April 4th marks the 76th birthday of Abdullah Öcalan (Apo), the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) of Turkey. Apo, whom the Kurds regard as the prisoner of the Sea of Marmara, has been held in isolation on Imrali Island in the Sea of Marmara for 25 years and fifty days since his capture in an international abduction plot in February 1999. During this time, he has been denied consistent family visits and access to his lawyers. He is arguably the world’s longest-held political prisoner today.

Notably, dictatorships and oppressive regimes worldwide annually conspire, torture, and directly or through organized terror gangs, kill thousands of freedom fighters under the guise of labeling them terrorists. They keep freedom fighters imprisoned for decades. The public may recall figures like Nelson Mandela and Safar Khan Ghahramani, who were imprisoned by racists and foreign-backed agents under the label of terrorists and saboteurs. International regulations recognize those who engage in armed struggle within an organized group wearing uniform for their nation’s freedom as prisoners of war, granting them all corresponding rights.

In 1978, Apo and his companions founded the Kurdistan Workers’ Party to have Kurdish national rights recognized, rights that had been trampled for 60 years. Kurds couldn’t declare their identity or speak their mother tongue. Following the last brutal military coup in Turkey in September 1980 and the subsequent widespread arrests and bans on all political, cultural, and social activities, Apo and his companions went underground. As the military had closed all avenues for political activity, they had no choice but to begin armed struggle against the coup regime: “When escape is impossible, grab the sharp edge of the sword.” Öcalan has repeatedly called for peace and an end to internal war and killing, even declaring unilateral ceasefires several times. Unfortunately, due to military pressure, Ankara never heeded these calls. During the rule of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), a ceasefire was once achieved in 2012, halting the conflict for a time. However, warmongers within the Turkish regime, as everywhere, saw their interests in continuing the war and reignited the conflict with new pretexts.

In the past decade, the Turkish government’s killing and destruction in Kurdish areas within Turkey’s borders and in northern and eastern Syria and the Kurdistan region of Iraq have continued. Thousands have been killed and injured, and tens of thousands of Kurds have been displaced. Large areas in northern and eastern Syria, like Afrin province and Serekaniye city, have been occupied by the Turkish army and its mercenaries, who expelled the Kurds and settled anti-Assad Arabs and Turkmen from Syria and Iraq in the occupied Kurdish lands, changing the region’s demographic composition. The UN Special Commission on Syria has declared Turkey’s occupation of parts of northern and eastern Syria a violation of Syrian sovereignty in its latest report. The report also identifies Turkey’s repeated military attacks on power plants and energy stations in northern and eastern Syria as violations of Syrian sovereignty, war crimes, and breaches of international humanitarian laws. However, Turkey’s violation of national sovereignty and occupation of neighboring countries’ territories is not limited to Syria. The Turkish army’s attacks on the Kurdistan region and occupation of areas in Dohuk province have also become almost routine.

Neither the occupation of neighboring countries nor 25 years of imprisonment on Imrali Island have broken Öcalan’s and his guerrillas’ resolve. Yet Öcalan still calls for peace. During the Nowruz celebrations this year, held in “Amed” (Diyarbakir), the center of Kurdish regions in Turkey, with millions of Kurds participating, Kurdish activist Leyla Zana asked the crowd multiple times if they agreed with Apo’s call for a ceasefire and an end to the endless killing. The crowd joyfully affirmed. Undoubtedly, this will be approved by Öcalan, who for the past 45 years has repeatedly called for an end to war and violence and for resolving the Kurdish issue as a nation within Turkey’s political geography.

The Turkish military and war profiteers have consistently opposed ending the war due to the benefits they derive from its continuation, ensuring no receptive ears in Ankara for the PKK leader’s calls for peace. Despite this, Kurds in Turkey have achieved many of their demands. The Kurds’ recent victories in municipal and council elections demonstrate their progress in political struggle and their continued pursuit of resolving the Kurdish issue through peace and reconciliation. This is undoubtedly a task that only Öcalan holds the key to.