"Neither the beginning of the war nor its continuation were our preference". Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan writes in a article that will be published tomorrow in the daily Italian paper 'Il manifesto'.

Imprisoned in Imrali since 1999, Abdullah Ocalan has withdrawn from the process he himself (along with the Kurdish movement) initiated in order to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the Kurdish question. Ocalan has written a 'road map' which has not been released by the Turkish authorities.

Yet the Kurdish leader has insisted in these months about the need of an interlocutor within the Turkish establishment. This interlocutor has not been found, and this is why Ocalan has announced his withdrawal from the process.

In the articles which will be published tomorrow in 'Il manifesto' the Kurdish leader underlines that "Neither the beginning of the war nor its continuation were our preference. Our ceasefires speak for themselves. Despite the fact we have directed our calls for peace to numerous governments of various political persuasions, the state’s answer has always been to merely attempt to exterminate us or force us into surrender. Even during my more than eleven years of imprisonment there is nothing I haven’t tried in order to establish lasting peace. Strategic peace and democratic politics have become a national vision for the Kurds. Our peace endeavours remained unanswered".