In the final declaration of the 12th Congress of the PKK, which was organised after Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan's call for peace and democratic society, the PKK announced that two of its founding leaders, Ali Haydar Kaytan and Rıza Altun, died on different dates.

 

Mustafa Bayram, a member of the Dîlok (Antep) 78'ers Initiative, one of the people who knew Ali Haydar Kaytan, said: "Kaytan is not a friend who can be described in a few words. He was an ideological-political and military genius. We stayed with him in Europe for 2 months. Kaytan was a disciplined, strong critic, a pioneering cadre who was loyal to his comrades and supported them. During the time we lived with him, he repeatedly stated: 'If I go against this party and the Leader (Abdullah Öcalan), I will destroy myself.' Kaytan was a perfect person in everything."

 

MET MANY PIONEERING CADRES

 

Bayram stated that in the Xelfetî (Halfeti) district of Riha (Urfa), where he lived until his youth, he met names such as Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan and PKK's leading cadres Haki Karer, Kemal Pir, Cemil Bayık and Murat Karayılan. Bayram continued as follows: "We have either met or hosted these names in our homes. When I was 13 years old, I went to the village of Amara with my mother. One of my older sisters was married there. Abdullah Öcalan said he wanted to come with us. When my mother started to ask him, she learnt that he was going to join my older brother Ahmet Bayram. We knew then that there were leftist organisations. We also sympathised with them. He was wanted at the time. We also knew that he had been in prison in the past, so we had some reservations. The first time we met him was when we were walking from Amara to Gogan. One day there was a student house in our village, 15-20 square metres. He gathered the young people there in that house and told us about the history of Kurdistan and the history of colonialism. He even left a note for us to read. The next meeting was in Erah. He was gathering them and talking to them, that's how we met once again to convince them. He used to come to the Palestinian camps every 5-6 months. He would make evaluations and analyses. He gave conferences for educational purposes. Our last encounter was in a house in Damascus. We were sitting in a room with 4-5 friends having dinner, and he came in while we were eating. I got up as a sign of respect, and when he saw that my meal was not finished, he insisted on finishing it. Abdullah Öcalan used to say, 'The moment I serve my friends is the happiest moment'."

 

“We should work to be worthy of them,” Bayram said, adding that people from all walks of life should contribute to the success of the process.