The conspiracy against Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan is a critical date for understanding the interventions of global powers in the Middle East. It is vital to understand the conspiracy process in which 23 states and many affiliated organisations, including the USA, the UK, Israel, Germany, Turkey, Greece and Russia, collaborated, in order to understand the interventions and plans for the Middle East, which have become more evident in recent years.  

 

After the collapse of real socialism, opposition popular movements and revolutionary forces became more targeted by global powers seeking to design the region. NATO, which was established in 1949 under US leadership to "defend" against the Soviet Union, has begun to target organisations and leaders it deems "dangerous" and "terrorist". 

 

The vast majority of states in the region have also agreed to become collaborators in NATO's "redesign" plan. One of the biggest obstacles to this plan was the PKK. The PKK, with its ideology, had found a great response in society and was dragging millions of people behind it. Therefore, it had to be liquidated. 

 

The strategy of "separating the head from the body" has been put into action against the PKK. A conspiracy was launched against Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the PKK, whom millions of people call "my leader". Thus, the PKK would be liquidated and Öcalan would be destroyed. 

 

While inter-state negotiations and agreements on the conspiracy were ongoing, there was an assassination attempt against Abdullah Öcalan with a car bomb in Damascus on 6 May 1996. The attack failed, after which threats against Syria came into play. 

 

Öcalan was forced to leave Damascus after Syria bowed to pressure from the USA, Israel and Turkey. On 15 February 1999, he was brought to Turkey and started to be held under severe isolation conditions in the F-Type High Security Closed Prison on İmralı Island. 

 

Since the day he was brought to Turkey, Öcalan has been held in a cell in İmralı Prison, which he describes as a "coffin". 

 

As new details of the conspiracy emerged over the years, Öcalan wrote a book entitled "International Conspiracy Athens Case" in which he described the conspiracy process in full detail. 

 

Started on 9 October 1998 and continued until 15 February 1999, the information contained in the book is as follows: 

 

THE PROCESS BEFORE 9 OCTOBER

 

27 October 1994: Then US President Bill Clinton met with Hafez al-Assad in Damascus. It was announced that the visit was organised for "reaching a comprehensive peace in the Middle East". However, 3 hours of the 4-hour meeting between Bill Clinton and Hafez Assad was about Abdullah Öcalan. During the meeting, Abdullah Öcalan was targeted as "the biggest threat".

 

23 February 1996: Turkey and Israel signed a new military cooperation agreement. Co-operation against Syria was also included in the agreement. In this context, pressure on Syria was increased. 

 

9 April 1996: A "secret" meeting was held between Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis and US President Bill Clinton at the White House in Washington. During the meeting, relations between Turkey and Greece were discussed. Simitis supported the regional policies of the US and agreed to co-operate with Turkey. Clinton promised to solve the problems between Turkey and Greece. In the following period, it became clear that Abdullah Öcalan was one of the main subjects of mutual "co-operation and solution" negotiations. 

 

6 May 1996: While negotiations and agreements between states were in progress, an assassination attempt was made against Abdullah Öcalan in Damascus with a car bomb. A car loaded with C4 explosives was detonated near the house where Abdullah Öcalan was believed to be. Very shortly after the explosion, London-based newspapers began to report that Abdullah Öcalan had lost his life. 

 

May 1997: Turhan Tayan, then Minister of Defence, visited Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Syria. Israeli officials made statements against Kurdish groups for the first time after the visit. 

 

16 September 1998: General Atilla Ateş, Commander of the Turkish Land Forces, made statements on the Syrian border and demanded the deportation or surrender of Abdullah Öcalan. 

 

17 September 1998: KDP Chair Massoud Barzani was summoned to Ankara. Barzani was then brought together with Jalal Talabani, President of PUK, and sent to Washington. On 17 September 1998, the Washington Kurdish Autonomy Treaty was signed between the KDP-YNK-US. The liquidation of the PKK and co-operation on Syria were among the objectives of the agreement. The shaping of Iraq on a federal basis was also among the topics discussed during the meeting. 

 

30 September 1998: At the National Security Council (MGK) meeting chaired by President Süleyman Demirel, military options against Syria were discussed. Demirel threatened to launch a military intervention against Syria on 1 October.

 

3 October 1998: NATO launched a comprehensive military exercise in Iskenderun on the Syrian border. 2,500 US soldiers and personnel participated in the exercise. The aim was to increase pressure on Damascus to get Abdullah Öcalan out of Syria. In addition, as part of the exercise, US Navy warships and advanced missiles were moved to the Syrian border in the Eastern Mediterranean. On the same days, Israel also deployed military forces to the Golan Heights. In parallel to this, Commander of the Turkish Land Forces Atilla Ateş and President Demirel made statements targeting Syria and Abdullah Öcalan. Soon after, troops were deployed to the 618-kilometre-long Syrian border stretching from Hatay to the Cizîr (Cizre) district of Şirnex (Şırnak) and the Amed-Meletî air bases were put on orange alert, which was a transition to red alert. The United States made diplomatic overtures to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, asking them to put pressure on Syria. 

