Besê Hozat, co-chair of the KCK Executive Council, spoke about the current discussions regarding the Kurdish question and said that the right conditions must be created for Abdullah Öcalan to play his role.

How do you assess the current atmosphere and situation in Turkey at a social and state level in view of the ongoing discussions regarding the possible development of a democratic process towards a solution to the Kurdish question? And also in this context, what do you think of all the demands that are being made of the people's leader, Abdullah Öcalan, who is currently expected to make calls in various directions?

After the delegation of the DEM Party went to Imrali, it made important efforts to share the messages and proposals of Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] with the parliamentary parties. And the statements that resulted from those efforts and meetings were positive and affirmative. There has been a positive atmosphere in Turkey among Kurds, Turkish society, and all democratic forces. An optimistic atmosphere that a democratic solution to the Kurdish question was created, a hope was created that a meaningful and honorable peace process would develop, that this genocidal war would end.

However, the government has not developed an approach that nourishes and strengthens this atmosphere, that supports these initiatives of Rêber Apo, that strengthens these optimistic feelings and thoughts of the Kurdish people, the democratic public opinion, and the people in general. So far, there has not been any concrete step. The main aspect that is necessary for the development of the process, for the democratic solution to the Kurdish question, for the democratization of Turkey, and for the end of this war is, of course, the lifting of isolation. The conditions for Rêber Apo’s safety, health, free living, and working conditions must be created. Without these conditions, it was not possible for Rêber Apo to play his role, to work, to work freely, to make calls to society, or to send messages to the Kurds. For us, these always remain the main questions: Have the conditions of Rêber Apo changed? Has the isolation been lifted so that he can freely address the public, address the Kurds, and convey his views to the outside world? Can he communicate with whomever he wants – his lawyers, his family, politicians, various political circles that want to meet, civil society organizations, democratic mass organizations, and so on? And right now, the answer to all this is still no. So can Rêber Apo make a call under these conditions of total isolation? Can any call that is being made under such conditions of total isolation and harsh torture really have validity? It cannot be possible. How can a call be expected from Rêber Apo, and how can he be asked and expected to address the public openly while being held hostage under such circumstances?

There is no comparison worldwide and historically to his situation. How was, for example, Mandela enabled to play his role? How did the solution and peace process in South Africa develop? It happened by changing Mandela’s conditions. Mandela was given free living and working conditions. He was able to interact, communicate, meet, discuss, share his thoughts, make his calls, and convey his messages to everyone without restriction. Everything in South Africa developed after the conditions of isolation were lifted. A very strict isolation is being imposed on Rêber Apo. For more than 25 years without interruption, the absolute isolation, the system of torture and isolation against Rêber Apo, has been maintained, and now he is expected to make calls and change the situation without these conditions changing, only in the course of one or two meetings. These expectations are unwarranted and inappropriate. In order for Rêber Apo to work freely, share messages, and make calls, the isolation must be lifted immediately. The conditions for Rêber Apo’s health, safety, and free life must be ensured. And it is not about a temporary situation, but about it being permanent. Laws must be passed in parliament to formalize this. This is how an end must be set to isolation.

More than 25 years have passed. According to international law, the ECHR, and the international convention on human rights, Rêber Apo has the right to exercise the so-called ‘Right to Hope’. The isolation must be lifted, Rêber Apo must be released, and he must be enabled to work freely and live physically free. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has taken a decision in this direction. It has given Turkey one year to make legal changes and to set this in praxis. This was a crucial result of the struggle that was developed in the course of the global freedom campaign aiming for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo and the democratic solution of the Kurdish question.

Right now, everything is being demanded of Rêber Apo without him being granted any of it and without him being able to exercise his rights. This is not an acceptable situation. Rêber Apo’s most basic legal right cannot be a subject of bargaining. Parliament must now act legislatively and ensure that Rêber Apo can exercise his ‘Right to Hope’ before it demands anything from him. Isolation is a crime against humanity. It is a violation of the law. At the moment, Turkey, with this isolation system, is trampling on international law and the international conventions to which it is a signatory. This is a crime against humanity and must end immediately. Rêber Apo’s most basic legal right cannot be negotiated. Therefore, the parliament must convene immediately and pass a law. It needs to make legal arrangements and create the conditions for Rêber Apo’s free life and work. Only like this will the initiatives of Rêber Apo find a result and reach a conclusion.

The struggle for this needs to be waged strongly. It is obvious that the current AKP government is trying very hard to sabotage and provoke these initiatives. At the moment, for example, a very serious concern and suspicion about the practices and policies of the current government is being discussed both among Kurds and in many democratic circles in Turkey. Does the AKP really want to create this kind of atmosphere and climate by paving the way for these talks? The global freedom campaign, the guerrilla struggle, and the people’s resistance have put a serious strain on this government. It is facing serious pressure and blockage at home and abroad. The general geopolitical developments in the region have added to this. It has created a serious state of anxiety about falling from power and panic in the Turkish state and the current government. Various possible effective actions, actions of the guerrillas in this process, will accelerate this collapse and make it more difficult. Is the government trying to weaken this through its approach?

During this phase, the government is struggling with severe setbacks and is working hard to cover these up. The ruling media is waging an intense psychological special war, trying to deceive everyone. Every day they publish headlines like: ‘The PKK Is Finished’, ‘The Kurds Will Surrender’ or ’We Will Bury Them With Their Arms’. With this kind of propaganda, the government is trying to cover up its own failure. It tries to create a perception as if it has won, as if the PKK has been defeated, as if the Kurds have been defeated, and is trying to regain power.

