Declaration of the Internationalist Commune in Rojava about the international conspiracy of 15 February 1999 and the current situation in North and East Syria
To understand the situation of North and East Syria today, it is important to understand the conspiracy of 15 February 1999
On 15 February 1999, Rêber Apo (Abdullah Öcalan) was imprisoned on Imrali Island. This was the peak of an international conspiracy launched by hegemonic forces such as Israel, the United States, the United Kingdom, Turkey and many others. This conspiracy was part of a larger imperialist plan to take control of the Middle East. A main obstacle to achieve this was Rêber Apo, who stood for the creation of a democratic society in the region. On 6 January 2026, a new phase of war began in North and East Syria. Two days before the war was approved at a meeting of the same forces that had provoked the conspiracy in 1999 — namely Israel, the United States, Turkey, and the Syrian Transitional Government. Right after this Jihadist forces began to attack the territories of the Autonomous Administration of North East Syria. Turkey openly supported the attacks, while the United States and Israel remained in silent complicity. The main target of the attack was not the territory itself, but the democratic nation paradigm practised by the Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians and Turkmens in North and East Syria. As in 1999, the attacks began during a peace process and constitute a clear coup against the ethics and morals of the democratic forces in the Middle East.
‘This war is a second 15th February’
Rêber Apo defined the beginning of this war as a ‘second 15 February’. International powers formed alliances precisely to prevent the values of North and East Syria from spreading. Neither the international coalition forces against ISIS, nor the Syrian transitional government, nor Turkey has ever accepted the self-governing system established in Rojava and North and East Syria. They consider democratic values to be a threat to their attempts to gain political and economic control over Syria. They have aimed to break the will of the Kurds and their allies, and to eliminate the democratic system in North and East Syria.
The attack on the territory is a direct attack on the process for peace and a democratic society
The war in Rojava is therefore a clear sign of Turkey’s willingness to attack the peace process and democratic society proclaimed by Rêber Apo on February 27, 2025, a peace process that, within international, capitalist, and imperialist policies, proposes a concrete solution of brotherhood between the Kurdish and Turkish peoples. It therefore offers the possibility of coexistence and peace among the peoples of the Middle East.
‘Rojava is my red line’
Rêber Apo himself defined Rojava as his red line. Rojava is a place that has put the theory of the democratic nation into practice. This is why Rêber Apo feels such a strong sense of responsibility towards the ongoing revolution in Rojava. At a time when Rêber Apo is making strong efforts to resolve military conflicts politically and is more insistent than ever on a peaceful solution, these attacks are a clear insult to the democratic nation. Rêber Apo’s stance is clear: he no longer tolerates genocidal policies and conspiracies against a people fighting for freedom and humanity itself. When the war escalated, he openly told the Turkish state, ‘If the war continues like this, I will retreat from the peace process’. Ultimately, it was this threat that brought the agreement on the integration process and the ceasefire.
This war is clearly an attack on the women’s revolution
This second conspiracy is an obvious attack on the women’s revolution that emerged in Rojava under the vanguardship of the YPJ. In this war, the mercenaries of ISIS, the Syrian Transitional Government, and Turkey aimed to take revenge on the women who had liberated themselves and society, as well as on the women’s liberation ideology, which is the biggest obstacle to the dominant male mentality of this century. They want to destroy women’s awareness of their revolutionary strength — an awareness that has taken root in this territory since the ideology of women’s liberation spread. Cutting off a braid of a woman fighter symbolises an attack on women’s dignity. However, thousands of women worldwide responded by braiding their hair in solidarity with the Kurdish women fighters. Rêber Apo’s anger against the dominant male mentality is also our anger. Taking action and organising against this war clearly rejects this attack on women. As young people and young internationalist women, we therefore fight to protect and spread the ideology of women’s liberation. Our struggle is our revenge for all the women who have fallen as martyrs in this war. We follow in the path of resistance of our comrades Şehîd Denîz Çiya and Sîdar Efrîn. The fact that more than 400 women are gathering in Colombia today to discuss the organisation of women worldwide and celebrate their unity is thanks to strong and powerful women like Şehîd Denîz and Şehîd Sîdar.
The conspiracy affects us all
Rêber Apo’s resistance is a way of life that continues to influence millions of Kurds and people around the world. As a leader and revolutionary, he himself represents a threat to hegemonic states and a possibility of freedom for all people and nations. Rêber Apo’s paradigm offers an alternative to capitalist modernity: a vision of a free life, revived socialism, and our existence as ethical and political societies. As internationalists, we therefore clearly see that the conspiracies in place are against the possibility of a free life for all peoples worldwide.
Resistance is life!
Despite these conditions, Rêber Apo has continued to resist and search for a life in accordance with the democratic modernity paradigm every day for the past 27 years. Despite his isolation, he has never stopped being a vanguard for society, always sharing his perspectives, analyses, criticisms and greetings with everyone. When he recently said, ‘I am still living like a socialist’, it was clear that isolation was no obstacle to his connection with society. When he sent the only flower growing in his yard to the women comrades, he demonstrated his love and passion for the women’s struggle once again. When he sent a poem in response to hundreds of letters he had received from Kurdish children, he expressed his connection to society and his hope for a better future. This shows us that although the hegemonic and imperialist powers may organise to crush any alternative threat, Rêber Apo’s resistance creates, overcomes and defeats these conspiracies. Therefore, it represents hope and the possibility of victory and success in the struggle.
Rêber Apo’s freedom is our freedom!
As young internationalists, Rêber Apo is a symbol of struggle and hope to us in a system that imposes isolation and alienation from our history of struggle and resistance on all young people and women. For this reason, we will fight for Rêber Apo’s freedom because it is also a struggle for ours. Rêber Apo plays a key role in the scenario of the Third World War, offering to act as a mediator to find a solution to the question of the Middle East. This is why his physical freedom is crucial in allowing him to fulfil this role. We will fight of a status for Rojava in order to secure all the values that have been established through the revolution, and which are still under threat from jihadist and imperialist forces. We will fight against all the attacks on the Rojava Revolution, a revolution that is based on Rêber Apo’s internationalist and socialist ideas — the key to ending conflict in the Middle East and beyond.