 

9 October 1998: Syria bowed to US-Israeli-Turkish pressure and forced Abdullah Öcalan to leave the country. Abdullah Öcalan then left Syria. Ocalan travelled from Damascus Airport to Athens on a Syrian passenger plane. 

 

9 October 1998: Abdullah Öcalan took a Syrian passenger plane to the airport in Athens. However, Kostas Baduvas, former Greek Minister of Transport and PASOK MP, who had personally invited Abdullah Öcalan, informed him that everything had been prepared in advance and promised to welcome him, did not greet Öcalan after the plane landed. Instead of Baduvas, Savvas Kalenteridis and senior intelligence official Stavrakakis appeared before Abdullah Öcalan. Öcalan's asylum application was not sent to the court and he was told to leave Greece immediately. Abdullah Öcalan was taken to Moscow the same day on a special aircraft organised by the Greek Foreign Ministry.

 

9 October 1998: Abdullah Öcalan travelled to Russia where he was welcomed by Numan Uçar and Russian "security personnel". Öcalan was taken first to the house of Jirinowski, the chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party, and then to a chalet. 

 

11 October 1998: Following Abdullah Öcalan's departure from Syria, intelligence information including transit points was delivered to Ankara. On 11 October 1998, Mesut Yılmaz, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey at the time, held a press conference on the subject and said: "As of today, we have learned that Öcalan is in Russia through information provided by the intelligence organisation of an allied country". Abdullah Öcalan then applied for political asylum to the Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament.

 

4 November 1998: The Duma accepted Abdullah Öcalan's request for asylum with 298 votes against 1. The first reaction to the Duma's decision came from the USA. US State Department spokesperson James Rubin said in a statement that no one should ask Abdullah Öcalan for asylum. Russian Prime Minister Primakov, who did not recognise the Duma decision on Abdullah Öcalan, gave a 9-day deadline and asked Abdullah Öcalan to leave Russia.

 

12 November 1998: Abdullah Öcalan crossed to Rome, Italy with the intervention of Ramon Mantovani, a member of the Communist Party for the Restoration of Italy (PRC). Abdullah Öcalan was arrested as soon as he landed at the Italian Airport. Öcalan then applied for asylum in Rome.

  

21 November 1998: US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright had a long meeting with Javier Solana, then Secretary General of NATO, to ensure that Abdullah Öcalan was not admitted to any country.

  

24 November 1998: US President Clinton told Italian President D'Alema, whom he called twice, "Avoid a historic mistake!". While US State Department spokesperson James Rubin stated that "Öcalan should be extradited to Turkey as soon as possible", pressure on Italy continued at the Council of Europe level.

 

Öcalan stated that the pressure on the process here is more severe than on İmralı Island. Öcalan said that they attempted to find a different country, but the German Federal Government issued an arrest warrant "without extradition as its purpose" and France refused. Öcalan said that Finland and Austria also rejected his asylum request. Öcalan stated that he had been declared "persona non grata" in Europe. 

 

16 January 1999: Abdullah Öcalan left Italy and arrived in Moscow. PKK Leader Öcalan explained this situation as follows: "Italy's offer, 'Take Öcalan back and we will open the first part of the IMF's blocked 1998 aid of 8 billion dollars,' was accepted by Russia." Abdullah Öcalan, who went to Russia for the second time, said that they were put in a room and were not even taken out, and described this situation as being put in an "iron cage". 

 

17 January 1999: Russian security officials told Abdullah Öcalan that the government did not want him to stay here and that this instruction was given by Primakov.

 

18 January 1999: Russian Ambassador to Ankara Aleksandr Lebedev promised Turkey that "Öcalan will be deported as soon as he is caught". Bülent Ecevit confirmed this in a statement to the press on the same day. Abdullah Öcalan had described this process as "the preparation of the cross or the coffin". 

 

20 January 1999: Öcalan was taken against his will to a village house in Bishkek, the capital of Tajikistan. Öcalan was kept in isolation here for 8 days. 

 

28 January 1999: Abdullah Öcalan was again taken to Moscow on a prepared plane. Here, Abdullah Öcalan was threatened by Russian special forces and asked to be taken back to Damascus. However, Abdullah Öcalan refused this offer. As the situation had become dangerous, Abdullah Öcalan informed Admiral Naksakis that his life safety was in danger.

