NGOs organised under the umbrella of the Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) in Northern and Eastern Syria have declared their support for the campaign "Freedom for Öcalan and a Political Solution to the Kurdish Question".

"We believe that the freedom of Leader Abdullah Öcalan will end the Kurdish-Turkish war and turn a new page in the lives of both peoples and all other communities in the region," read a joint statement released by 27 non-governmental organizations in the region on Monday.

“The campaign, which is a framework for fulfilling humanitarian and moral responsibilities and expanding resistance, is of great importance in terms of embracing the resistance of Leader Abdullah Öcalan. We hope that this initiative will expand through the participation of all relevant institutions that advocate legal and human rights,” said the statement.

The campaign "Freedom for Öcalan and a political solution to the Kurdish question" was launched on 10 October with a central rally in Strasbourg and declarations of solidarity in over a hundred places worldwide. It demands immediate access for the lawyers and family members to PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held hostage on the Turkish prison island of Imrali since 1999, and finally his release under conditions that allow him to play a role in finding a political solution to the Kurdish question.

The campaign includes academics, journalists, NGOs, political parties, parliamentarians, activists, philosophers, Nobel laureates, women's organisations and representatives of indigenous peoples from all continents.

TEV-DEM, founded at the beginning of the Rojava revolution, includes not only political parties, individuals and professional associations, but also private and non-profit organisations working for social, socio-political or environmental causes. These are not just Kurdish organisations. The movement unites all components of the ethnic and linguistic mosaic of northern and eastern Syria and, as an umbrella organisation of 27 NGOs, is, among others, the contact partner for the cultural associations of the Turkmen and Circassian communities, the Armenian Society Council and the Yazidi House (Mala Êzdîyan).