It has been 48 days since Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan's "Call for Peace and Democratic Society", which was announced to the public on 27 February. The call has been embraced by many sectors of society, but no concrete steps have yet been taken by the government and the state.

 

Cemal Demir, Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Wan Provincial Co-chair and one of Abdullah Öcalan's lawyers, stated that Abdullah Öcalan is under severe isolation. Stating that the isolation cannot be defined only by lawyer and family visits, Demir said: "Mr Öcalan has been held in isolation for years on an island and in a single-cell room. With isolation, he was wanted to be cut off from both the public and the whole world. From 2015 to 2024, a relentless isolation was imposed. Public opinion stood up and showed its reaction against this unlawful behaviour."

 

'MR ÖCALAN MUST BE FREE'

 

Noting that the state was now in an inexorable deadlock, Demir said: "The state was in a state of multiple crisis and they knew that the only way to overcome this crisis was Abdullah Öcalan. There are calls for Mr Öcalan's right to hope. This situation was already decided by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2014. In this judgement, it was stated that people who have completed 25 years in prison should not remain in prison. Isolation is not only about going and seeing or talking. According to the ECHR, Mr Öcalan must now be released."

 

Stating that Abdullah Öcalan's call was widely embraced on 8 March and Newroz, Demir emphasised that despite this, the state continued its attacks and used a wrong language. "The state should take steps and take necessary initiatives for the sake of the process. Commissions should be established in the Parliament and changes should be made in the laws. Parliament needs to assume a role and mission in this matter. Mr Öcalan's physical freedom must be ensured. What Mr Öcalan means by freedom is that he demands the establishment of an environment where he can work and a ground where he can make his voice heard. Steps must be taken for Mr Öcalan to carry out the process in a healthy way," he said.

 

Demir noted that the peoples want the process to proceed in a positive way and concrete steps to be taken. Stating that they are carrying out the necessary work for the process uninterruptedly, Demir said, "Our first job is to organise. As DBP, we will not leave the fields empty for a moment for the sake of this process and we will continue our work door to door, street to street. We are reading, understanding and explaining this process together with our people. We will continue to be intertwined with our people from now on.  We call out to our people from here; be one, be united, organise."

 

MA / Bilal Babat