Kurdish Freedom Struggle and the Ideas of Ocalan – University of Manchester, 27th Oct

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Organised by Friends of Kurdistan – Manchester:

Date and time: Thursday 27 Oct, 6.30pm

Place:  Room LG12, Samuel Alexander Building, University of Manchester (off Oxford Rd)
Speakers:

  • Havîn Guneser – Kurdish woman’s activist, journalist and Abdullah Öcalan’s translator
  • Dr Federico Venturini – researcher and activist, specialising in Social Ecology
  • Bert Schouwenburg – International Officer, GMB
  • Simon Dubbins – Director of International, Unite

The GMB and Unite have launched the UK trade union-based Freedom for Ocalan Campaign

Download the flyer

The Kurdish Freedom Struggle has won world attention, especially with the heroic role of the women and men of the YPG in resisting Daesh (ISIS) in Kobani and northern Syria and protecting self-governing Rojava – a model of equality and tolerance amidst the horrors of tyranny and war.

In Turkey, Kurds have been subjected to renewed war by the state, which abandoned peace talks last summer after the HDP’s (Peace and Democracy Party) electoral breakthrough. State forces have since killed more than a thousand civilians, blitzed Kurdish towns and driven half a million from their homes. There’s a brutal crackdown on activists, 24 elected Kurdish mayors have been replaced by puppets and HDP MPs are being prosecuted as president Erdogan seeks to eliminate all traces of Kurdish self-rule.

On Imrali prison island, Abdullah Öcalan, founder of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) and undisputed leader of millions of Kurds, consistently calls for a peaceful solution to benefit all the peoples of Turkey. During his 17 year incarceration, Ocalan has developed theories of democratic confederalism and democratic autonomy – a grassroots-democratic, ecological and women’s liberationist paradigm that’s being developed by the peoples of Rojava and Bakur (southeast Turkey), offering a democratic alternative to the chaos of the Middle East. Ocalan’s translator, Havin Gunesser, will elaborate on his ideas at the meeting.

More than 10 million have signed an international petition calling for Ocalan’s release as the only credible way to start a real peace process. This campaign must be stepped up along with all-sided solidarity with the Kurdish Freedom Struggle.

Join us for a panel discussion on Ocalan’s works and their relation to the revolutionary activity in Rojava and Bakur.

Facebook meeting page

Friends of Kurdistan- Manchester Facebook page

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