 

29 January 1999: On a private plane brought by retired General Naksakis, Abdullah Öcalan landed for the second time directly in Athens, suspecting that the Russian authorities travelling in Leningard were offering to land in Bucharest.

 

30 January 1999: Greek Foreign Minister Teodoros Pangalos said: "Welcome to our country. We would like to meet with you. Necessary legal procedures will be taken. There will be no different approach. In this respect, we would like to discuss your situation in concrete terms." He sent this message to Abdullah Öcalan via Naksakis. Abdullah Öcalan, who accepted the meeting, met again with Stavrakakis and Kalenteridis instead of Pangalos. 

 

30 January 1999: At the World Economic Forum meeting held in Davos, the situation of Abdullah Öcalan was discussed between Russian Prime Minister Primakov and US oil companies. Kommersant, an economics newspaper published in Russia, wrote in its news article titled "Oil bargain against Apo" that with the Davos agreement Kazakh oil would be distributed through Russia and Azeri oil through Turkey.

 

31 January 1999: Abdullah Öcalan landed at Minsk airport with a plane prepared with the initiatives of Greece. On the day Abdullah Öcalan landed at Minsk Airport, a secret decision was taken in Switzerland and all international airports in Europe were put on high alert with a high-level decision not to allow any plane in which Abdullah Öcalan would be present to land.

 

On the same day at Minsk Airport, Abdullah Öcalan did not leave the Greek plane because the Dutch plane did not arrive. The plane returned to Athens around 04.00 on the morning of 31 January to 1 February. Due to the control carried out by NATO forces, the plane with Abdullah Öcalan on board was not allowed to land at any other airport even for fuel.

 

1 February 1999: Pangalos informed Nicholas Burns, the US Ambassador to Athens, by telephone that Abdullah Öcalan, who was being held in isolation on Corfu Island, was in Greece. Afterwards Abdullah Öcalan was assured that he would go to South Africa and that he would be safe. 

 

2 February 1999: Abdullah Öcalan left the airport in Corfu on 2 February at 05.30 on a private plane instead of South Africa. The US Ambassador to Athens Nicholas Burns, Simitis and Pangalos were asked to take him to Kenya. This secret plane, which was most likely arranged by NATO Gladio or the CIA, reportedly coming from Switzerland, landed at Nairobi Airport at around 11.00 a.m. on 2 February (1999). Abdullah Öcalan was welcomed by the Kenyan Ambassador Kostoulas. The customs clearance was done by the same ambassador.

 

4 February 1999: In the evening, a CIA member requested a meeting with Turkey's Undersecretary of National Intelligence Service (MIT) Şenkal Atasagun. The CIA station chief and three Americans, two counter-terrorism experts, went to Atasagun's house and offered the Turkish authorities support and a joint operation for the capture of Abdullah Öcalan on the orders of US President Clinton. Turkey accepted this proposal. At the same time, Turkish Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit told journalist Sedat Ergin following the kidnapping of Abdullah Öcalan: "On 4 February we received news that Öcalan could be taken from Africa. Thereupon, this mechanism was set in motion." Upon this, President Süleyman Demirel convened the state summit at Çankaya Mansion at midnight. On the same date, İmralı semi-open prison was emptied and handed over to the General Staff. The area around the island was declared a military zone and under the name of renovation, İmralı Prison, which was to be used for a single person, was started to be rebuilt.

 

8 February 1999: Ambassador Kostoulas sent his deputy, Yorgos Diakofotakis, to Kenya at the request of Kathourima, Secretary General of the Directorate of Foreign Affairs. Necati Bilican, Director General of Turkish National Police, told Der Spiegel magazine that Abdullah Öcalan was being followed step by step and said "We will catch him".

 

10 February 1999: A Turkish plane took off from Istanbul and landed at Entebbe Airport in Uganda at around 16.00 local time. It was revealed that this French Dassault aircraft belonged to Cavit Çağlar, a Turkish businessman. The 9-member team went to Kampala, the capital of Uganda, Kenya's northern neighbour, and settled in Entebbe Lake Victoria Hotel for five days and waited for news from Kenya. 

 

On the same day, Ambassador Kostoulas and businessman Yorgos Panos also visited the Kenyan Embassy residence and once again tried to persuade Abdullah Öcalan to leave the embassy under the Seychelles plan. On the morning of 13 February 1999, upon Abdullah Öcalan's persistent refusal to leave the embassy residence, an attempt was made to force him out.

 

15 February 1999: On 15 February, while Kenya demanded that he leave the border, Abdullah Öcalan left the building on the condition that he go to the Netherlands. On the evening of 15 February, Abdullah Öcalan was kidnapped from Nairobi Airport by a joint operation of international intelligence agencies. On 16 February, Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit appeared before the cameras and announced that Abdullah Öcalan had been brought to Turkey. 

 

MA / Azad Altay