Melek Avci

 

ANKARA - The international community should remember the Rojava Revolution and the struggle against ISIS, Catalonia MP Eulâlia Reguant has said, adding that PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan's paradigm is the only democratisation proposal for the Middle East. "Freeing Mr Öcalan is also a way to solve the conflict in Syria and the entire region."

 

Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Riha MP Ömer Öcalan shared a message from his meeting with PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who was kept under aggravated isolation, on 23 October in İmralı, in which Abdullah Öcalan stated that he was always ready for peace but the isolation continued.

 

While the isolation of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan continues, an international delegation came to Ankara on 3 December to apply for a meeting with Abdullah Öcalan. Eulâlia Reguant, an MP from Catalonia, who was a member of this delegation, expressed her impressions during the visit and emphasised once again that Abdullah Öcalan is the only key to the war in the Middle East and Syria today.

 

Turkey did not take steps for isolation

 

Eulâlia Reguant said that despite the recommendations made by international organisations, none of them had been implemented during their visit. "We visited Turkey to visit Mr Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı prison and to seek an end to the isolation of him and his fellow political prisoners. We put at the centre the need to resolve the Kurdish question and also the conflict in the Middle East or at least to open a way to resolve it. What we saw during the visits was that the Turkish government did not listen to or implement the recommendations on human rights and the protection of prisoners rights.

 

There are many international organisations that say that the isolation must end because Turkey is not complying with human rights standards. We were in Istanbul, we had meetings with Mr Öcalan's lawyers and we also had some meetings with human rights organisations. What they told us, citing as evidence the reports of different international organisations, international organisations such as the Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe, is that Turkey is not listening to and complying with the rules of international law. International organisations say that the isolation must end. There are many different reports stating this, but the Turkish government is not doing anything about it."

 

‘Mr Ocalan is the key to stop the conflict in the Middle East’

 

Referring to her statements in front of the Ministry of Justice in Ankara and the application, Eulâlia Reguant said: "We think that Mr Öcalan is the key to solve this problem and the conflict. But we also think that Mr Öcalan is the key to start solving the conflict in the Middle East with his idea of a democratisation solution for the Middle East that includes all the different minorities living there and coming to the Middle East. As you know, we were in Ankara when the conflict in Syria started and now the conflict is moving in a different direction. The only thing that I and all the members of the delegation were thinking about was to break the isolation of Mr Öcalan. Because liberating Mr Öcalan is also a way to solve the conflict in Syria and in the whole region."

 

Turkey's not after a solution 

 

Referring to the government's “peace” rhetoric in Turkey, Eulâlia Reguant said that the government is trying to clean up its image. Eulâlia Reguant said, "I think the government is somehow trying to show that it is taking some steps at the international level, but in fact it does not believe in these steps itself. OK, they said that his nephew Omar Öcalan can visit him, but this visit was made years later and they are only content with rhetoric. This is the most they have done as a government, only minimum steps. However, after these minimum steps, they continue the isolation. 

 

This is torture according to international standards because there is no condition that human rights are guaranteed. You also see how the Turkish government is somehow supporting some pro-Erdogan armed groups fighting against the North East Autonomous Administration in Syria. Just looking at these things, we can say that they are trying to protect their image at the international level with these discourses, but they are not doing the same thing at the local or national level, because what is important for them is to keep their policies the same. They don't want to solve the problem, or they only think about winning a war in the Middle East, but they certainly don't want to solve the problem."

 

‘Rojava is the only useful system for Syria’

 

Eulâlia Reguant emphasised the role of Abdullah Öcalan in the war in the Middle East and Syria and explained the urgency of lifting the isolation as follows "What has been happening in Rojava for the last 10 years, the paradigm that Mr Öcalan has been talking about and writing for the last 10 years, together with the revolution and autonomous administration, is the only democratisation proposal for the Middle East. It can be the paradigm of the new Syria to be established. That is why it is necessary to listen to what Mr Öcalan says, and in order to listen, the isolation must be broken. This is the only way and somehow all this must be listened to by the international community.

 

Because 10 years ago, when Kobanê was under DAIS siege, the international community focused all its attention on the Rojava Revolution, but then the international community forgot about it. Somehow the international community used the Rojava Revolution for its own needs, and the international community needs to open the book and put it back on its agenda. Nowadays, a new system in Syria has started to distract attention. But what the international community needs to realise is that the paradigm in Rojava can be used, or that it is the only paradigm that is useful for the whole Middle East and for Syria."

 

‘Let's speak louder about Mr Ocalan and the Northern Syria paradigm’

 

"We need to raise the voice of the Kurds at the international level and explain at the international level what Mr Öcalan's proposal and paradigm is,” said Eulâlia Reguant. "That is why in Catalonia, three years ago, in the parliament, we recognised the Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria as an actor and we need to take it into account as an administration. We were the first, so far it is already the only system we recognise in the region. But this is not enough.

 

It is only a step, but we need to raise our voices to tell people what is going on in the north-east of Syria these days and the isolation of Mr Ocalan. It is also important to draw attention to what the Turkish government is trying to do; the Turkish government has always been a necessity and an ally for the international community because of its geopolitical position, it was also stopping the refugees from Syria, but now with the end of the Assad regime, we will watch and see what will happen for the Middle East. For all these reasons we need to condemn and explain the situation the Turkish government is in, but we also need to explain Mr Ocalan and the paradigm of Northern Syria. It will be important to defend the Kurdish issue."