Lindsey German is convenor of the Stop the War Coalition, which organised the biggest demonstration in British history against the Iraq war, and a regular contributor to Counterfire. She lectures at the University of Hertfordshire and is the co-author of A People's History of London (Verso, 2012) and author of Material Girls (Bookmarks, 2007) and How a Century of War Changed the Lives of Women (Pluto, 2013).

German spoke to Erem Kansoy about the campaign to free Abdullah Öcalan. She said that "it's very important for us to understand the role of the Western powers, the role of imperialism in the Middle East and how it is distorted and in many ways destroyed large parts of the Middle East.

And the whole struggle of the Kurdish people and the whole struggle of Öcalan is a very important part of that. We have to see it in this context. It's not separate from the Palestinian struggle. It's not separate from all the other battles that people have for democracy and freedom throughout the Middle East, and they're faced with some terribly repressive regimes."

German added: "I think that they want to silence the voices of people like Öcalan. We saw this with Nelson Mandela in South Africa. We saw it with Gerry Adams in Ireland. They don't want people to put an alternative point of view. They don't want people t stand up for national liberation.

They talk about freedom and democracy and human rights, but he's denied access to people. He's in isolation. This is a deliberate tactic to stop his voice from being heard, and it won't succeed. And we have to make sure that it doesn't succeed and that people understand what the politics behind all of this is."

German said she was "very pleased that we've had 69 Nobel laureates speaking out against isolation. I think it's important we campaign for Öcalan's freedom. I would also say let's not place trust in the institutions of the European Union because they have, time and time again, supported these imperialist projects, supported what the Turkish government is doing, supported all these things. So let's put our faith in the people themselves, the Kurdish people themselves and their supporters around the world. It is us who will fight for the freedom of Öcalan and, hopefully, we will be successful."