The Congress of Democratic Societies of Kurdistan in Europe (KCDK-E) and the Democratic Kurdish Council of France (CDK-F) held a press conference in the French city of Strasbourg, which houses European institutions.

The press conference was attended by KCDK-E co-chairs Zübeyde Zümrüt ve Engin Sever, CDK-F co-chair Şahin Polat and Strasbourg Council co-chair Fikret Çelik.

The representatives of Kurdish organisations saluted the international campaign demanding “Freedom for Öcalan, A Political Solution to the Kurdish Question” which was launched with 74 press conferences held around the World on 10 October. 74 stands for the age of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan who has been held as a hostage on the prison island of Imrali since his handover to Turkey as a result of an international conspiracy that began on 9 October 1998, when he was forced to leave Syria and ended on 15 February 1999, when he was deported from Kenya to Turkey.

The global campaign unites social movements, political parties, municipalities, unions, activists, intellectuals, and millions of Kurds and their friends worldwide around a shared goal: making a just and democratic political solution to Turkey's century-old Kurdish question possible by enabling Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan’s participation in a renewed dialogue. The most pressing immediate demand, however, is to bring an end to the total isolation that Öcalan has been subject to for almost three years.

KCDK-E co-chair Zübeyde Zümrüt said: “Leader Öcalan fights for the peoples of the world, who, in turn, fight for the freedom of Leader Öcalan.”

Saluting the international campaign which points to Öcalan for a solution, Zümrüt vowed that Kurdish institutions would enhance the struggle for Öcalan’s freedom and said: “This is just the beginning and will continue growing.”

Speaking after, CDK-F co-chair Şahin Polat stated: “We salute our friends who have stood with the Kurdish people, mobilized for action and have been our voice all over the world.”

Remarking that the Middle East was stuck in chaos and its peoples were forced to make choices, Polat said that Abdullah Öcalan and the Kurdish people made their own choice.

“We have seen with experience that Leader Abdullah Öcalan is the absolute interlocutor for a final solution. He has also inspired the peoples of the world,” Polat said, and noted that they would increase their result-oriented actions.  

KCDK-E co-chair Engin Sever saluted all those who contributed to the campaign and called on all Kurdish institutions to embrace it.

“We will achieve results because Leader Öcalan’s paradigm is the path to co-existence and freedom in the Middle East,” Sever added.