Call from 14 institutions: Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan!

KONGRA-GEL co-chair Remzi Kartal urged international organizations to speak out and call for freedom for Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan.

As the day of the international conspiracy's beginning, 9 October, approaches, the ‘Freedom Vigil’ in Strasbourg continued. The action began in 2012 and today there was a big rally. Kongra Gel co-chair Remzi Kartal, UNITE Union International and Research Director and one of the founders of the Freedom for Öcalan Campaign Simon Dubbins, UK UNITE Union Official and Freedom for Öcalan Campaign Representative Clare Baker, Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan Committee in Italy Prof. Laura Corradi, Representative of the French Solidaires Union, Representative of TJK-E Besime Konca, Dr. Mohamed Al Shami on behalf of the International Union for the Defense of Rights and Freedoms (AIDL), Co-chairman of MRAP (MRAP- People's Friendship Movement Against Racism) Rénee Le Mignot, were all among the participants at the rally.

14 separate organizations will present the following three demands to the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE):

"To ensure that Abdullah Öcalan and other detainees in Imrali meet with the CPT, their lawyers, and their families as soon as possible, and to put an end to isolation,

The ECHR, the Council of Europe, and the UN should impose sanctions on Turkey for violating the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Political Prisoners under the existing detention regime (Nelson Mandela Rules),

The Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers should take immediate political steps toward Öcalan's freedom by utilizing the sanction power provided by its executive power.”

Kongra Gel: Raise your voice!

Kongra Gel co-chair, Remzi Kartal, said that the main reason for the Middle East's standstill is the isolation of Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan. “The Council of Europe – he said - should promptly take the CPT reports into consideration and take the initiative to put an end to the 23-year-old abuse in Imrali. The only prerequisite for a solution in any field is that Öcalan's isolation be lifted and he regain his freedom as soon as possible. At this point, ECHR, AP, and CPT must fulfill their obligations."

Dubbins: We stand by the Kurds

Simon Dubbins, UNITE Union International and Research Director and one of the founders of the Freedom for Öcalan Campaign, said: "We totally stand by you. Today, I respectfully greet the vigil you have held here with determination and bravery demanding the end of the isolation and torture against Öcalan." Dubbins also said that his blood freeze when a "young person raised his hand for Öcalan at the 6th conference we held and said ‘we do not know whether Mr. Öcalan is alive or not. Do you?’ This question should be asked to all the institutions that are partners in crime of the Turkish state with their silence."

Dubbins ended his speech by reminding that they are a union with 6 million members in England and said that he brought the greetings of these 6 million members to Abdullah Öcalan."

Emphasizing that Abdullah Öcalan's entire struggle is for the freedom of the Kurdish and Middle Eastern peoples, Clare Baker, UK UNITE Union Official and Representative of the Freedom for Öcalan Campaign, said: "Abdullah Öcalan is a leader accepted by many peoples in the Middle East today. Abdullah Öcalan's freedom is the freedom of the peoples of the Middle East. Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held in Imrali for 23 years, is the key to the solution for all the problems of the Middle East. Today, we are calling once again from the PACE, to ensure freedom."

Laura Corradi: Freedom for Öcalan immediately!

"We all know well that Abdullah Öcalan was sent to Imrali as a result of an international conspiracy. This situation came after the betrayal of the Kurds and Abdullah Öcalan by many nation states, including Italy," said Prof. Member of the Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan Committee of Italy, Laura Corradi. “What Mandela is to South Africa, Öcalan is to the Middle East. When we look at Öcalan's paradigms today, we can see that he sheds light on the peoples of the world on all issues. The woman line created by Öcalan is a line that will prevent femicide. The model of democratic modernity he created is our only weapon against capitalist modernity. Therefore, we demands freedom for Öcalan immediately!"

TJK-E: We are facing isolation for over 22 years!

Besime Konca, TJK-E Representative, started her speech by saluting the Medya Defense Areas and Shengal, where the attacks of the KDP and Turkey have intensified recently, and underlined that Kurds "are facing isolation for over 22 years." Drawing attention to Lausanne, Konca said: "Those who divided Kurdistan into four parts in Lausanne yesterday, maintained isolation today. Today the mountains of Kurdistan are being destroyed, the Kurds are being massacred. We will never bow to all these inhuman practices. We will liberate our leadership as well as the peoples of the Middle East."