Adiman was detained in Mersin in 1994 and sentenced to life imprisonment by the then State Security Court (DGM). He was released on November 8, 2024, after three decades in prison. Held in prisons in Mersin, Konya, Dîlok (Antep) and Şakran, Adiman said he entered prison unable even to write his own name and left having written 11 books.

 

PRISON EXPERIENCE AND LEGACY OF RESISTANCE

 

Describing his early years in prison, Adiman said he had initially been unfamiliar with prison conditions. “We did not know how prisons functioned when we were outside. But we came to understand that will through the legacy passed on by those who spoke of the Mazlum Doğan period and the brutality of Diyarbakır Prison,” he said.

 

He stressed that his 30 years were not merely a “prison life” but also a “space of experience, knowledge and accumulation,” adding that they maintained their resolve despite policies of pressure and repeated delays in prison.

 

Recalling an intense period of self-questioning in his first years, Adiman said: “For the first two years, I could not accept anything. I kept asking myself, ‘We did not do enough for our people, how were we captured?’ But later I understood that prison, through Mr. Öcalan’s (Abdullah Öcalan) philosophy, had become a force of education. I witnessed people who could not read or write reach a level within one or two years where they could interpret global and Kurdish politics at a highly advanced level. With this educational force, I also rebuilt myself.”

 

Adiman said he had not been able to read or write a single letter when he entered prison, but through work in his mother tongue within prison walls, he went on to write 11 books. Four of his works — Xeyalên Rîsandî, Kervana Hesretê, Rêwiyê Evînê and Awzemka Xemên Min — have been published, he said, adding that his books were banned on the grounds of “terror propaganda.”

 

Adiman said: “At the beginning I could not even write my name, but now I have taken on a responsibility for Kurdish. Despite state bans, I continued to produce. For me, every paragraph in Kurdish is an act of resistance.”

 

RECOGNITION AND CONSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEES

 

Commenting on the broader political process, Adiman said peace could not come through what he described as a “concept of liquidation.” He argued that recognition of Kurdish existence must come first if peace is to be achieved.

 

“As Bahçeli (Turkish Nationalist Movement Party Leader) has also stated, Turks and Kurds founded this country together. Therefore, relations must be rebuilt in practice. The Kurdish issue should be included in the constitution, the language should be official, and its culture and history must be secured by law. If your identity is not free, laying down arms will have no meaning,” he said.

 

Adiman said there were those seeking to sabotage the process but stressed the need for determination among the people. He added that steps should not be expected solely from the state. He concluded: “The Kurdish people must stand by their own will through their organized strength.”