A conference on the isolation against Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan was held in the Danish Parliament.

About 100 people, most of them Danish, attended the conference that was also joined by several deputies from the ruling and opposition parties.

The conference addressed issued such as freedom for Öcalan, support for hunger strikers and the removal of the PKK from the list of terrorists.

The implementation of the recommendations of severe sanctions against Turkey was also discussed.

The conference was organized by Global Seniors, Kurdish Forum and the Denmark Helsinki Committee and was moderated by Villo Sigurdsson.

Here is a summary of the speeches delivered at the conference.

Michael Aastrup Jensen, head of the Danish Delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (Member of the Danish Government Party Venstre):

"We will find a solution to protect our Kurdish who do not leave us alone in the fight against ISIS. We should not leave them alone because we are sharing ranks with them."

We should continue to fight together with the Kurds

Per Bo (Globale Seniors): "The announce by Trump that he is pulling US troops out of Syria has surprised us all. Americans, Pentagon officials who fought against ISIS, and many experts and government officials, have criticised Trump for this decision. Danish Defence Minister also criticised this decision and said that we should continue to fight ISIS together with Kurds.”

Carl Erik Foverskov, (Denmark Helsinki Committee): "Turkey is slaughtering human rights both in Turkey and Syria. It is doing everything it can to eliminate Kurds. Afrin is the most obvious example of this. Like is Sur, a historic place razed to the ground. Öcalan is a leader like Mandela and like him has the possibility to end this war. Öcalan is not important for Kurds in Turkey but for Kurds in other countries as well. America's premature withdrawal from Rojava may lead to a new war. Erdoğan's Turkey is a country very far from democracy and human rights."

‘We must go back to Öcalan’

Reimar Heider, German writer and translator, and member of Öcalan's Freedom Committee: "Öcalan has worked and broke ceasefires for many years, but the Turkish state has convinced Europe to turn a blind eye on his isolation. Selahattin Demirtaş is being pressured. After the collapse of the solution process, the war has exacerbated more than ever before, so hunger strikes led by Leyla Güven began. It is important to go back to Öcalan if we are serious about ending the war. The CPT and the other institutions are playing dumb on this. Öcalan cannot even see his family, or making the phone calls prisoners are entitled to, he can’t send nor receive post. Amnesty International has never made a political campaign about Öcalan, yet he too is a political prisoner. Please let’s support the hunger strikes and the campaigns against isolation.”

Ulla Sanbæk (Alternative Party MP): "I support the struggle of the Kurds. I can’t understand how Turkish people living in Europe could vote for Erdoğan. We should prevent Erdoğan from being elected again.”

Tue Magnusen (member of the Commission for the Prevention of Torture): "In the final declaration of this conference, Öcalan should be named. We must ask freedom for him and all political prisoners. At the same time the PKK must by taken off the list of terrorist organisations.”

Michael Aastrup Jensen MF (V), chair of the Danish Delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly: "Europe can do many things to improve the situation of Kurds in Turkey and in Northern Syria. There is a deplorable internal situation in Turkey. The EU can do a lot. Turkey is increasingly turning away from Europe. I don't really know what can be done after the US withdrawal [from Syria]. What Trump can do is unknown. What we can do is to put pressure on Erdoğan."

Holger K. Nielsen MF (Socialist People's Party MP): “We did not find against ISIS, it was Kurds who did it. The Americans only gave air support. The Kurds are not only good fighters, but also reliable allies. Russia, Turkey and Iran have pushed Europe aside. Politicians in Europe should be more active in pushing for the release of the HDP politicians elected by people.”

Lawyer Mahmut Şakar said in his speech at the conference: “We are on day 92 of Leyla Güven hunger strike. Hunger strikes are going on in Kurdistan and Turkey prisons, in South Kurdistan, in Strasbourg, Wales and many cities of Europe. Hunger strikers have only one demand, that is, the end of isolation against Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdish People.”

Imrali, said Şakar, “has been considered as an isolation prison from the beginning and has been redesigned accordingly. Isolation exists in the logic of the establishment of this prison and system. From the administrative and legal point of view, the Imrali system was built as an exceptional regime outside the existing regime.”

Final Declaration

The final declaration issued by the conference said among other things: "We are concerned about the conditions of political prisoners in Turkey. We are drawing attention to the hunger strike led by Leyla Güven. We demand the Turkish State to release all imprisoned mayors and deputies. Their place is not in prison.

We call on Danish politicians to follow the situation of political prisoners in all their relations with the Turkish state and issued requests to the Turkish state on these matters."