Abdullah Öcalan tells 'torture' system in İmralı

  • actual
  • 13:06 30 October 2024
  • |
img

RIHA - The isolation, which Abdullah Öcalan emphasized on October 23, has been going on for more than 25 years. In his book, Öcalan described the İmralı system as a “torture system” and stated that he is fighting for the truth against it. 

PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is being held in İmralı Type F High Security Prison, was heard from on October 23 after 43 months of absolute isolation. Abdullah Öcalan had a meeting with his nephew Ömer Öcalan, MP of Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Riha (Urfa). Ömer Öcalan shared the following information about the meeting: “This visit took place as part of a family meeting. Mr. Öcalan made evaluations on general political developments and asked for the following message to be conveyed to the public: 'The isolation continues. If the conditions are created, I have the theoretical and practical power to move this process from the grounds of conflict and violence to the legal and political grounds.' He is in good health and greeted everyone.”
 
The isolation Abdullah Öcalan emphasized has been going on since the day he was brought to Turkey on February 15, 1999 by an international conspiracy. Although the isolation has been eased from time to time as a result of social resistance and protests, it has continued uninterruptedly for more than 25 years. 
 
Abdullah Öcalan describes the İmralı system of isolation as a “torture system”. Abdullah Öcalan's most extensive evaluations of the İmralı system and isolation is, “Kurdish Question and the Democratic Nation”.
 
In his book, Abdullah Öcalan stated that he is fighting a “war of honor” in İmralı and added: “The process of imprisonment in İmralı forced me to grasp the reality even more deeply and in its entirety.” 
 
Abdullah Öcalan stated that despite the severe isolation, he wanted to use İmralı as “an opportunity for a political solution”. “Even at the cost of my execution, I considered it important that this was the way to be tried first,” he said. 
 
'I EVALUATED I·MRALI AS A SCHOOL' 
 
In his book, Abdullah Öcalan points to the İmralı system and said: “It is historically established that İmralı is a place famous for wearing out the human physique to the utmost due to its climate in the middle of the sea. Since the Byzantine Empire, it has been used as a place of exile and death for prisoners deemed most dangerous by the state. It is difficult for a person to endure the conditions here for such a long period of time unless there is a very real justification. İmralı has been a perfect school for me not only to get rid of the influence of the hegemonic nation-state god who imprisoned me in this Island Dungeon, but also to unmask all its masks. I considered Imrali as a real school for the Kurds not only to get rid of the influence of this god, but also to build their new order based on a scientific interpretation of their own nature. The teachings of the Imrali school have not only made our peoples, but also modern Turkey better than before. I must state that the foundations of democratic Turkey were laid in İmralı. I am not only talking about my share in this in a unilateral way. The transformation of the state itself was also possible with the encouragement received from İmralı.” 
 
'MYTHOLOGICAL GODS WERE INCONCEIVABLE'
 
Öcalan, who characterized the practices against him in İmralı as “National İmralı Policies (MIP)”, made extensive evaluations about the prison in the section titled “On my prison life in İmralı Island”. In the section dated December 21, 2011, Öcalan said: “In all my written defenses and oral dialogues up to now, I have not touched much on my personal life. Apart from general health problems and relations with the prison administration, I have not talked about how I resisted the isolation and endured loneliness against the isolation specially prepared by the system and applied only to me. I think the most curious subject is my life experiences that I developed against this absolute loneliness and stagnation.” 
 
 
PHYSICAL STRUCTURE OF IMRALI
 
Öcalan shared the following information about the physical structure of İmralı: “The climate is both very humid and harsh. Physically, it has a tendency to break down a person's body. When the isolation in a closed room is added to this, its corrosive effect on the body increases even more. I was also taken to the island at the beginning of the aging process. For a long time I was held under the supervision of the Special Forces Command. For the last two years I think the Ministry of Justice has been in charge. I had no means of communication other than a book, newspaper, magazine and a single-channel radio. Of course, half-hour visits from siblings every few months and weekly meetings with lawyers, even though they were often interrupted due to 'bad weather', constituted my communication universe. Of course, I do not underestimate these communication factors, but they cannot be sufficient relations for survival. My mind and will would determine whether I would stand or rot.” 
 
'HOW CAN YOU KEEP MILLIONS IN A NARROW ROOM?
 
Öcalan underlined that the conspiracy imposed on him in İmralı is “of a kind that leaves not a shred of hope” and said: “The execution of the death penalty and keeping psychological warfare on the agenda for a long time was for this purpose. In the early days, even I could not imagine how I could endure it. I could not imagine how I could survive even a year, let alone years.”
 
