A letter for submission to The Age calls on the Australian government to support an end to the isolation regime imposed upon Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan.

The letter was jointly signed by over 20 people, mainly writers and academics in solidarity with DTK Co-chair and HDP MP Leyla Güven who is on day 91 of indefinite hunger strike against the isolation of the Kurdish leader.

The letter reads as follows;

“Kurdish MP Leyla Güven has now spent 90 days on hunger strike, calling for an end to the total isolation of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.  Despite being released from prison by a recent court order, Güven’s hunger strike continues.  Over 300 Kurdish political prisoners - including MPs, journalists and academics – are following her example, at various stages of indefinite hunger strikes.

At issue is Turkey’s harsh and punitive treatment of Öcalan, in breach of international human rights standards and Turkey’s own laws.  Numerous bodies including the Council of Europe and the UK Parliament have called for a different approach and a negotiated solution to Turkey’s dispute with the Kurds.  Yet Turkey’s ruling AKP-MHP regime under President Erdoğan has proved unbending in the face of all such calls.

It was Öcalan and the PKK who initiated moves towards a peaceful resolution of Kurdish issues in Turkey in March 2013.  After initial engagement, elements of the Turkish state sabotaged the process and began a campaign of extreme violence against the Kurds that continues today.  A peaceful and lasting solution to the status of Kurds in Turkey is clearly impossible while Öcalan remains in isolation.

Australia should support international demands for all MPs imprisoned in Turkey to be freed, for Öcalan’s isolation to be ended immediately and for the Erdoğan regime to enter into meaningful negotiations. We call on the Australian Parliament to add its voice to those in Europe and elsewhere who have put humanity and human rights principles first.”

SIGNATORIES

Paul Adams – National Tertiary Education Union

Wendy Bacon – Journalist

Councillor Sue Bolton – Moreland City Council

Emeritus Professor Dorothy Bruck – Victoria University

Emeritus Professor Phillip Deery – Victoria University

Emeritus Professor James Doughney – Victoria University

Councillor Stephen Jolly – Yarra City Council

Professor Damian Kingsbury – Deakin University

Professor Helga Kuhse – Monash University

Costas Markos – Greek Community of Victoria

Paul McAleer – Maritime Union of Australia

Matthew McGowan – National Tertiary Education Union

Craig McGregor – Victorian Allied Health Professionals Association

Godfrey Moase – National Union of Workers

Professor Chris Nash – Monash University

Warren Smith – Maritime Union of Australia

Rob Stary – Stary Norton Halphen

Christos Tsiolkas – Writer

Emeritus Professor John Tully – Victoria University

Cam Walker – Friends of the Earth

Dr Jacinda Woodhead – Overland Magazine

Arnold Zable – Writer

Professor Spencer Zifcak – Australian Catholic University