ISTANBUL - Kurdish women in Europe will take the absolute isolation of Abdullah Öcalan and the war against Kurds to the Council of Europe and organize a Peace and Justice Conference on September 1. 

 

The campaigns launched all over the world for the physical freedom of PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, who is held under severe isolation conditions in İmralı Type F High Security Prison, and for the solution of the Kurdish issue continue with different actions and events. In the European part of the campaign, Abdullah Öcalan's ideas are currently being discussed in marches and rallies as well as panels and platforms. The women, who are leading and participating intensively in the campaign, have drawn up a new action plan for the new period. Ayten Kaplan, Spokesperson of the Kurdish Women's Movement in Europe (TJK-E), evaluated the new period action planning to our agency. 

 

 

'CPT IS TRYING TO GET AWAY WITH IT'

 

Stating that the women-led campaign “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, solution to the Kurdish issue”, which was launched in 74 centers on October 10, 2023, continues uninterruptedly with different events.

 

Emphasizing that no official statement has been made regarding the letters they sent to the CPT regarding the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan and that the CPT has not fulfilled its responsibility, Kaplan said: “If the CPT wishes, it can release these reports. The Council of Europe has given the CPT such a mission and duty. The CPT can explain this in its own originality. But when it comes to Öcalan, it is trying to get itself out of the business by pointing to the political authority. For 41 months there has been no news from Öcalan, what more danger do they expect. The aim is to continue the isolation by spreading it over time.” 

 

 

Reminding that the İmralı isolation system started when Abdullah Öcalan was handed over to Turkey on February 15 by an international conspiracy, Kaplan emphasized that not only Turkey, but all the international powers that carried out the conspiracy and put it into effect are responsible for the isolation. Noting that many NATO countries affiliated to the Council of Europe are also part of the isolation.

 

WAR AND ISOLATION WILL BE BROUGHT TO THE COUNCIL

 

Stating that they will hold meetings with members of the Council of Europe in the coming days against the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan and Turkey's war policies against the Kurdish people, Kaplan said: “We will hold our meetings at the end of August and the beginning of September. So far we have chosen some important countries in general, we have worked intensively in places like France and Germany. But European countries have their own groups and we foresee unique and individual meetings with them. We have sent our meeting requests to the groups of the Council of Europe. We will have meetings with politicians and MPs affiliated to the Council. Then we plan to send open letters to civil society organizations, legal institutions and political authorities in Europe. Of course, all these initiatives will have a women's dimension.”  

  

PEACE AND JUSTICE PLATFORM

 

On September 1, the Peace and Justice Platform Conference will take place in Europe, Kaplan said: “As women, we will attend the conference and we will have important demands. At the conference, we will especially discuss the effects of isolation and war on women. In addition to the Palestinian-Israeli war, there are Turkey's attacks on Southern Kurdistan. We see that these male-led wars lead to massacres, rape and migration of women. In this sense, we know that there is an attack against the paradigm developed by Öcalan and the paradigm of women asserting their own free will and having a will in social life. At the conference, we will draw attention to the role and mission of women in society, especially on the axis of Öcalan's paradigm, and we will demand that the construction of the new life be based on this. In particular, we will demand that women take the lead in the Peace and Justice Platform in this regard.”

 

WOMEN'S ORGANIZATIONS WILL BE MET

 

Stating that they will come together with many different women's organizations in Europe, Asia and the Middle East in the new process, Kaplan said: “We are coming together with women's organizations around Öcalan's paradigm. The date of this program is not yet clear, we will announce it when it becomes clear. We are trying to put these into effect step by step. We are planning to hold conferences in different places. In these activities, we will have discussions on how to build a peace against the isolation and war on Abdullah Öcalan.”  

 

MA / Esra Solin Dal