February 15 marks the twenty-seventh anniversary of the international conspiracy against Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Ocalan. On this occasion, the Syrian Initiative for the Freedom of Abdullah Ocalan issued a statement to the public, read in the city of Qamishlo by initiative members Shama Muhammad and Jian Akandi.

 

The statement reads:

 

"On February 15, 1999, by the hands of international powers, the dirtiest conspiracy against the Kurdish people was woven, forming a historical catastrophe with dire consequences and long-term negative effects. Leader and philosopher Abdullah Ocalan was subjected to an international abduction operation that kidnapped him from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in a conspiracy reflecting narrow, multifaceted interests at the expense of the rights of peoples and their aspirations for freedom and justice.

 

The goal of this modern-era conspiracy was not only to abduct a leader who had struggled for years for his people’s cause but also to extinguish the voice of truth and freedom carried by this leader throughout his struggle and resistance. Over 27 years of steadfastness, Leader Apo, together with the Kurdish people, faced the harshest forms of denial, violence, and extermination, under inhumane conditions and suffocating isolation unprecedented in history. Yet he continues to shine with his wise mind, deep vision, and sound judgment in confronting the madness of war and its destructive conflicts.

 

Leader Abdullah Ocalan has always pursued a democratic solution, making it the sole path to peace, believing that coexistence among peoples on the basis of equality, justice, and freedom is the foundation upon which the region’s future should be built. Sadly, despite this open discourse for peace and stability, the forces of darkness still cling to sectarian, ethnic, and nationalist rhetoric, insisting on a path that leads only to more wars, destruction, and the extermination of the Kurdish people.

 

In this context comes the so-called “second conspiracy” against the Kurds in Rojava, a direct continuation of the first conspiracy against Leader Abdullah Ocalan, and an attempt to undermine the will of the Kurdish people and their dream of freedom. Nevertheless, the Kurdish people across all parts of Kurdistan and in the diaspora have proven that their will is unbreakable, and the resistance of the fighters of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) has shown to be an inspiration to the peoples of the region and the world.

 

We bow in reverence and respect to these heroes who defended the honor and dignity of the Kurdish people and achieved great victories against injustice and oppression, and we bow thousands of times before the sacrifices of the martyrs who shed their pure blood for their land and dignity.

 

We firmly believe, and this belief stems from the unity of the Kurdish people and the resistance of our sons, that the major conspiracies plotted against the Kurds, no matter how powerful, will not succeed in extinguishing the flame of Kurdish resistance. Rather, they will shatter before the will of our people, who will build a bright and prosperous future on the ruins of these conspiracies.

 

We will make 2026 the Year of Freedom, the year of freedom for the great leader Abdullah Ocalan, and the year of freedom for the Kurdish people everywhere."