|
Freedom for jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah
Öcalan, International Campaign
5.9.2012 |
|
|
|
Abdullah Ocalan during a demonstration asking for
Ocalan's liberation on February 16, 2012 in front of
the Europeen Parliament in Strasbourg.
Already over a thousand notable people worldwide
have signed an international petition demanding
freedom for Abdullah Öcalan. Abdullah Öcalan has a
high symbolic value for most Kurds in Turkey and
other parts of Kurdistan.
Ocalan, 64, is the founder of the outlawed Turkey Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
which took up arms for self-rule in the Kurdish
region in southeast of Turkey (Northern Kurdistan).
Photo: Getty Images.
•
See Related Links
September
5, 2012
BRUSSELS, Belgium,— The international
campaign “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan” will be
launched on 6th September at 10.30am in the
Résidence Palace and the International Press Centre
(IPC-Rue de la Loi, 155 – Bloc C, 1040 Bruxelles).
Already over a thousand notable people worldwide
have signed an international petition demanding
freedom for Abdullah Öcalan and the political
prisoners in Turkey. They are of the opinion that
Öcalan's freedom would mean a breakthrough in
Turkey's democratization and a peace process in
Kurdistan.
The Kurdish question is more relevant today than
ever before. It affects Iraq, Iran, Syria and
especially Turkey,www.ekurd.net
and represents the biggest – and still unresolved –
problem in the Middle East. The conflict between the
Turkish State and the Kurdish freedom movement still
continues.
Although it is more than clear that the demands of
the Kurdish people for their cultural and political
rights are no longer going to be resolved by a
military solution, the bloody conflict continues
because the necessary steps towards a peaceful
resolution have not been taken.
At the press conference, the first signatories will
speak about both the motive behind the campaign and
the importance of Abdullah Öcalan’s release
from prison in the broader quest for a resolution to
the Kurdish question. It is only through genuine
bilateral negotiations with the legitimate political
representative of the Kurdish people that lasting
peace can be secured.
The following persons will be attending:
• Ayla Akat, Member of Parliament, Women's
Initiative "Freedom for Öcalan", Turkey
• Andrej Hunko, Member of Parliament, Member of
PACE, Germany
• Luisa Morgantini, former Vicepresident of the
European Parliament, Italy
• Joe Ryan, Chair of Westminster Justice and Peace,
United Kingdom
• N. N., Movement against racism and for friendship
between peoples MRAP), France
• Reimar Heider, International Initiative "Freedom
for Abdullah Öcalan– Peace in Kurdistan", Germany.
Ocalan, 64, is the founder of the outlawed Turkey Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)
which took up arms for self-rule in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey
(Turkey-Kurdistan). Ocalan had been forced from his long-time home in Syria by
Turkish pressure in 1998, embarked on an odyssey through several European
countries and ended up in the residence of the Greek ambassador in Nairobi. He
was on his way from there to the airport on Feb 15 1999 when he was arrested by
Turkish agents and put on a plane to Turkey.
Following the arrest, violent protests by Kurds erupted all over Europe. Ocalan
was put on trial on the heavily guarded prison island of Imrali in the Sea of
Marmara near Istanbul and sentenced to death. His sentence was later commuted to
life in prison,www.ekurd.net
after Turkey abolished the death penalty in
2002. Ocalan was the only prisoner for a decade until new prisoners arrived on
November 2009, after the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of
Torture (CPT) criticised Ankara for violating
Ocalan's human rights by keeping him in solitary
confinement. He is allowed only visits from
close relatives and his lawyers.
Ocalan has a high symbolic value for most Kurds in
Turkey and other parts of Kurdistan.
Copyright ©, respective
author or news agency,
firatnews.com | ekurd.net | Agencies
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the
content of news information on this page
|
®
