ISTANBUL - Hundreds of prominent personalities and international organisations have demanded the physical freedom of Abdullah Öcalan in the events organised as part of the "I want to visit Abdullah Öcalan" campaign, which has completed its third month. 

 

Academics, intellectuals, politicians and journalists who were forced to go abroad due to political pressure and threats of imprisonment in Turkey have founded the European Forum for Freedom and Peace (EFFP). The platform launched the campaign "I want to visit Ocalan/Abdullah Öcalan" on 5 June. While the process initiated by Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan with the Call for Peace and Democratic Society continues, the demand for Abdullah Öcalan's physical freedom is increasing day by day, and the EFFP continues its demands. 

 

The EFFP published the following statements in the text they published regarding the campaign "The 'I want to visit Ocalan' campaign is not just a request for a visit, but a call of a global conscience rising against the Imrali system, which has become a symbol of isolation, policies that want to suffocate the hopes for peace and the lack of a solution in the 21st century. This new period, which started with Abdullah Öcalan's call for peace and a democratic society on 27 February, offers a unique opportunity to silence the guns and open the way to a democratic solution. For this reason, the campaign is not only a defence of the right to a meeting, but also an embrace of the peoples' right to peace and freedom. As the voice of hundreds of individuals and organisations from different continents, faiths, political traditions and social struggles, the campaign demonstrates the will to meet on a common ground for the construction of a peaceful future in the Middle East and the world. 

 

The continuation of the isolation is not only taking a prisoner hostage, but also the peoples' right to a democratic solution. However, we know that dialogue, not isolation; dialogue, not war; peace is the key to a lasting solution. This campaign has once again shown that defending peace requires courage, continuity and global solidarity. The task now is to raise this voice even higher, to make the lifting of the isolation and the resumption of the negotiation process with Öcalan one of the main agendas of the international public opinion for the democratic solution of the Kurdish question." 

 

We have compiled the developments within the scope of the campaign, which has left its second month behind. In the first phase of the campaign, the Ministry of Justice was requested to meet with Abdullah Öcalan through video messages on digital media. In the video calls, it was stated that Abdullah Öcalan's call offers a strong ground not only for peace but also for the solution of the centuries-old Kurdish issue on the basis of freedom, equality, justice and democracy. Within the scope of the campaign, academics, artists, politicians, journalists, human rights defenders, activists from various walks of life made official applications to the Ministry of Justice via e-mail to visit Abdullah Öcalan. In the applications, it was noted that it was of great importance to listen to Abdullah Öcalan's proposals for a solution to the Kurdish issue at first hand. 

 

A 39-MEMBER DELEGATION ARRIVED IN TURKEY

 

Within the scope of the campaign, 39 names including journalists, writers, academics, trade unionists, parliamentarians, lawyers and academics from different European countries came to Istanbul. The delegation that came as part of the campaign visited the Asrin Law Office, which acts as Abdullah Öcalan's lawyer, and handed over the petition containing the demands for a meeting to the lawyers. 

 

WE INSIST FOR FREEDOM INITIATIVE

 

Seven young people from the We Insist on Freedom Initiative, founded by European youth, applied to the Ministry of Justice on 24 July to come to Turkey and meet Abdullah Öcalan. The young people, who came together in Europe and described themselves as international, announced that they had established the initiative to ensure the physical freedom of Abdullah Öcalan and to contribute to the democratic solution of the Kurdish question. The group held many meetings and contacts in Istanbul, including visits to DEM Party and Asrin Law Office.

 

100 WOMEN APPLIED TO THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

 

As part of the campaign, on 28 July, 100 women from Latin America and France, including prominent community leaders, feminist collectives and human rights defenders, submitted an official application to the Ministry of Justice to visit Abdullah Öcalan. In a joint letter, 100 women from Argentina, Guatemala, Bolivia, Chile, France, Uruguay, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Honduras, Nicaragua, Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina, Guatemala, Bolivia, Chile, France, Uruguay, Colombia, Mexico, Mexico, Paraguay, Honduras, Nicaragua, Brazil and Ecuador, including many well-known activists, indigenous spiritual leaders, collectives and feminists, submitted an application to the Ministry of Justice. The application emphasised that Abdullah Öcalan's freedom would pave the way to peace in the Middle East and the whole world.

