.jpg)
By Margaret Owen O.B.E (UK Barrister and Patron of Peace in Kurdistan): Athens Conference, Monday 13th February The International Legal Context of Ocalan’s Abduction and the Conspiracy of States in this Violation of International Law Finally, 17 years after Abdullah Ocalan was brutally and unlawfully abducted in Nairobi, drugged, blindfolded and taken to Turkey…
Peace in Kurdistan Statement: Peace in Kurdistan Campaign statement on the occasion of the 17th anniversary of his abduction on 15th February 2016 Abdullah Ocalan was captured in Kenya in 1999 and flown to Turkey where he has been imprisoned ever since. For millions of Kurdish people in Turkey, Syria, Iran, Iraq and across the…
By Kurdistan Women’s Community (KJK): Download the Background Information File in full (pdf) I. Political Evaluation by KJK The Turkish state has declared total war on the Kurdish people. The decision to undertake this strategy of total war was made at the meeting of Turkey’s National Security Council on 30 October 2014, when the resistance…
Support Us In Our Call! Declaration to the Peoples of Turkey and the world, Like many people in Turkey, we, as academics, were emboldened by the peace/solution process between the Turkish state and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) officially initiated in January 2013, hoping for a new era that would end the conflicts continuing for over…
Peace in Kurdistan Press Release: Leading Scottish writer James Kelman was among the speakers at a ceremony to honour imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan held at the University of Strathclyde Students Association (USSA) in Glasgow on Saturday 20 June. Kelman reflected on history and recalled how, “The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) had been a legitimate…
By Sami Jamil Jadallah: Former president Abdullah Gul, President Recep Erdoğan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu as leaders of the Justice and Development Party over the last decades have transformed Turkey into an economic and political powerhouse. Much remains to be done. Turkey has gone from a country sinking in debt to a country thriving…
By Nora Fisher Onar: This article was first published by Open Democracy Turkey is gearing up for pivotal elections on 7 June. At their heart is a complex interplay between presidential ambitions, party fissures, and Kurdish aspirations. Turkey’s election campaign began to the sound of fireworks. The first flash came in late January when the pro-Kurdish…
By JINHA: AMED – Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party), has released a historic Newroz message calling for an era of peace and democratic change to overcome the violence of the nation-state form in the Middle East. The crowd shouted as one, “long live the leader Öcalan,” in the moments of silence…
KNK Press Statement: Today, thousands of people have gathered in Strasbourg for the culmination of a huge international campaign calling for the release of Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the PKK, on the 16th anniversary of his abduction. An incredible 10.3 million people from across the world signed a petition demanding freedom for Ocalan. Peace in…
By Rebwar Rashed: Turkish society, its political parties and groups glide more and more into conflict. Turkey is not just fragile, but it is also too paralyzed to understand the reality and to decide on important questions. The situation of “too many chiefs and not enough Indians” in Turkey has thrown many issues, mainly the…
By Rebwar Rashed: In this very moments of writing this article Kurds are being killed either by IS, the Islamic State, or by Turkey, a member of NATO and candidate to the EU. Talking about Mr. Ocalan compels us to retell about much else of the history of the Middle East, otherwise it’s impossible to…
By Arian Mufid: In January 2013 when a co-founder of the PKK was shot dead in Paris, along with two other members of her organisation, the world turned a blind eye to the role of the Turkish security services in commissioning this crime. Sakine Cansız, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Söylemez have become symbols of martyrdom…
Ocalan: Pursuing peace is harder than war The imprisoned leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, addressed his people during the Nawroz Celebration in the city of Diyarbakir (Amed). In a letter delivered through the BDP’s leaders to the public, Ocalan said that to pursue peace is harder than launching war. He said “it is our…
KT News: ANF reports from Amed that HDP deputy Sirri Süreyya Önder has read out the following Newroz greeting from Abdullah Öcalan: To all those friends whose heart is ablaze with the fire of Newroz for peace and freedom! Merhaba! I greet our people who have transformed the Newroz fire into an awakening and a festival…
By The International Initiative: No-one who walks through a major city in Europe can escape the movie posters these days. In huge letters they portray Nelson Mandela in three words: “Revolutionary, prisoner, president‟. Behind them we see Mandela with a fist raised into the air. Hollywood condenses the history of revolutions into stories of 120…
