistance to this. Another
member of the so-called chairmanship council Murat Karayilan claimed the pressure and
smear campaigns being applied to Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK and the civilian opposition
were all products of a strategic concept.

The biggest headache being felt by the separatist organization began when the PKK
chieftain Abdullah Ocalan complained about prison conditions at the island prison of Imrali
and the fact that his lawyers' visiting times were being curbed. Abdullah Ocalan's younger
brother and chairmanship council member Osman attended a phone-in on MEDYA-TV in
which he spoke about the conditions his elder brother was living under at Imrali:

Imrali, worse than F-Type

"He has been living in conditions far worse than any in the F-Type prisons for two years now.
His health is failing and his contact with the outside world is being cut off. He can't listen to
the radio or watch TV. He doesn't get books or papers. Although he doesn't say so, there his
meals are restricted, too. Nobody can live under these conditions for two months let alone
two years. They still wave the hangman's noose in front of him and use it as a threat.
Despite this, our leadership, our party and our people has shown great patience in order to
allow Turkey to prepare itself for the new process and is continuing to do so, even though
this is very difficult. However, it should be seen that by approaching the fundamental value
and existence of a people in this way, you will not win its respect nor have you. This
common sense and conscientious approach shown the Kurdish people should not be
exploited. Some steps should be taken at this point. And we are shouting for this."

After O. Ocalan made this talk, the Federation of German-Kurdish Associations (YEK-KOM),
which is made up of all the pro-PKK associations in Germany, issued a statement calling for
A. Ocalan's isolation order to be lifted.

The YEK-KOM statement said the Kurdish side had taken all the necessary steps to bring
an end to the 15 years of war and the violent atmosphere and asserted that the Turkish state
had in contrast to this pursued a policy that left no course of action other than war.

The statement said that A. Ocalan was the architect of the peace process in Turkey and that
Kurds still had faith in and allegiance to him. "It would be to everyone's benefit not to restrict
visiting times for Ocalan's lawyers but conversely to improve his situation," read the
statement.

'There are those who want to escalate the violence'

Murat Karayilan of the terrorist organization's so-called chairmanship council also attended a
program on MEDYA-TV discussing political developments in Turkey on Feb. 1 and alleged
that the pressure and smear campaign being applied recently to A. Ocalan, the PKK and the
civilian opposition were all products of a larger strategic concept.

Karayilan said that certain circles in Turkey see democracy as an obstacle to their personal
interests and that they wanted to fan the flames of violence and drag Turkey back into
darkness. As examples of this, he cited the police demonstrations, the situation in the
prisons, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) offensive in northern Iraq, the oppression of
democratic institutions, the murder of Diyarbakir Chief of Police Gaffar Okkan and what
happened to True Path Party (DYP) deputy for Sanliurfa Fevzi Sihanlioglu.

Karayilan also said that a smear campaign had been launched against A. Ocalan yet he had
given assurances of peace and democracy. He described the conditions at Imrali prison as
"the worst in the world" and that the PKK was being patient at Ocalan's insistence.

Karayilan further pointed out Chief of the General Staff Gen. Huseyin Kivrikoglu's remarks
that "1,660 PKK members had been released" by the amnesty. He denied any of the
released were PKK members and said that not one PKK member in prison had been
released by the amnesty.

Call for political rebellion

The toughening in PKK policy, hinted at in O. Ocalan and Karayilan's words became clearer
soon afterwards with a statement issued by the so-called chairmanship council. The
communique, dated Feb. 5, asserted the Turkish state had done nothing in response to the
peace strategy put forwards by A. Ocalan and the PKK and called upon all Turks with
Kurdish ancestry to stage a political uprising.

The communique stated the view that the peace process decided upon by the PKK's
seventh so-called congress had been sabotaged and that both Turkey and the PKK were
being provoked into resuming the war.

Also given place in the communique was a claim that the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)
was forcing Turkey into fighting the PKK in northern Iraq and that these efforts were being
supported by certain forces within the government and the state. It maintained that this
resulted in a threat to peace: "The PKK's insistence on a peaceful solution is continuing to
be exploited by reactionary forces," read the communique and called for the people to stage
a political uprising adding this was necessary to move the democratic solution process
along.

Ocalan's claims

Osman Ocalan took part in a program on MEDYA-TV that same day and asserted that the
MHP wanted to become the single governing party in Turkey. Stating this would constitute a
threat to all citizens of Kurdish origin. "We really hope they don't decide to give the MHP a
try," he said. Ocalan said the war had torpedoed both Turkey's and the Kurds' dynamics and
added: "The Turkish state wants to see if the fight has gone out of the PKK now that Ocalan
is behind bars. we hope that those governing Turkey will not insist on a war. They can
prevent Turkey from reliving the disaster of war. They can ensure that a solution is reached
one step at a time within a democratic system. We will not be the side to start a war. War is
not our preference, but if forced into it, we will resort to war."

We'll fight if necessary

Osman Ocalan said they always knew the struggle would have its ups and downs, that the
struggle could not be advanced through political means alone and that as well as the political
struggle, there may well be the need to resist in a military context. "If and if this is not
enough, then having argued it through, we could resort to war for a while if necessary. But
we have not taken that decision. The decision we took was to defend our rights to the very
end at the highest levels. All the same, we insist that the problems can be worked out, that a
democratic republic that can be our joint homeland can be attained and that the problems of
the Kurds can also be worked out in a common homeland and based on free union [of
Kurds and Turks?]."

Ocalan's statements now in paperback

A book has reportedly been published illegally containing the statements A. Ocalan gave to
his lawyers, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. According to the left-wing Italian
newspaper La Republica, Ocalan uses his lawyers to keep a diary while at Imrali island
prison. All his comments and statements have reportedly been smuggled out of Turkey and
published in a book called "Hope for Peace: Notes From Imrali" and that the book is now on
sale.
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The Kurdistan Observer
www.kurdistanobserver.com