İSTANBUL - Ahmet Oral, who was released after 30 years in prison, said: “My hopes and dreams are still alive. I have full faith that this struggle will be crowned with victory. "Our belief in victory has kept us until today."

 

Ahmet Oral was arrested after being taken into custody in the Bazîd (Doğubayazit) district of Ağrı in March 1993, and was sentenced to life imprisonment at the State Security Court (DGM), where he was tried, on charges of "destroying the unity and integrity of the state". After being arrested, Oral was transferred to prisons in Nevşehir, Erzurum, Muş, Trabzon and finally Tekirdağ. Oral, who was imprisoned for 30 years like many others, was released from Tekirdağ No. 1 Type T Prison, where he was held on March 5. Oral told the Mesopotamia Agency (MA) about the detention process and its aftermath.

 

THE ATMOSPHERE OF THE PERIOD

 

Referring to the political atmosphere in the country when he was in prison, Oral said: "The physical pressures against the Kurds were intense and that the Kurdish reality was wanted to be suppressed. Policies of denial and rejection were carried out by the government of the time, "At that time, denial was at its highest level. Although some changes were made - such as "I know the Kurdish reality" of Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel of the period - there were only verbal approaches. But it is the time of the pressure. "At that time, there was a violent suppression of the Kurdish issue."

 

Noting that he was arrested due to his political activities, Oral said:"I was subjected to intense torture during my detention. I was taken to Nevşehir Type E Closed Prison after being tortured for 2 weeks and learned that I was on trial with a life sentence 45 days after I was arrested. The sentence became final in the 5th year of my detention.

 

'WE DID NOT CARE ABOUT THE PUNISHMENT'

 

Stating that the atmosphere and spirit of that period were different, Oral said: "So you were sentenced to life imprisonment, you didn't care, we didn't care much because we were all waiting for the revolution. We believed that the struggle would succeed. That's why we didn't think about punishments. We couldn't think of this punishment while people were murdered. No friend would. We thought that this was only one dimension of the struggle, that it was a front of the struggle. We were aware of this."

 

Noting that he stayed in many prisons during his detention, Oral said: "I spent 10 years in my last prison. I have faced psychological and physical violence in all prisons. In the 2000s, the method of violence was carried out only psychologically. In some periods, much harsher policies were implemented. Prisons were acting according to the political conjuncture. It was watching an increase or decrease depending on the course of the struggle."

 

VICTORY AND FAITH

 

Emphasizing that comradeship is the most important thing for him during the prison process, Oral said: "When we look at it as a lifetime, we can say that a lot has happened. But when we look at the past, we did not have a situation that we complained about as 'it's over, it's over'. Being in prison is not something one would want either. Being in prison for even one day is a very bad feeling. But in the end, there is a lawsuit. You forget all this. So looking back, there is no use in regretting, it is a necessity of the struggle. It was solidarity for a purpose. It was actually a unity for a purpose. It was a place where there were no individual interests. We acted within the framework of those thoughts. There were two aspects of what kept us alive; one was the purpose of the struggle, and the other was our belief in victory."

 

'ROJAVA HAS BEEN OUR MOTIVATION SOURCE'

 

Stating that they closely followed the developments abroad while in prison, and that the events in Northern and Eastern Syria gave them hope, Oral said: "The Rojava Revolution was a source of motivation. It had a great impact on us. The Kurds have paid a great price. There is no obstacle today for Rojava not to be given a status. I tell you the developments in Rojava as far as I follow the developments in Rojava from the media because we had very limited opportunities to follow the media in prisons, we could not get the necessary newspapers, we could not listen to the radio. That's why. In such situations, one has great hope in even the smallest thing. That's why it had an intense effect on our thoughts and on our personality."

 

AFTER 30 YEARS

 

Emphasizing that his friends in prison still firmly adhere to their belief in freedom, Oral said: "Everything is achieved through struggle. The Kurds should never have doubts about their case. I thought they might hold me despite serving my sentence. Then nothing like this ever happened. There was a strange feeling even as I took my steps outside. You can't take a step properly, it's not like you're walking in the air. When I was released from prison, it made me happy that my spouse, friends and relatives called me. Despite this short period of time, I still haven't gone out properly. When I get bored staying inside, I go out and go to a few streets and come back home. I just don't know what to do as I just got out. My hopes and dreams are still alive. There is no doubt on that point. Human will and thought cannot be punished. What really needs to change is the punisher himself."