In this new in-depth interview, Mustafa Karasu, member of the KCK Executive Council, spoke about the recent impressive developments in the framework of the global freedom for Abdullah Öcalan campaign, and analyzed the continuing influence of the military coup of 12 September 1980, to this day.

I would like to talk about the isolation of the Kurdish Peoples Leader, Abdullah Öcalan. While any communication with him is still being prevented, some impressive actions have recently been taken, and there are also further interesting developments. For example, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) responded to a letter from 69 Nobel laureates on the subject. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE) will soon hold a meeting on the subject. Over 1500 lawyers from more than 30 countries have requested a meeting with the Kurdish peoples leader, Abdullah Öcalan, at the Turkish Ministry of Justice. Young people have embarked on a long march for his physical freedom, Kurdish festivals are taking place, and another action is planned for October 13 in northern Kurdistan and Turkey. How do you evaluate the importance of all these developments?

The global campaign for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan], which was launched last year on October 10, is approaching the conclusion of its first year. The struggle so far has indeed been very significant and important in terms of embracing Rêber Apo and putting his freedom on the agenda not only in Kurdistan and Turkey, but also in the whole world. This agenda, the reading of the books of Rêber Apo, and the support for Rêber Apo by so many philosophers and intellectuals have also played an important role in spreading the common knowledge about the true greatness and character of Rêber Apo to the world. The dissemination of his thoughts has also gained an important level in this passing year.

What could be seen within the last months is that the struggle is yielding results. For example, the lawyers met with the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT), and they met with the ECHR. Most recently, the mentioned letter was written by 69 Nobel laureates, intellectuals, and scientists, and their call had a serious impact on the ECHR and the CPT. Because the ones who wrote are world-renowned people, people who have served humanity, people who are the conscience of humanity. Their embrace of Rêber Apo raised the general support and solidarity with Rêber Apo even higher. In other words, the struggle and the effort are pushing both the CPT and the ECHR to take concrete steps. Increasingly, it is also challenging Turkey. In this respect, we appreciate and salute all these efforts.

As we enter the second year of the campaign under the name ‘Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, a Political Solution to the Kurdish Question’, new actions are on their way. The campaign is spreading, and both in Turkey and globally, it will be expanded. The second year will be very important in terms of ensuring the physical freedom of Rêber Apo. There was just recently a statement by 1500 lawyers, which is of great significance, and there will also be a meeting of the Council of Ministers of the CoE on the Right to Hope for Rêber Apo. These developments shouldn’t be underestimated.

We are convinced that the demand of the campaign will be taken much more seriously. After all, there have already been positive decisions from the ECHR on this situation. However, these have always been simply ignored by Turkey. While the Turkish government has always been criticized and put under pressure in other similar situations, the institutions have always remained silent when it comes to Rêber Apo. This is a political approach. But this has now reached a limit. After all the struggle and pressure that has been built up, this limit has now been crossed, and they are forced to act. Like you said, there is the effort of the lawyers, the youth is marching, and there is the cultural festival that is going to take place; all of these are developing and will develop as part of the global freedom campaign. The main goal of this year’s cultural festival is to contribute to the campaign and lead it to a new peak. The will, desire, and demand of the Kurdish people will be expressed strongly at the festival. The genocide policies of the Turkish state, the attack on culture, language, and govend; these are all reasons for a strong reaction through the festival. We think that participation in this year’s festival will be very high in order to further raise and develop the struggle for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo. Everyone should participate; all our international friends should join it as well. Even the intellectuals in Europe and the democratic forces of European society should participate in this festival. This will be both an expression of support for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo and a response to the genocide policies of the Turkish state. These activities are of great importance.

Also, as you mentioned, there will be an important march in northern Kurdistan on October 13 and the actions of the metropolises of Turkey. The democratic forces and intellectuals in Turkey should be criticized and also more involved in the campaign. They should oppose the lawlessness in Imrali more strongly. They speak about justice, criticize that there is no just law, and oppose the AKP-MHP’s injustice and unlawful practices – these are good, but they should also oppose Imrali. Without opposing the unlawful practices in Imrali, without opposing these arbitrary practices, opposing anything else in Turkey does not have much of a value.

We need to be consistent. If the Kurdish people are to live together with the peoples of Turkey, if the Kurdish people are to live in Turkey with their identity, culture, and the free people of Turkey, then they must embrace Rêber Apo, whom they call their will and leader. They must oppose this unlawfulness practiced on Rêber Apo; otherwise, this silence, this silence against the oppression of the Kurds, contradicts their intellectual democratic stance and principles. The Turkish and Kurdish people have been neighbors and lived side by side for nearly a thousand years. Without the Kurds, the success of 1071 would not have been possible.

This is commonly known. Now, when there is such a people, a people who have lived side by side for close to a thousand years, is it acceptable to destroy, genocide, and deny this people? The intellectuals and democrats of Turkey should make efforts for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo. The current situation must be overcome. It is necessary to further raise and develop the global campaign, both in Europe and in Turkey.

The mentioned march of the youth is also important, and we salute this effort to free Rêber Apo. In this respect, I believe that through greater effort and greater struggle, the coming year will bring the physical freedom of Rêber Apo closer.

