The Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan: A Political Solution to the Kurdish Question campaign, issued a statement to thank all those who participated in the Free Öcalan: Global Days earlier this month from October 1st to the 10th.

The campaign committee said: "After reviewing the results, we can confidently say that it was a resounding success!

During those ten days, over 250 events were held in 50 countries around the world, involving the participation of tens of thousands of people."

The statement added that "in European capital cities we saw seminars on democratic confederalism in Italy and Switzerland, activities by trade unions in Spain, Catalunya, Basque Country, the UK and Scotland, parliamentary questions in Germany and Spain, women’s marches in over 20 countries, demonstrations in front of the EU Parliament in Brussels, press conferences in different national parliaments and international institutions, protests in London’s Trafalgar Square, and rallies in the “birthplace of democracy” of Athens.

There were also public meetings in Vienna and Copenhagen; seminars on social ecology and jineology in The Hague and Berlin; informational tents in Hamburg, Duisburg, and Stockholm; and govend-dancing from Darmstadt to Liverpool. Meanwhile, Kurdish Revolutionary Youth marched through the UK and Catalunya, Kurdish cultural groups held a procession through the middle of Amsterdam, and Lucerne formed a human chain stretching throughout the local park. In Italy, there were banners in Marzabotto and Bari, photo exhibits and interpretative dances in Milan and 9 other cities, and meetings with the local government in Montopolis di Sabina."

The statement also underlined that "the graphic novel ‘Freedom Shall Prevail: The Struggle of Abdullah Öcalan and the Kurdish People’ was launched in the UK; the film ‘History of Fire’ was screened by the Arin Mirkan Women’s Council in Switzerland; and the Kurdish People’s Assembly brought together Kurdish parties from across the four regions of Kurdistan (KNK, MSD, Gorran etc.) under the headline: “Let’s tear down the walls of Imrali with our organizational power!”

From South African supporters holding events in Johannesburg and Cape Town, to twenty new billboards of Öcalan’s face going up around Berlin as part of Ali Zülfikar’s new art exhibit, to the Jineology network singing with a local chorus at the train station in Marseille—our message was loud and clear, that we will not be silent as long as the illegal isolation on Imrali Island continues."

That message, said the organizing committee, "was further endorsed by all the autonomous regions (Basque, Catalunya etc.) trade unions, and was shouted and spoken about in events in varied places such as Andalucia, Galicia, Catalunya, Madrid, St. Gallen, Liège, Edinburgh, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Frankfurt, and Geneva. With one local CDK co-chair summarizing our position by announcing: “We will be in the streets until our Leader is free!”

But this message was not just limited to Europe, as large rallies were held in Qamislo, Rojava, and a historic one was held in the center of Amed in Northern Kurdistan, which featured members of the DEM party standing shoulder to shoulder with Öcalan’s brother’s Mehmet and his lawyers, who have not spoken to him in 3.5 and 5 years respectively. Such pressure also caused hundreds of lawyers in Turkey to march in front of the Turkish Constitutional Court in Ankara, with a banner asking them to: Apply the Law on Imrali, End the Isolation."

As part of the Global Days, the campaign also launched a global ‘tweet storm’ under the hashtag of #FreeAbdullahÖcalan, which was soon trending across the world with over 25,000 posts in English, German, Kurdish, and Turkish.

Moreover, a new documentary titled ‘Abdullah Öcalan: Life & Legacy’, was released and watched over 20,000 times in English on our X / twitter page, and 16,000 times in German on our campaign’s YouTube channel.

The statement added: "From Finland to Mexico, Indonesia to Ireland, and Cyprus to Australia, those who believe in Öcalan’s philosophy chanted, “His freedom is our freedom!”, while a diverse assortment of student groups, women’s organizations, trade unions, artist collectives, and political parties joined forces to show the regime in Turkey that they cannot imprison his ideas on human liberation, which continue to transcend all of Imrali Island’s barriers.

Furthermore, 1,524 attorneys from 35 countries around the world signed a petition calling for action to secure Öcalan’s freedom. On behalf of the signatories, a press conference was held in Brussels by representatives from the Association for Democracy and International Law (MAF-DAD), the Brussels Bar Association, the Brussels Bar Institute for Human Rights, the European Lawyers’ Association for Democracy and World Human Rights (ELDH), and the European Democratic Lawyers (AED).

That petition was a prelude to the 1507th meeting by the Committee of Ministers (CoM) of the Council of Europe (CoE) from 17-19 September 2024. As part of their monitoring the implementation of European Court of Human Rights’ rulings, the CoM finally addressed Turkey’s continued refusal to enact the Court’s 2014 decisions regarding life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, where Ankara is in breach of the ‘Right to Hope’ principle. By not allowing Öcalan the ability for release after 25 years, Turkey is in violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which prohibits inhuman and degrading treatment. For their part, the CoM expressed deep concern over the lack of progress and urged Turkey to act, while announcing that they would review the matter in September 2025 and instructed the Secretariat to draft an interim resolution if no changes are made. And although this was a positive sign, we believe their response is insufficient, as it amounts to permission for Turkey to continue its inhumane and illegal actions of both internal and domestic law for one year more."

The statement continued: "Nevertheless, we will remain steadfast in our knowledge that we are on the right side of history. Abdullah Öcalan has not given up despite a quarter-century on a prison island, so we refuse to abandon his mission and will continue to stand with him! As Öcalan himself stated, “Our struggle is not only for the liberation of the Kurdish people, but the liberation of the humanity of the world. The loftiness of the Kurdish people will, in the final analysis, mean the loftiness of the world’s humanity too.”

And it is under that hopeful message that our campaign to end his isolation and bring about his freedom so that he can negotiate a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question will continue."