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Dear Mrs Christiane Taubira
Adem Uzun
The arrest of the prominent Kurdish peace advocate Adem Uzun in Paris last year came as a great shock to us all as it coincided with progress towards the opening of peace talks between Turkey and the Kurds.
Over 200 public figures, lawyers and politicians with expertise in the matter of the Kurdish question in Turkey and many community activists, grass-roots campaigners and trade unionists have come together to establish the “Friends of Adem Uzun” and support the call for Mr Uzun’s release. You will find our appeal and the lists of signatories to the initiative below and attached. We kindly urge you to take note of their strong collective voice.
Our familiarity with Adem’s role as a peace activist and as a politician with the Kurdistan National Congress, KNK, has led us to conclude that he is fully dedicated to achieving a peaceful and political solution to the Kurdish question. He had been one of the key negotiators for the Kurdish side in the so-called “Oslo Process” which involved high-level Turkish Government representatives.
Hopes of a breakthrough in the talks are now a real possibility and whether this is likely to yield lasting results depends on the skill and determination of the negotiators.
We are convinced that Adem Uzun has a crucial part to play in these talks which have a long way to go before a settlement can be reached. As such we urge you to release him in order to enable him to resume his work that is beginning to bring about the lasting peace for which everyone is searching.
Estella Schmid
On behalf of “Friends of Adem Uzun”
For further information: Peace in Kurdistan Campaign And Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC) UK
5 February 2013
