Another year has passed since the international conspiracy against Abdullah Öcalan. The international conspiracy began on 9 October 1998 with Öcalan’s departure from Syria and culminated in Ankara on 15 February 1999. Since then, Öcalan has been held captive on Imrali Island.

Those who now govern Turkey continue to hold Abdullah Öcalan in custody, even while proclaiming a desire to “establish a Kurdish-Turkish brotherhood.” Yet Öcalan took great and historic steps: he addressed the problem from the Kurdish side and removed from the agenda many of the issues Turkey most feared. He ended the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)’s existence as an issue and brought an end to armed struggle. Despite this, the Turkish government has taken no steps in response.

Telling everything that has happened since 9 October would fill volumes. It should be noted that Abdullah Öcalan has borne the heaviest burden through these hard years. He has spent twenty-six years in a cell unfit for long-term human life, a place where one can barely breathe. In a manner befitting a genius, he developed and deepened his ideas, foiling plans to eliminate his leadership and movement. From inside, he also played a decisive role in securing gains for the Kurdish people and achieved another first in the history of Kurdistan.

For generations, Kurdish leaders were typically executed or otherwise eliminated when captured, followed by massacres and exiles. Abdullah Öcalan, however, for the first time in Kurdistan, became the architect of an uninterrupted, undefeated uprising that lasted fifty years. He united the four parts of Kurdistan in thought and spirit, rendering meaningless the borders drawn by colonial powers.

Because of his revolutionary role in the Middle East, Abdullah Öcalan became a target. The conspiracy was led by the United States. They wanted to redesign the Middle East to consolidate their domination, and they began the intervention with Abdullah Öcalan. His dynamism, revolutionary boldness, skill at seizing opportunities, and audacity were seen as a danger. When Öcalan was brought to Turkey, the then experienced prime minister Bülent Ecevit said, “I do not understand why the United States handed Abdullah Öcalan over to us.” Those with major stakes in the Middle East had already understood his style and the role he would play.

The United States and its partners have never spoken of Abdullah Öcalan in any positive terms; they never once placed him on their human rights agenda. They consistently treated him as “banned” and a “terrorist.” Öcalan was ostracized by the ruling powers of the capitalist world, and this turned into a seemingly endless settling of scores.

Öcalan, however, continued his philosophical, ideological, and theoretical research against the capitalist system and its rulers; he equipped himself more deeply and powerfully. He forged an unshakable, invincible will and thwarted efforts to make him forgotten, ineffective, or eliminated. He achieved the extraordinary: his influence and strength grew. He united with the revolution and the people and stood at their forefront.

Rojava, the smallest part of Kurdistan, was not expected to see the revolution develop so strongly. It had long been regarded as a rear area, a place to support other parts. Yet Öcalan reached there as well; he engaged directly with the people of Rojava and organized them. Changing circumstances brought Rojava forward: Öcalan asserted his will, the process was steered, and Rojava gradually became the revolution’s front line.

The Turkish state therefore made Rojava a target. They did everything in their power to prevent Kurds from gaining any status. They forged alliances with inhumane forces such as ISIS and the al-Nusra Front. They relied on their NATO membership and tried every means to draw the United States and European powers to their side. They sought to isolate the Kurds from the world and to block every positive development. By bringing Russia into their plan, they attempted to form a counter-front under the name “Astana Process.” In coordination with Russia, they occupied Afrin (Efrin) in 2018. Kurds were expelled from Afrin and ethnic cleansing was carried out.

Afrin did not satisfy the Turkish state. This time, again on a deliberately chosen 9 October and after reaching an agreement with Donald Trump, they occupied Ras al-Ayn (Serêkaniyê) and Tal Abyad (Girêspî). Those areas have been under Turkish occupation since 2019 and no Kurds were left there. A genuine ethnic cleansing took place. Deliberately timing this occupation to fall on 9 October was a conscious decision.

They wanted to tell Öcalan: “You will organize Rojava and assert your will; we will retaliate and erase your gains.”

They also brought Shengal into this. Shengal was targeted on a 9 October by a clandestine agreement secretly signed by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Iraq and the Turkish state to liquidate it. The Turkish state chooses 9 October carefully to signal to Kurds, “There is no escape from us; we are always at your heels.”

The conspiracies and invasions never stopped. Decisions about the Kurds in the twenty-first century aim to leave them without identity and status. After all, if Kurds had a status and identity, the world would collapse! Even these days when they say “let us be Kurdish-Turkish brothers,” they continue to threaten Rojava. They stand arm in arm with Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS); somehow, they prefer HTS over the Kurds.