PKK Executive Committee member Duran Kalkan talked about the decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and said that it was seen that if the ideas of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan were spread all over the world and the resistance was increased, results could be achieved.

The primary agenda of the Kurdish people and their international friends is the ongoing isolation and the struggle against it. The global freedom campaign ‘Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, a Political Solution to the Kurdish Question’ is about to complete its first year. Let us dwell on this one-year process and the latest decision taken by the Committee of Ministers (CM) of the Council of Europe (CoE).

At the beginning, I salute the continuing resistance in Imrali and Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] with respect. I also salute all those who struggle for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo and wish them success. The Imrali system of torture, isolation, and genocide continues. Rêber Apo has been held in this system for 25 years, 7 months, and 15 days now. At the same time, the struggle against this also continues. It is a great struggle that is taking place on any possible level. Particularly in the last year, the whole of humanity has been participating in the campaign aiming for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo and the solution to the Kurdish question. Our people, women and young people, are the ones playing a leading role. All over the world, revolutionary and democratic forces, academics, human rights activists, and all those who strive for freedom and democracy are participating in the campaign. This struggle has reached an important level.

One of the most important developments of the last week or two has been the decision of the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe and what followed it. Our leadership published a statement, showing the position of our movement regarding  this decision. 

Also, our people and our international friends revealed their position on September 21 in Frankfurt. With the 32nd Kurdish Culture Festival, they made a declaration of their will. It was both a response to the anniversary of the international conspiracy, 
and an attitude towards the first anniversary of the global freedom campaign, striving for the development of further activism. Concretely, it can be said that the attitude of the Kurdish people, their international friends, and the democratic, socialist forces, as well as the attitude of the Committee of Ministers, were clearly put forward. On this basis, many discussions developed. Also previously, 69 Nobel laureates had taken a stance and sent letters to different places. They objected to the situation and took their initiative. Various other organizations and initiatives developed open positions in favor of the physical freedom of Rêber Apo. A general discussion developed through those efforts. Now, after ten years, the CM of the CoE took the decision once taken by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) under discussion, and as a result, they gave the Turkish state one more year to make changes in its law and find a solution to the issue of the so-called ‘Right of Hope’, which is at the center of their contradiction. Our leadership expressed some concrete criticisms in this regard. And all the actions I mentioned were actually a criticism and attitude towards this. I see no need to repeat all of them here, but some things may be added.

One of these points is that in some discussions it was said that the CM took a political decision. Of course, the decision was political, since it is a political institution. The decision of the CM of the CoE should not be evaluated from a legal point of view. Such institutions are not legal institutions; they do not make decisions in terms of law. They make political decisions; they are political institutions. It is the same with the ECHR. They were the political institution responsible for following up on the implementation of that decision. Giving a one-year deadline to the Turkish state was a political decision. On March 18, 2014, the ECHR made a decision, not fully aware of the politics and without being able to correctly estimate what would develop in the course of it. But we also know that on September 30, 2014, a plan for the destruction and liquidation of the Kurdish Freedom Movement, the so-called ‘çöktürme planı’ (destrucyion plan), was exposed. The Turkish state, the AKP-MHP government, decided on this and put it into practice. It was all about the Kurds, and undoubtedly, it was also about Rêber Apo.

The CM waited for ten years until they decided to take a stance. One needs to ask, why did they postpone it for so long? It waited for the PKK to be destroyed and liquidated, or at least be drastically weakened, on the basis of this collapse plan. The freedom struggle in Kurdistan would no longer be possible, the guerrillas would be crushed, the people would be cut off from Rêber Apo and freedom, and accordingly genocide would develop, as well as assimilation would advance. That was what they were hoping and waiting for. Because after that, there would be no point in discussing the decision of the European Court of Human Rights. Regardless of whether they negotiated or not, the organizations, peoples and communities that would put Rêber Apo’s ideas into practice would have disappeared. This was the hope and the expectation. Why did they wait for ten years? What did the CoE do? The CoE waited until the attacks on the basis of the collapse plan were successful, and then they would take action. But no matter what they did, they could not get results. And now they could not wait any longer. It was on this basis that they set the agenda for the meetings on September 17-19. In fact, their hopes, calculations, and plans were that this plan of annihilation and liquidation would succeed. If that had been the case, they would have taken the discussion on their agenda earlier.

Now they are forced to take this step. What does this one-year deadline mean? Obviously, the AKP-MHP government asked for time, and the CM gave it to them. They gained just a little more time for the task of destroying and liquidating the PKK. The relevant circles, including the CM, hope and calculate that within this one year the PKK will be weakened and maybe even destroyed. And then the Right of Hope for Rêber Apo would not have any meaning anymore, because there would not be any more discussion about it. As long as there are no forces to implement Rêber Apo’s ideas, what can Rêber Apo do alone? This is their calculation. This needs to be seen and well understood. They want to continue the annihilation attacks based on the collapse plan for another year. They tied the implementation of the ECHR decision to this. What is the conclusion one can draw from this? For ten years, we have destroyed all their expectations and disrupted their plans.

