The European Turkish Citizens' Commission (EUTCC) is holding a conference at the European Parliament titled "Political prisoners in Turkey: Where goes the path of freedom and peace” to discuss the issue of political prisoners in Turkey and the situation of the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is held in total isolation and has not been heard from for three years.

The conference attended by parliamentarians, politicians from different countries, academics, lawyers, human rights defenders and representatives of civil society organizations will host three panels titled “The Reality of Turkey's Prisons”, “Living Solidarity - The Need for a Political Solution to the Kurdish Question” and “Open the Gates - The Way to Freedom and Peace”.

The first session of the conference hosted a panel titled “The Reality of Turkey's Prisons", moderated by Dersim Dagdeviren, EUTCC board member, KURD-AKAD. Lawyer Rezan Sarıca from Asrın Law Office spoke about “The 25 Years Imralı Prison System as a Prototype of the State of Emergency Prison System”. Lawyer Sarıca said: “The ECtHR has ruled that Öcalan did not receive a fair trial in Turkey. Since being convicted in a show trial, he has been kept isolated on Imrali Island and had all of his rights violated, even under Turkish law. Turkey has lost respect even for its own laws. Abdullah Öcalan had the right to political asylum, but many European states denied him this right unjustly. Europe closed their doors to him, which created a situation where he was captured by a state who wanted to execute him. Abdullah Öcalan’s lawyers have been denied the right to visit him for 8 years. His lawyers have not spoken to him in 3 years. When is the European Union going to force Turkey to adhere to international law? Imrali Island is a “black hole” of lawlessness."

Ögmundur Jónasson, Former Minister of Justice in Iceland spoke about “Turkey Imralı and International Legal and Political Dimension” and said: “25 years ago, the invisible hand of NATO and the US CIA made sure European states would deny Abdullah Öcalan political asylum. We should remember that Turkey never commits their crimes against Kurds alone. The CPT has visited Imrali Island prison 9 times and declared that Öcalan must be allowed to have family visits. However, Turkey responded by doing the opposite and banning all visits from his family and lawyers, increasing his illegal isolation.”

Speakers at the second panel "Living Solidarity - The Need for a Political Solution to the Kurdish Question" moderated by Thomas Phillips from Liverpool John Moores University were Abha Bhaiya, Founder of 1 Billion Rising in India; Elisabeth Decrey, Swiss human rights advocate and former President of the Cantonal Parliament of Geneva; Walter Baier, President of the Party of the European Left; Paolo Ferrero, former Minister of Social Affairs in Italy. The message of political scientist Sinan Önal, who was unable to attend the conference, was read by Dersim Dağdeviren, representative of KURD-AKAD.

Abha Bhaiya spoke on behalf of Jagori Rural charitable Trust, a feminist community-based organization and the One Billion Rising International campaign to eliminate violence against girls, women, all marginalized communities and the mother earth.

Abha Bhaiya pointed out the following: “The Kurdish communities, as we know, are one of the world’s largest people without a state, making up sizable minorities in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Their century-old fight for rights, autonomy, and even an independent Kurdistan has been marked by violent attack, displacement, disappearances and persecution. In spite of Kurds being the largest minority group in Turkey, they have suffered the violation of their political and cultural rights. It needs to be added that they are a heritage community on this planet with their own language, evolved culture, her stories – they are one of the original inhabitants of the earth.

We are here to rally around the vision of the Kurdish revolutionary movement, described by revolutionary Abdullah Öcalan and the Kurdish women’s movement as a form of “stateless democracy. We are outraged at the continuous suppression and atrocities against Kurdish people and their demand for freedom. We demand and stand with the Kurdish liberation struggle throughout decades as they explore the paradigm of stateless internationalism for the 21st century.

Today, we pay homage to Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the PKK, a militant Kurdish nationalist organization which became widely known as the strongest advocate for Kurdish sovereignty. Since he was arrested on 15 February, we have resolved to escalate our demand to set him free.

We have assembled today to raise the vibration of our demand to ‘Free Abdulah Öcalan’ from four walls of the prison and celebrate the courage of Kurdish people ,especially Kurdish women who are taking forward the vision of APO (as Abdullah is known within the Kurdish community) and have put it down on the ground. It is not their struggle but of entire humanity to rise against the global tyranny of right-wing dictators, fascists, crony capitalists, and criminal patriarchs.

I particularly salute the Kurdish women’s struggle, especially the Rojava women who have evolved a doctrine titled   'Jin', Jiyan, Azadî' (Woman, Life, freedom) inspired by the visionary Abdullah Öcalan. The Kurdish women have put up a brave struggle against the onslaught of atrocities against Kurdish citizens for decades. The Kurdish women’s struggle has occupied a very special niche within the global women’s movements – an inspirational movement in its content and form.”