In the continuation of the article, Öcalan asked “How can you keep millions of people in a narrow room?” and continued as follows: “Indeed, as the Kurdish National Leader, I had made myself a synthesis of millions of people in the conditions of my imprisonment. The people perceived me as such. While one could never endure being deprived of one's family and children, how could I endure for a long time being separated from the will of millions united to death, never to be reunited again. People from the public were not even given a few lines of letters. So far, with a few exceptions, I have not received any letters from outside, except for the few strictly controlled letters of comrades in prison, most of which have been withheld. I have not been able to send letters. All these points can partly make the situation caused by isolation understandable.”
 
 
‘I WILL SHARE LIFE WITH EVERYONE’
 
Noting that despite all kinds of negativities, Öcalan transformed İmralı into a “battleground for truth”, Öcalan also included in his book the struggle he would wage if he were released from İmralı. Öcalan stated the following: “It should be well known that I am the owner of a lifestyle called revolutionary realism. If one looks not at my life after my release from prison, but at my life since childhood, such questions can be better answered. My 'first rebellions' against family authority at the age of less than ten carry important clues in this regard. From that time on I was a lone rebel, and I tried to express my objections to village and city society in my defense. Those who are interested can find the necessary questions and answers together. I must summarize very briefly that for me life is possible as long as one lives in freedom. It is only natural that when I am released from prison, wherever I am, at whatever moment I am living, I will be in a constant struggle with every discourse and action style that is necessary to the end, for the sociality I am trying to be a member of, for the Kurds, who are experiencing the most tragic reality of this, for their democratic nationhood, which is their solution and way of liberation, for the Democratic Union of Nations, which is the solution and way of liberation for all the peoples of the Middle East, especially the neighboring peoples of which they are a part, and for the World Democratic Union of Nations, which is the solution and way of liberation for the peoples of the world, of which they are also a part. I will walk with my personality of truth, which has gained a great share with the ethical, aesthetic, philosophical and scientific power that this necessitates, I will win life and share it with everyone.” 
 
MA / Emrullah Acar
 

View More Articles

16:32 Trustee prevents enter of co-mayors to municipality in Êlih
16:15 Syrian Human Rights Organisation calls to UN
14:34 Latest situation in Manbij
13:57 Why is Manbij targeted?
13:20 November report from MKG: 38 journalists on trial
11:33 KCK: Democratic Nation model is the solution for Syria
11:32 KNK calls for national duty and responsibility
11:11 Muqtada al-Sadr calls for dialogue for Syria
10:55 12 civilians killed in Turkish drone strike
10:39 Turkey's intervention deepens Syrian crisis says Aldar Xelîl
08:39 Manbij Military Council: Second phase of defense begun
08:37 Xwebûn published: 'Defending Rojava is an obligation!
08/12/2024
09:48 If democratisation desired, isolation must be fought against says Eren Keskin
09:41 From ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra to HTS
09:35 New prisons will deepen the problem, not solve it says Lawyer Köçeroğlu
09:34 Need to find solutions to migration says Academician Lülüfer Körükmez
07/12/2024
16:54 QSD: We demonstrated extraordinary resistance
16:33 Mobilisation call from KONGRA-GEL
16:01 'No to war' forum from HDK: Call for united struggle
15:19 2 cities demand freedom for seriously ill prisoners
14:41 Women march against trustees
14:33 Fate of missing persons asks in four cities
14:12 Saturday Mothers asks fate of Hüseyin Taşkaya
13:48 A student arrests in Dêrsim
10:57 Historical and current breaking centres in Syria: Hama and Humus
10:34 Violations in Suluca Prison
09:54 Syria is being redesigned says Journalist Karadaş
09:33 Artists join mobilisation: Everyone must join revolutionary people's war
09:30 Violence against prisoner who refused examined in handcuffs
09:29 KNK Co-Chairs: Abdullah Öcalan's road map is solution to crisis in Middle East
06/12/2024
14:36 QSD: A new process has emerged, we are ready for a solution
13:15 Mehmet Turgay releases after 32 years
12:32 Latest situation in Manbij: They could not advance even a metre
12:31 November violence tally of JINNEWS
12:05 Prosecutor gives final opinion in Narin Güran case
11:39 Families applies to go to İmralı
11:32 They preparing for revolutionary people's war says Salih Muslim
11:25 War is not solution says Peace Mothers
11:00 They tells about denied ‘strip search’ and violence
10:53 Alarm bells should ring all over the world for Rojava says Margaret Owen
05/12/2024
16:23 Vehicles carrying migrants encircled
16:21 Balance sheet of attacks in Minbic
15:27 Reaction to attacks in Wan: Your drawn borders cannot separate us
14:59 Peace Mothers call for struggle against war
14:06 Lawyers applies to meet with Abdullah Öcalan
13:38 Prisoner prevented attending his mother's condolence
13:32 'Human tragedy on Wan-Iran border'
11:22 Wan residents reacts Supreme Court decision
10:46 Wan Metropolitan Co-mayors: We will not allow them collapse municipality
10:31 Prisoner serves one month more than the court sentence