Just recently, we passed the 44th anniversary of the September 12 military coup in Turkey. What have been the effects of this coup until today?

Before the military coup, there was a significant struggle for freedom in the society of Turkey, and there were also severe contradictions. Society was opening up to capitalism, but both the society in Turkey and the society in Kurdistan lived according to their traditional social values and principles. Capitalism destroys all such traditions, values, and principles of society. It builds everything on self-interest and destroys all those values of sociality, rights, justice, equality, neighborliness, and brotherhood. In this process, a social struggle emerged in Turkey. The struggle of laborers, workers, and the people had emerged. In a way, it was actually a rebellion of the socialist mentality, of that socialist tradition, against the development of capitalism, against the disintegration of society by capitalism.

At the same time, the Turkish state gained new opportunities and deepened its genocide policy on the Kurds step by step. Of course, the Kurds also had a reaction against this. There was a great struggle waged, especially by our movement. A social and political crisis emerged in Turkey. This was not a black-and-white conflict between one side and the other. There was the struggle of society against capitalism and the struggle of the Kurds against genocide.

Against this, the Turkish state, the counter-guerrilla, backed by foreign powers, attacked both the Kurdish liberation forces and the democratic society struggling against capitalism, including the democratic and leftist forces. In fact, the main justification for September 12 was the struggle in Kurdistan. If I remember correctly, in Mehmet Ali Birand’s book, when Kenan Evren talks about how they decided on the military coup on September 12, he says that on their way from Merdin (tr. Mardin), they passed through Riha (tr. Shanliurfa), Curne Resh (tr. Hilvan), and Sewreg (tr. Siverek). They say that is when they took their decision.

September 12 had far-reaching consequences. They saw that there was a great tendency to organize in Turkey and Kurdistan. Dozens of leftist organizations were organizing. Society was prone to organization. Because social values had not yet completely collapsed. Society was prone to organization and social struggle because it hadn’t become a society that was completely individualistic, which capitalism had dispersed. Thus, in order to spread capitalism, they attacked in order to block the efforts to organize and create confusion.

Of course, an essential aim of the military coup was to crush the Kurdish liberation struggle. They attacked Kurdistan as if they wanted to colonize it anew. Tens of thousands were imprisoned and tortured. Accordingly, they developed a new policy. In order to eradicate the Kurdish identity and break the resistance of the Kurds, they isolated them and tried to make their policy ineffective. They had been trying to do this against the Kurds and left-wing forces since the founding of the republic. At that time, they also took action against devout Islamic circles. They tried to remove them completely from politics, but not from society. After all, the state still needed religion, but it was massively attacked in the political and cultural sphere. They wanted to keep Islam on a short leash and integrate parts of the left-wing forces into the state in order to isolate the Kurds and make it easier to drive forward their destruction.

In short, this is the policy that emerged in the wake of the military coup on September 12. Today they say that they are against the coup, but if you take a closer look, you can see that the fruits of the coup are still harvested today. They have not turned their backs on the system that has been established since then. The continued attack on the democratic forces in the country, as well as the attack on the Kurdish people, is today’s continuation of the system established back then. Even before that, the state had worked hard to weave Islam into this concept, but there remained a part that did not take part in the genocide of the Kurds and stayed away from it. On September 12, they focused on the last remnants of Islam in Turkey in order to make them serve the genocide. Erdoğan today is an offspring and a continuator of this. The beliefs and feelings of the Kurdish people are being played with. This is the system of September 12. A system that continues to this day. Our struggle has prevented them from being successful with this system, has prevented them from spreading everywhere in society, but the system of September 12 has not yet been destroyed.

A great struggle was waged against this. It was a resistance that was carried out in the prisons and was led by Mazlum, Ferhat, Eshref, Necmi, Mahmut, Hayri, Kemal, Akif and Ali. Their resistance actually dealt the biggest blow to the military coup. The coup was ideologically defeated in Kurdistan, and a blow was struck in Turkey. Of course, while evaluating September 12, I commemorate these martyrs. They made great contributions to the struggle for freedom. I also remember with gratitude and respect our ten comrades who were martyred on September 24, 1996, in Amed (tr. Diyarbakir) by having their heads smashed with planks. They were also important militants that led the prison resistance. They did not surrender, and because they resisted, they were murdered. The Kurdish people, the people of Amed, should never forget them.

We continue the struggle against September 12. Yes, the left in Turkey may have been dispersed, and the democratic forces may have been dispersed and worn down, but we are still continuing this struggle. All democratic forces and the peoples of Turkey should know that the PKK and the Kurdish people fought against September 12 and against fascism. Of course, this is not to say that the leftist and democratic forces in Turkey did not struggle at all; they resisted in the prisons and outside as well. They made great sacrifices and gave many martyrs. Of course, I respectfully commemorate these comrades. But it is also clear that we have been effective in this struggle, that we have been pioneers.

Everyone should evaluate September 12, what it did to society, and what political consequences it had. Leftists, democrats, intellectuals, the Islamic community, everyone should evaluate it correctly. If it is not evaluated correctly, we cannot create a strong democratic Turkey. In order to create a strong democratic Turkey, we need to understand September 12.

In this respect, I once again commemorate those who resisted September 12 with respect and gratitude. We strongly condemn this oppressive system, and we promise that we will defeat it.