STRASBOURG, FRANCE- On Monday, September 15th the KCDK-E and Campaign “Freedom for Öcalan, Political Solution to the Kurdish Question” is calling for a demonstration in front of the Council of Euope to demand the freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, and the implementation of the “Right to Hope.”
During the demonstration Sinan Önal, spokesperson for the campaign “Freedom for Ocalan, Political Solution to the Kurdish Question”, made the following speech
Dear friends,
Dear people of resistance,
We gather here today in Strasbourg at a decisive historical moment. The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers is convening today for three days. Among the files before them lies one that concerns not only Turkey and Kurdish people, but the future of democracy, peace, and justice in the entire Middle East. It is the question of the right to hope—a principle enshrined in European human rights law, and one that has been denied for far too long to Abdullah Öcalan and to thousands of others serving aggravated life sentences in Turkey.
On September, like these days last year, the Committee of Ministers gave Turkey one final year to amend its legislation to comply with the European Court of Human Rights, postponed for 11 years upto now. That deadline has now expired. Turkey’s refusal to implement these reforms is no longer an internal legal debate—it is a breach of its obligations to Europe and to humanity.
We are therefore at a crossroads. Will the Council of Europe, the unique defender of humanitarian law in this brutal days of the world, act decisively to defend its own values, or will Turkey be kept allowed to continue defying the judgments of Strasbourg while silencing the voice of peace?
Dear Friends,
This is not an abstract legal question. It is a deeply political and moral issue. For more than 26 years, in exact 26 years and 7 months, Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan has been held in isolation on İmralı Island special prison. And yet, from his cell, he has consistently advanced the idea that peace is possible, that a democratic and just society can replace the endless war. His vision of democratic confederalism, of gender equality, of ecological sustainability, has already inspired movements from Asia, Europe, Australia to Latin America and all the continents over the world.
In February this year, under conditions of extreme isolation, Mr Öcalan made a historic appeal. He called for the dissolution of the armed struggle, and for a transition to a democratic and peaceful process. This was not simply a tactical gesture. It was, and remains, a strategic offer for a lasting peace—a chance to turn the page on decades of bloodshed.
The response has been remarkable. In July, 88 Nobel laureates addressed the international community, demanding that Öcalan be freed and allowed to participate fully in the peace process. Trade unions across Europe, political parties, and civil society organisations have echoed the same call: his freedom is the key to unlocking a future of democracy and reconciliation in Turkey, and a model of peace for the Middle East.
We have seen this before in history. In South Africa, Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison. His release was not only the beginning of freedom for his people; it was the moment when the world realised that reconciliation could triumph over apartheid. Today, Turkey stands before a similar moment. The release of Abdullah Öcalan could be the foundation stone of a just and lasting peace—just as Mandela’s release paved the way for a new South Africa.
Friends,
Peace cannot be built upon prisons, walls, and laws of enmity. It requires structural change. Turkey must abolish the discriminatory laws that categorically exclude certain prisoners from parole. It must align its justice system with the European Convention on Human Rights. And it must finally recognise that Kurdish rights and freedoms are inseparable from the future of democracy in Turkey.
But responsibility does not rest with Ankara alone. The Council of Europe, the European Union, the United Nations—all democratic actors—must play their very part. If the Council of Europe fails to act now, its authority will be fatally weakened in this turbulent times of authoritarianism over the world. If it acts with courage, it will show that international law still matters, and that Europe is still capable of defending the principles of justice and peace.
Dear people of resistance, The Kurds and the those communities in solidarity,
This moment is bigger than one case, bigger than one topic. It is about whether we can imagine not only a Kurdish-Turkish peace, but a vast Middle East region free of endless wars, free of authoritarianism, free of colonial borders and hatred. Öcalan’s freedom is not just about justice for the Kurds—it is about opening the door to democratic integration across the region, and even to renewed hopes for peace in places like Syria, Iraq, and Palestine.
Let us be clear: the choice before the Council is not between silence and diplomacy, but between complicity and justice. Either Council of Europe allow Turkey to bury the right to hope, or it insist that hope becomes the foundation for peace.
I stand here, on behalf of Freedom for Öcalan, Political Solution for Kurdish Question Global Campaign which starts about two years ago on October 2020, a worldwide social movement, to say that hope of freedom must prevail. The time has just came, let’s accomplish it altogether.
Öcalan’s freedom is the key. His freedom is the bridge between peoples. And his freedom is the condition for a genuine peace process that can end not only the Kurdish question in Turkey, but also inspire democratic transformation across the entire Middle East.
So today, we call on the Council of Europe to act now! We call on Ankara to listen. And we call on all peoples who believe in freedom, equality and justice to raise their voices.
Let this three days not be remembered as a missed opportunity, but as the dawn of a new era. An era in which Europe upheld its values, in which Turkey embraced democracy, and in which the peoples of the Middle East found a way to live together in peace.
Thank you very much.
Long Live International Solidarity,
Long Live the Calls for Peace and Justice
Biri Serok Apo, Biji Xuşk u Biratîya Gelan
Sinan Önal
On behalf of the Global Campaign Freedom for Ocalan, Political Solution for Kurdish Question