 

SUPPORT FROM MANY CIRCLES

 

In three months, the campaign "I want to visit Ocalan" has received support from many organisations, artists, academics and MPs from Europe to Africa, Kurdistan to Latin America. With the launch of the campaign, the organisations supporting the campaign are as follows: European Left Party, European Parliament Left Group, ARCI (Associazione Ricreativa e Culturale Italiana), Catholic Bishops' Conference - South Africa, Evangelical Alliance - South Africa, Confederazione dei Comitati di Base - People's Labour Union, Italy, BastA! - BastA Switzerland, OSTA, TAESA, NAV-BEL, transform!europe, International Peace Research Association - USA, Mathare Social Justice Centre - Kenya, Nairobi, Zimbabwe People's Land Rights Movement.

 

INSTITUTIONAL REPRESENTATIVES AND ACTIVISTS

 

Representatives of many organisations also supported the campaign. The names of some of the well-known representatives of organisations and personalities are as follows: "Ashish Kothari, co-founder of the Environmental Action Group Kalpavriksh, Barbara Steiner of Transform Europe, Danielle Simonnet, MP for Paris 15th District, Dr Walter Baier, President of the European Left Party, Dr. Walter Baier, International Secretary of the Advisory Council of Catalonia, Ferron Coll i Soi, Secretary General of BastA, Franziska Stier, National Coordinator of the Zimbabwe People's Land Rights Movement, Hilary Zhou, National Coordinator of the Zimbabwe People's Land Rights Movement, Jakob Migenda from the German Left Party, co-founder of the Blue Labour movement, political theorist, Lord Maurice Glasman, academic, Martin Schirdewan, Co-Chair of the Left Group in the European Parliament, Mike Arnott, Secretary of Dundee Trade Union Council, Pedro Lobera, Secretary General of OSTA, Prof Dr Matt Meyer, Secretary General of IPRA, USA, Rev Moss, Secretary General of the Evangelical Alliance of South Africa. 

 

INTERNATIONAL INDIVIDUAL SUPPORTERS

 

Politicians, journalists, thinkers and activists from various countries have expressed their support for the campaign: Alan Michael Lapsley, South African Anglican Priest, key figure in the anti-apartheid resistance, founder of the Institute for Healing of Memories, Alenka Zupancic, Slovenian philosopher focusing on psychoanalysis and continental philosophy, Professor, Philosophy and Psychoanalysis at The European Graduate School / EGS. Nova Goricia. Anuradha Chenoy, India, Professor specialising in Gender, Militarisation and international relations and Alternative security politics, active member of Jindal Global University, Asia Europe Peoples Forum and the International Peace Bureau. Dr Federico Venturini, Italian academic and activist, known for his work on the right to the city, ecosocialism and local resistance. Federico Venturini from Udine University, Australian philosopher, feminist theorist and professor in the United States Elisabeth Grosz, Honorary President of Sinn Féin, Northern Ireland Gerry Adams, ZPLRM Coordinator Hilary Zhou, former leader of the UK Labour Party (2015-2020), British parliamentarian and peace activist, Jeremy Corbyn, co-founder of Your Party (2025), Josu Urrutikoetxea, senior ETA leader, diplomat, former MP, Ken Loach, British film director and activist, Kostis Moudatsos, Cretan artist, painter and musician, Livia Mattmüller, German activist, British academic, politician. Maurice Glasman (Baron Glasman), co-founder of the Blue Labour movement, UN human rights expert, jurist, New Delhi, India and Geneva, Switzerland, and Miloon Kothari, commissioner of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry on Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, and chair of the UPR Info, United Nations Human Rights Council,  Rahila Gupta, Professor, University of Ljubljana, New York University and University of London; Slavoj Zizek, Slovenian Neo-Marxist sociologist, philosopher and cultural critic, co-founder of Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25); Srecko Horvat, Croatian philosopher, writer and political activist.

 

MA / Esra Solin Dal