RIHA – Speaking at the April 4 celebration held in front of the house where Abdullah Öcalan was born, Çetin Arkaş said: “Leader Apo is Kurdish, that is true. He is from Kurdistan, that is also true. Kurds are from these lands, but Leader Apo is also Arab, Turkmen and Persian. At the same time, he is a person of the world.”

 

The Amara Festival Days, organized under the slogan “Democratic National Unity with Free Leadership” as part of events marking the 77th birthday of Abdullah Öcalan, concluded with celebrations held in front of the house where he was born, following a march from Xalfetî (Halfeti, Urfa) to Amara.

 

Thousands of people from surrounding villages, along with around a thousand who arrived after the march in Xelfetî, reached Amara. Among those attending the celebration were Veysi Aktaş and Çetin Arkaş, who were held for a time with Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı Prison, as well as co-chairs of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Çiğdem Kılıçgün Uçar and Keskin Bayındır, Co-Spokesperson of the Unity Initiative Gülcan Kaçmaz Sayyiğit, co-chairs of MEBYA-DER and TUAY-DER, and MPs from the DEM Party.

 

Large posters were hung in the courtyard of the house where Abdullah Öcalan was born in Amara. Posters of Mustafa Dağ and Mahsum Karaoğlan, who were killed in 2009 while attempting to go to Amara, were also displayed in the celebration area.

 

A video screening featuring moments from Abdullah Öcalan’s life was shown. Participants in Amara chanted slogans including “Bijî Serok Apo (Long live Leader Apo),” “Bi can bi xwîn em bi te re ne ey Serok, (With life, with blood we are with you o Leader)” and “Bijî berxwedana zindana (Long live resistance of the dungeons).”

 

'AMARA IS THE STARTING POINTS OF THE KURDS'

 

Çetin Arkaş, speaking on behalf of the İmralı secretariat, greeted participants and stated that Abdullah Öcalan's birthday is the birthday of all peoples. "Nearby is Göbekli Tepe, which is described as the starting point of history. This place, Amara, is the starting point of the Kurds" he said. 

 

Arkaş highlighted on national unity and the importance of coexistence. He said: “These lands have not been inhabited only by Kurds. There have been Turkmens, Arabs and Armenians—various ethnic communities. They are also fundamental elements of this geography. Over time, they were alienated from one another. Problems emerged among belief groups, and othering occurred among ethnic groups. Leader Apo did not concede to any of this. Leader Apo is Kurdish, that is true; he is from Kurdistan, that is also true. Kurds are from these lands, but Leader Apo is also Arab, Turkmen and Persian. He is also a person of the world. No one should forget this. Those who seek to advance through ethnic and sectarian provocations in this geography make calculations spanning 100 or 200 years. We will, of course, be aware of this and not abandon our roots. But we will also live fraternally with other peoples and beliefs. Leader Apo, by his very existence, is the ideological antidote to those who seek to pit peoples and beliefs against one another in the Middle East. This should not be forgotten by anyone.”

 

‘WOMEN ARE COMPANIONS OF LEADER APO’

 

Arkaş also spoke about women, saying: “These lands are also where the first goddesses emerged. Üveyş Ana (Mother of Abdullah Öcalan), by her very existence, was such a magnificent mother, a goddess. Therefore, we commemorate her with respect. In this geography, where women once existed with their intrinsic values, over centuries and millennia women were othered, stripped of identity, deprived of will and enslaved. But today I see that nearly more than half of this gathering consists of women, and all of them are companions of Leader Apo. Women who are companions of Leader Apo are more determined, stronger and more beautiful. You are all very beautiful.”

 

‘THE FREEDOM OF LEADER APO IS THE FREEDOM OF WOMEN’

 

Adalet Fidan of Free Women's Movement (Tevgera Jinên Azad-TJA) said: “Speaking from these sacred lands, I feel this excitement. Happy birthday to women on the occasion of Leader Apo’s birthday. Congratulations to those resisting in Gabar, Cudi and in prisons. The male-dominated system sought to impose a life of servitude on women. By disregarding women’s labor, they tried to use it for their own interests. But women have struggled for all people, starting with their own rights. Leader Apo illuminated our path as women with his ideological and political ideas. The freedom of Leader Apo is the freedom of women. Today is the day of Leader Apo’s freedom.”

 

Finally, Mehmet Öcalan stressed that people must expand their organization and struggle for the physical freedom of Abdullah Öcalan.

 

The program ended with a performance by a traditional dance group.