ANKARA - Stating that PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan is being silenced with the isolation, HDP MP Hasan Özgüneş said, "The liberation in İmralı and the resolution of the Kurdish issue constitute the line of struggle in recent history."

 

There is no news from PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan after his interrupted phone call with his brother Mehmet Öcalan on March 25, 2021. Applications made by family and lawyers to interview Abdullah Öcalan, who has been in solitary confinement for 23 years in İmralı F-Type High Security Prison, are either rejected on the grounds of "disciplinary" penalties or left unanswered. The co-chairs and MPs of the Peoples' Democratic Party, which applied to meet with Abdullah Öcalan, started a Justice Watch against the silence of the Ministry of Justice. The Justice Watch, which HDP MPs started with the demand for PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan to meet with his lawyers, continues despite the police interventions. HDP Şırnak MP Hasan Özgüneş, who took part in the demonstration, stated that their main purpose in maintaining the Justice Watch is to make their voices heard by the Ministry of Justice, which is directly responsible for justice.

 

THE DEADLOCK OF THE KURDISH QUESTION

 

Özgüneş said, “The main reason why the issues has been aggravated so much is that the Kurdish question has been wanted to be destroyed by violence and suppression for 40 years. The isolation imposed on Mr. Öcalan and the Kurdish question are directly linked to each other. If the state wanted to solve the Kurdish problem, it would not have deepened the isolation in this way. At the very least, the rights of every convict that existed under the law would also apply to Mr. Öcalan. But another reason why the isolation has been aggravated so much is the solution power and perspective that Mr. Öcalan wants to reveal.”

 

DEMOCRATIC NATION PARADIGM

 

Expressing that the state maintains itself on the basis of “one nation, one state, one religion, one flag” motto, Özgüneş stated that the democracy forces do politics according to the reality of the peoples. Özgüneş said: “There are many peoples in Turkey such as Kurds, Arabs, Turkmens, Laz and Circassians. On the other hand, there is a multiple structure in terms of beliefs and ethnicity. The male-dominated understanding of this reality sees the elite oligarchy as the owner and ruler of the state, while maintaining misogyny and seeing 90 percent of the society as objects; sees them only in a position that can serve them and do military service. On the other hand, it continues its hostility towards nature. The democratic nation paradigm developed by the Kurdish people envisages the restoration and reconstruction of this structure as a whole. In other words, it is based on the freedom of self-government, expression and association of all identities.” 

 

COMMON STATEMENT OF CAPITALIST MODERNITY

 

Referring to the role of international powers in the deepening isolation on Abdullah Öcalan, Özgüneş said, “Isolation is the joint declaration of international imperial powers and capitalist modernity in Turkey. Because the paradigm proposed by Mr. Öcalan does not accept interventions, the understanding of a warlike, exploitative, belligerent state that lacks freedom and justice in the Middle East. On the contrary, it is an understanding that paves the way for life with a freer, ecological social structure. Since they do not want to solve the Kurdish qurstion by peaceful means, they are constantly trying cut off Mr. Öcalan's ties from the society and silence him.”

 

ABDULLAH ÖCALAN'S FREEDOM

 

Özgüneş emphasized that they will continue to insist on lifting the isolation and solving the Kurdish qurstion through democratic means. Expressing that the isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan has reached a level that goes beyond the visits of family and lawyers, Özgüneş said, “The right to hope must be ensured. İmralı must be liberated, Kurdish question must be solved, democracy must be ensured. By making a strong exit in the elections, we want to send this government and pave the way for democratic Turkey. Otherwise, there is no way to proceed with the current mentality. Parliament no longer functions. It was almost like a return to a modern sultanate system. Of course, in this age, it is not possible for such a backward form of government to bring prosperity to the society, to offer hope to the society, and to solve the problems of the society.

 

THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEMS

 

Expressing that the solution to the problems in Turkey is the radical realization of peace and democracy and the resolution of the Kurdish question, Özgüneş said, “The solution to all these problems is the liberation of Imrali and the dungeons. The only solution is to put an end to the denialist and warlike understanding of politics and to abandon a life style based on lies. From that point of view, we can solve the problems peacefully.

 

 

MA / Özgür Paksoy