The international conspiracy that began with the expulsion of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan from Syria on October 9, 1998, and continued with his transfer to Turkey on February 15, 1999, has now entered its 27th year. Following the plot carried out by states, including the United States and collaborating forces, Abdullah Öcalan has been held in isolation at İmralı F Type High Security Closed Prison.

 

One of the figures involved in campaigns launched for Abdullah Öcalan’s physical freedom, Dr. Thomas Jeffrey Miley, an academician at University of Cambridge, evaluated the conspiracy and Abdullah Öcalan’s ongoing impact on the region.

 

THE INFLUENCE OF ABDULLAH ÖCALAN

 

Miley stated that the Kurdish Freedom Movement, under the leadership of Abdullah Öcalan, had begun to articulate an alternative understanding of what liberation should mean in the twenty-first century. He added that Öcalan further developed these ideas while incarcerated under inhumane conditions. “His (Abdullah Öcalan) imprisonment is the imprisonment of a freedom flame. He re-articulated self-determination as democratic confederalism in his period of incarceration and, I think, really elaborated further what was already in process being developed, which is a set of ideas of anti-capitalist revolutionary democratic vision for the 21st century. Precisely because the attempt to incarcerate Ocalan was an attempt to muzzle his ideas and to get his ideas to not have influence in the world. But in fact, he's produced an incredible amount of literature, a really important theoretical and global framework for democratic modernity. And this is something that has inspired millions of people,” he said.

 

Miley emphasized that Abdullah Öcalan’s ideas were influential even in the place where he was abducted 27 years ago. Noting that he had visited Nairobi, Kenya, Miley said: "People in Nairobi, when they hear about Öcalan’s ideas, are very enthusiastic about them. I think it’s because his ideas keep a freedom flame alive.”

 

Miley emphasized that the ideas of Abdullah Öcalan were also the concrete force behind the revolution in Rojava, which re-sparked the revolutionary imagination around the globe. He said: “Attacks on Rojava are attacks upon an alternative model in a world in which we are spiraling out of control. A world of never-ending war, a world of climate catastrophe, a world of global plutocracy, a world of rising fascism. There's one place in the world that provides a light and an alternative. And Rojava stands for this alternative understanding of anti-capitalist gender emancipation, ecological sustainability, and a democratic alternative to the hierarchical tyranny in which the world is immersed.” He also noted that Abdullah Öcalan appeared to have played a role in facilitating political negotiations and in preventing potential atrocities. Regarding Barzani, Miley said that he seemed to realize that the disappearance of the SDF could also spread to the Kurdish region of Iraq.

 

‘ÖCALAN’S FREEDOM MUST BE PART OF PEACE PROCESS’

 

Miley, emphasizing that Abdullah Öcalan is the leader of the Kurdish people and that the isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan must end, stated: “His isolation is symbolic of the lack of recognition of the rights of the Kurds, and freedom for Öcalan must be part and parcel of a kind of democratic peace in the region. When Öcalan speaks, there is hope. So hopefully, with the peace process, he will be able to be heard more and more. Then we can move towards a spreading of democratic confederal ideals not only in the Kurdish regions, but in Damascus, in Ankara, and around the Middle East. The Kurdish freedom movement would be incredibly strengthened, obviously, by his freedom. But not only the Kurdish freedom movement; I think the freedom movements around the globe could be strengthened by his ability to communicate and coordinate freely with other people around the globe about what democratic confederalism requires. Because we need to be spreading democratic confederalism around the globe.”

 

Miley also stated that Abdullah Öcalan articulates a version of liberation that synthesizes some of the best parts of anarchism, Marxism, feminism, and environmentalism. He said that Öcalan’s paradigm allows people to see a way forward for the liberation tradition in the 21st century, ensuring that it does not die with the failure of state communism. Miley added: “The conditions of inhuman isolation of Öcalan need to be ended. It's been too long. He remains an inspiration for so many millions of people with his articulation of democratic confederalism, direct democracy, gender emancipation, ecological sustainability, multicultural accommodation. Those pillars are what we need to be thinking about for self-determination in the 21st century. Long live Öcalan! Freedom for Öcalan!”

 

 

MA / Deniz Karabudak