On the other hand, it seems like they are trying to create such a perception in order to pit the opposition against the Kurds, to deepen the existing and create even more contradictions and conflicts, to deepen polarization. They are creating confusion on this issue and developing concerns and suspicions among the opposition within the system. They are thereby trying to disrupt the intra-system opposition, especially the rapprochement between the CHP and the DEM Party, the rapprochement at the grassroots, the alliance against the forceful appointments of trustees to municipalities that had been elected by the people, and furthermore. They are developing a process with the aim of completely fragmenting the opposition, pitting them against each other, and completely isolating the Kurds and the forces of democracy. This approach and attitude are based on turning especially the secular nationalist section against the Kurds. And while they are working on this, they uninterruptedly continue their genocidal attacks with all intensity.

The government is currently in a stance and attitude that does not inspire confidence, that creates confusion, and that does not create credibility or trust with its approaches, policies, and practices. And the ruling media is also completely following the government. Its special and psychological warfare is very intense.

Of course, the ongoing discussions have a meaning. They should not be underestimated at all. But in the current situation, the AKP government feeds on war. It is provoking war wherever it can. The current government doesn’t want the war to end, neither does it want the Kurdish question to be solved on a democratic basis. Because if the Kurdish question is solved on a democratic basis, the war will end. This government feeds on war, chaos, and crisis. It feeds on polarization and enmity. If the Kurdish question is solved on a democratic basis and Turkey is democratized, there will be no more war, no more polarization, no more injustice, no more problems of democracy, no more problems of justice, and no more lawlessness. The sources it feeds on will dry up. Since it has built its entire policy on war, crisis, and chaos, it thinks that it will fall when these are gone, it thinks it will end. That’s why it is constantly warmongering. It is Kurdish-hostile and continues its attacks everywhere. There are countless people arrested every day, and the genocidal war and occupation, particularly against Rojava and South Kurdistan, never loosened. It is constantly deepening the war, and particularly special psychological warfare.

And this is no longer limited to the Kurds. The government is attacking all democratic forces in Turkey, and it has also started to attack the liberal forces, the opposition within the system, and anyone who speaks out. The artists who participated in the Gezi protests are now being arrested one by one. It is exerting a very intense repression against them. It is forcefully appointing trustees to municipalities that have been elected by the people. This isn’t limited to Kurdistan anymore. Now the government is also appointing trustees to CHP municipalities under the pretext of corruption. In some places, they do not yet dare to take this direct step and discredit the elected representatives instead. That is why people no longer trust the government.

Rêber Apo is making valuable efforts. It is also recognizable that there are approaches in the state that support and advocate this. Despite the government, there is a tendency within the state towards a democratic solution to the Kurdish question. That is something that Rêber Apo also sees, and he wants to strengthen and nurture this tendency. He is putting all his strength into it. It is necessary that we do not leave the responsibility for this solely on his shoulders and that we also not oversee this tendency developing within the state. During the AKP’s time in government, there have been moments from time to time when such tendencies have increased within the state itself. This was the case in 2005, for example. But the AKP always exploited this tendency for its own interests, for the interests of power. It turned it into a political tool, and it also turned these efforts of Rêber Apo into a political tool, instrumentalizing them. In the end, it always suppressed and liquidated that tendency within the state and gained power from all of them.

The process that took place between 2013 and 2015 did not differ in any way in this respect. The AKP exploited and instrumentalized that process purely on the basis of its own interests. Now, what should be done to prevent the same fate, the same circle, from happening? What can be done to prevent a failure again? It is necessary to support the ongoing efforts strongly. All parts of society, all democratic mass organizations, civil society organizations, all democratic and oppositional forces, people of all ethnicities and beliefs, particularly all women and young people, who are in favor of democracy, peace, justice, equality, and freedom, should embrace this process and play a role in it. They must struggle for the success of this process. This process is crucial. Accordingly, it is required to unite all strength, cooperate, and carry out a holistic struggle for peace and a democratic solution. Everyone should support the initiatives of Rêber Apo and should strengthen and support these searches within the state. In order for this process to succeed on the basis of the solution to the Kurdish question, on the basis of the democratization of Turkey, for it to yield results, everyone must participate in this process with all their strength.

There have been some messages in this direction. There have also been positive messages from the political parties of the parliament. But making statements and giving messages is not enough. The government is creating serious confusion, and this is reflected in the editorial policy of the media close to the opposition. Its rhetoric fluctuates from positive to negative, sometimes supportive, sometimes totally dismissive. Rather than a language that develops, nourishes, grows, and helps this process to achieve results, a language that sabotages and provokes, and thereby serves the government, has become prominent in the ruling media and some opposition media. This needs to be overcome. If justice, peace, and democracy are to come to Turkey, the democratic solution to the Kurdish question is the way to this. And it is through the democratization of Turkey. The root cause of all the problems in Turkey is the lack of a solution to the Kurdish question. The main reason why Turkey is so oppressive, fascist, and antidemocratic is the lack of a solution to the Kurdish question. It is genocidal policies and war. The society in Turkey needs to grasp this now. The opposition needs to grasp it with all its depth. It is necessary to disrupt these games of the government. And this is solely possible through a common, united, and integrated struggle.

It was said that the people's leader, Abdullah Öcalan, will send a direct message to your movement. Can you confirm that this is the case?

So far we have not received anything from Rêber Apo. Neither was there a direct message, nor a letter. But we are waiting for that. What I can say is that as soon as something reaches us directly from Rêber Apo, we will discuss it together and act accordingly. But as I said, nothing has reached us yet. But we believe that something will come and we are expecting it.