We have repelled all their attacks. This is very important. Secondly, they can no longer extend the period. They have to evaluate the situation within a year. What are their hopes and expectations? The liquidation of the PKK, the crushing of the guerrillas, and the discouragement of the people from the struggle for freedom. If we understand the ongoing developments, if we develop the global campaign that we are carrying out for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo more effectively, if we carry out the freedom struggle more strongly and effectively, we will be able to force the CM and the other relevant institutions to deal with the problem without waiting for a year. We will be able to break their calculations and frustrate their expectations.

What will they do after another year? If there is a much stronger organization, struggle, and stance of the Kurdish people and their international friends, if we spread Rêber Apo’s ideas to the four corners of the world more effectively, if education, organization, work, and the struggle for freedom develop more on this basis, then there is nothing more they can do. What will they do then? They will have to look for some solutions. At least they will have to look for compromise. Let’s see it like this: We have reached the final. This one year is actually the final period of this struggle. The stronger we fight, the more successful we will be. This is the truth of the matter. We have to struggle accordingly.

October 10 marks the first anniversary of the campaign, and it will enter its second year. We must now use the phase around the first anniversary, as well as the entire second year of the campaign in general, to wage an even stronger and more effective struggle and take it to all levels and all places. Because the light on the horizon has been seen. We will get results through a struggle. Each one of us must struggle for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo, as if we are competing in order to contribute to the result. We must organize rallies and develop further actions wherever we are. We heard of some planned actions that are currently being propagandized. Those who are planning these actions say that they will take a very clear position through them and emphasize their demands with a clear stance.

Indeed, it is necessary that the peoples, the Kurdish people with its youth, women, and workers, as well as all the other peoples, emphasize their will and demands everywhere by taking to the streets, conducting other actions, and taking the initiative. The largest rallies, continent by continent, region by region, city by city, and person by person, need to be organized. The most powerful actions need to be organized in order to protect Rêber Apo. Much more mass struggles for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo, with rich methods should be developed. Like this, we will achieve success.

The struggle is intensifying. Everywhere and all the time, actions and events are taking place in this framework. There was a conference in Geneva, and at the same time, the youth were marching in Hamburg chanting ‘Bijî Serok Apo’… and so much more. I salute them all. I applaud them. Their attitude is really important. As far as I know, Hamburg is a revolutionary city in Germany. And as befits its history, it embraces the ideology and struggle of Rêber Apo. Rojava is on its feet constantly, and countless meetings and rallies are taking place in Northern Kurdistan. It is like this everywhere. Here in Amed (tr. Diyarbakir) on October 13th, they plan to enter the second year of the campaign with mass actions. Everybody that can should participate in this in order to make it the strongest success.

There are calls from Turkey and Kurdistan, and we definitely support their call; everybody should join these actions. We will not let fascism, colonialism, and genocide pass. We must unite around Rêber Apo much more; we must embrace him more strongly. So much so that we must show everyone: Life will be with Rêber Apo. If there is to be a free and democratic life, it will be with Rêber Apo. There is no other way. Everyone will know that without Rêber Apo, otherwise there can be no free and democratic life. This must be expressed all over the world. Everybody should learn about this. Many rallies and other actions are also planned in Europe to mark the anniversary on October 10. Everyone should take part, and we must ensure that we enable the broadest possible participation. Everyone has an opportunity to struggle, no matter where and how. Recognizing this and acting accordingly is of the utmost importance.

The global freedom campaign has reached an important level within this one year. The friends are evaluating and discussing it, and I broadly agree with them and do not have much to add. But we should always be aware of what it has achieved. The campaign has definitely corrected our agenda. Our agenda must be the physical freedom of Rêber Apo and the struggle for it, because the solution of the Kurdish question depends on it, just as the overthrow of fascism, the freedom of Kurdistan, and the democratization of Turkey depend on it. The weakening of the male-dominated mentality and politics also depends on this, as does the development of women’s freedom, and everything else depends on it.

All the attacks in the framework of the special warfare can be broken like this. We have found the key; it is the physical freedom of Rêber Apo. We must link all the struggles we wage with the physical freedom of Rêber Apo. He must be a part of it. We must give it priority. Because there is no free life without Rêber Apo. Everyone’s struggle for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo is a struggle for their own free life, for gaining freedom.

What also needs to be pointed out as one of the main achievements so far is that we have united. In this one year, strong joint actions have developed everywhere. And we have become a force of struggle that has spread from the four parts of Kurdistan to all four corners of the world. We have become very rich, practicing different methods of struggle. There are conferences, reading days are organized, and a variety of further actions follow each other. We have become very rich in this sense, and we have won many things. This one-year struggle has created important developments. Concrete results were yielded. This is very meaningful and important. So, if in the second year we deepen these forms of action in an even more widespread, rich, and effective way, then indeed the struggle within the second year will increase many times more than the first year. As I pointed out before, it is like we are entering a final year.

There are very critical processes ahead of us. There will be events that represent important global historical developments. In such a period, the struggle for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo will not only be about demanding and ensuring the freedom of Rêber Apo as a person, but it will actually be like unlocking the door to freedom for everyone and to democratization. So let’s make good use of this anniversary. Let’s organize more different actions. Our actions should be richer in terms of form and method; they should be more numerous, and, of course, they should be much more massive. Let’s develop as a people a declaration of will in front of the whole world, expressing that we demand the physical freedom of Rêber Apo, that we don’t want a life without Rêber Apo, and that this is a life that is not free and democratic.