URFA - Childhood friends told stories about PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan on his 72nd birthday. While Mehmet Reşit Öcalan said: "He did everything for the Kurdish people," Fadile Yagıbasan said, " His only wish is for everyone to be equal. What's wrong with that?" 

 

With an international operation, PKK Leader Abdullah Ocalan was delivered to Turkey. He has been held under aggravated isolation in İmralı High-Security F Type Prison for 22 years. His childhood friends told stories about Abdullah Öcalan, who will turn 72 on April 4.

 

ÖCALAN: THIS JOB IS UNIMPORTANT

 

78-year-old Mehmet Reşit Öcalan, a friend of Öcalan from the Amara Neighborhood of the Halfeti district of Urfa, where Öcalan was born, said his fields were side by side in the village. Reşit Öcalan, who stated that Öcalan was a child when he was young, said, "Our grandfathers were brothers. We were always side by side. He used to go to school. My father used to tell me, 'Give Abdullah pocket money, he came from school.' We were relatives, such things was ok between us. He worked as a civil servant in Diyarbakır for one and a half years. We told him that he had a good job. He would say, "This job is unimportant.I will go to higher schools."

 

HE WAS TWICE AS FAST 

 

Reşit Öcalan telling about the time they worked together in the field said, "While we were working in the field, we used to collect lentils by hand. He would finish his job first. He was twice as fast. He was a very hardworking child. One day we were sitting with him in their field. We had one rifle at that time. He was young back then. I left a stone in the distance, and said: "Abdullah, let's shoot that stone and see which one of us can shoot it first". He accepted. I shot and hit the stone. He also took a shot. Then he waved his hand and said: "These kind of things are not my scene."

 

FRANK AND SINCERE

 

Saying that Öcalan was good with different groups even as a child, Reşit Öcalan said, "He would not miss his prayer. It was like that in middle school. He had Turkmen friends, he was good with them. He was a very frank and sincere person. We have not heard of any hostility between Kurds and Turks here. We know it from our grandparents."

 

THE WORLD LOVES HIM

 

Drawing attention to the current situation of his childhood friend, Mehmet Reşit Öcalan said, "I missed him very much. I cannot speak when he is mentioned. The state is now isolating him. He has been in prison for so many years. Neither his family nor his attorneys are allowed to see him. When he was on trial, I went to the court, they did allow me in the court room. I went to court, thinking seeing me will give him morale. But they did not let me in. I applied twice, they did not accept. I really want to see him. I guess I would hug him if he comes out right now. He is a different person. The world loves him. He did nothing for his own family, he did everything for the Kurdish people. He is currently in isolation. This isolation must end. This is now up to the conscience of the Kurdish people.  I hope he gets out of that box."

 

'I WILL PUT UP A MONUMENT'

 

Another childhood friend of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, Fadile Yagıbasan, who lives in the Turkmen village of Ortayol (Ereh) in Halfeti district of Urfa, said: "He would say whatever his thoughts were, he was not afraid." Saying that they came to their village with his mother, Yagıbasan told:  "We were 14-years-old. There was a structure made of stone. He was looking at it, and said, "I will put up a monument here." "He was a very well-mannered child." 

 

ALL HE WANTED WAS EQUALITY

 

Yagıbasan also criticized the fact that Öcalan's is in İmralı for so long and said:  "He is not guilty.There is no real reason as to why he is in prison. What did he do, what harm did he do? I want him to be released. He is my relative. Doesn't a person miss his relative? It is a pity that he is in prison for so long. All he wanted was equality. What's wrong with that?"

 

MA / Lezgin Tekay - Barış Polat