On behalf of the international campaign Freedom for Öcalan, Political Solution to the Kurdish Question, we call for broad participation in the February 14 demonstration in Strasbourg, France: Freedom for Öcalan, Status for Rojava!
February 15 marks the anniversary of the capture of the Kurdish People’s Leader, Abdullah Öcalan, in 1999 in Nairobi, Kenya—an act carried out as part of an international conspiracy aimed at silencing and crushing the Kurdish people and freedom movement. This conspiracy began in Syria, where the Turkish state, backed by international powers, threatened military attack unless Öcalan left the country. To avoid this and with the goal of a political resolution to the Kurdish question, Öcalan travelled to Europe in the search of interlocutors — a responsibility he continues to carry today.
On 27 February 2025, the Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan initiated a process for peace and a democratic society. The Kurdish freedom movement subsequently called for a unilateral ceasefire, which remains in effect to this day. In May, the PKK dissolved and, in July, weapons were ceremonially burned. Furthermore, guerrilla fighters withdrew from the Turkish part of Kurdistan. For Öcalan, peace is a conviction. His call was followed by concrete steps by the Kurdish freedom movement. He has consistently called for the continuation of the struggle for Kurdish rights and freedom through political and democratic means, serving as the principal interlocutor on behalf of the Kurdish people.
As a result of the restructuring of the Middle East, whose current center is Syria, global and regional powers like US, UK, Israel, France, EU, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey are attempting to consolidate their power over Damascus. These powers do not care whether a jihadist, monarchist, theocracy, or dictatorship rules. What is important is that the person in power can be controlled and serves their interests. That is why Al Sharaa was brought to power; to gain control of Syria. Although each of the states involved has different interests, they reached a compromise.
Turkey has a problem with the Kurds. The others do not like the successful Rojava model. Rojava is based on a democratic system in which women’s freedom is a core principle, alongside the coexistence of different peoples and religions. This model emerged from the paradigm developed by Abdullah Öcalan, which he presented to the Kurdish people in 2005.
After a meeting between Israel-Syria and Turkey-Syria, with the knowledge of the US, took place in Paris on January 4 and 5. On January 6, attacks on the Kurdish districts of Aleppo began.
A coordinated campaign of ethnic cleansing and systematic attacks against Kurdish regions in Syria and the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) was then carried out by the al-Jolani regime, in partnership with the Turkish state and jihadist groups, and with the support of international actors.
The danger of genocide against the Kurds was averted because millions of Kurds in Kurdistan and the diaspora took to the streets day and night. As a result, the protests were heard in international politics.
During the most recent meeting of the DEM Party İmralı Delegation, Öcalan emphasized that the Kurdish people are facing another major conspiracy, warning that “a new February 15 conspiracy is being prepared.” If the first international conspiracy sought to silence the Kurdish people by abducting and imprisoning their leader, this second conspiracy aims to destroy the ideology of women’s liberation, democratic self-governance, and ecology that has been put into practice in Rojava.
In a recent statement, DEM Party Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan highlighted Öcalan’s active role in facilitating the recent ceasefire and integration agreement with Damascus, noting that Öcalan worked continuously for 23 days to prevent a planned genocide against the Kurds in Syria. While a fragile ceasefire and agreement are currently being implemented, the struggle continues—and must now intensify—to defend the achievements of the revolution.
For this reason, we demand the political and constitutional/legal recognition of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria—in short, a status for Rojava.
The Kurdish people protected humanity from the threat of ISIS in the historic resistance of 2014, and they continue to do so today even as international powers turn a blind eye—prioritizing capitalist interests and power politics over democracy and the lives of the peoples of the region. Today, we call on democratic forces and peoples around the world to recognize the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.
In recent weeks, the unity of the Kurdish people across all parts of Kurdistan has shone through, alongside the steadfast struggle of friends and comrades around the world. In this spirit, we once again call for broad participation in the demonstration for Freedom for Öcalan, Status for Rojava.
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