As the 27th anniversary of the International Conspiracy against Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan on 15 February 1999 approaches, Nizamettin Toğuç, a former MP of the now-closed Democracy Party (DEP) who led the unity efforts among Kurds in Europe before the conspiracy, shared his thoughts.

 

Noting that they shared information about the unity efforts they were pursuing when they met with Abdullah Öcalan, Toğuç said: "We were guests of Abdullah Öcalan for about 10 days. When we told him we were pursuing unity efforts, he was very pleased and told us, 'This is my century-old dream.' He also stated that he was with us both materially and spiritually. After that, we continued our unity efforts. We carried out this work in the four parts of Kurdistan. We established the Kurdistan Parliament. Here, a decision was taken to work to prevent the fratricidal war (Brakujî) and ensure it never happens again. Another decision was to establish the congress." 

 

'WE DECIDED TO EXPAND THE STRUGGLE AT THE CONGRESS'

 

Recalling that Abdullah Öcalan was arrested on 15 February 1999, Toğuç said, "At our congress, we made a statement condemning this and demanded his release. Some Başûr (South Kurdistan) citizens within the congress objected to this and then left the congress. We passed the decision. Then we took a series of action decisions against the conspiracy." 

 

'THE CONSPIRACY FAILED'

 

Noting that Abdullah Öcalan's paradigm had foiled the conspiracy, Toğuç concluded: "There have been wars in many parts of the world. Nowhere else is there a movement where the leader is imprisoned yet the struggle continues and has grown so much. Mr Öcalan's paradigm is growing stronger day by day. The conspiracy has failed. The conspiracy that failed that day has failed today as well. Today, the plans that imperialists wanted to implement in Rojava and many other places have failed. From the conspiracy to today, Mr Öcalan's paradigm has prevailed."

 

MA / Fethi Balaman