radiofree.asia

Category: Kurdistan

  • A group of internationalists has travelled to Iraqi Kurdistan, in solidarity against Turkish bombing

    A delegation of people from all over Europe has travelled to Iraqi Kurdistan to protest against the Turkish invasion and bombing. And this statement from the Defend Kurdistan campaign explains the urgency of the situation:

    In April, the Turkish state initiated a new, wide-ranging military campaign in South Kurdistan in the regions of Matina, Zap and Avashin. Heavy battles continue in these regions, with the Kurdish guerrilla forces fiercely resisting this illegal invasion. These large-scale attacks target not only the Kurdish guerrilla forces, but also the achievements of the Kurdish people, with the aim of occupying South Kurdistan. To date, the response to these attacks on the international level has unfortunately been muted. Seizing on this silence, the Turkish regime has put in place their plan to occupy all of Rojava (the region of North and East Syria) alongside South Kurdistan. In so doing, Turkey is determined to ethnically cleanse this vast area – 1400 km long – from North-West Syria to the Iraqi-Iranian border. At the same time, Turkey is waging a drone war against the Maxmur refugee camp, a gross violation of international law. Connected to this policy of ethnic cleansing, the Turkish military also hopes to depopulate the Sinjar region, home of the Yazidis—and thereby achieve what ISIS could not.

    A statement

    The delegation’s declaration reads:

    We, as a delegation from all over Europe, have come to Kurdistan aiming for peace and freedom. Politicians, academics, human rights activists, syndicalists, journalists, feminists and ecologists from over ten countries wanted to get direct impressions of the situation and stand up to end the war and destruction.

    Pierre Laurent, deputy president of the Senate of France, said on behalf of the delegation:

    We are a peaceful and solidary peace delegation in solidarity with all the Kurdish people and we will build diplomatic pressure to stop the Turkish invasion of Southern Kurdistan.

    Stop the weapons exports to Turkey

    The delegation has been gathering testimonies from people who have suffered as a result of the Turkish bombing. They spoke to Peyman Talib, a woman who lost her leg as a result of a Turkish drone attack.

    On 19 June, Defend Kurdistan tweeted:

    Access Denied

    However, the delegation has been prevented from travelling freely around Iraqi Kurdistan. On 20 June, the delegation was prevented from visiting the Mexmûr refugee camp by the Iraqi military. The refugee camp has been bombed by Turkey earlier this month.

    One tweet reads:

    And on 21 June, the group was denied access to Qandil.

    Qandil has been under increasing attacks from the Turkish military in recent months. Turkey is attacking Qandil because the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has its base in the region, but its drone attacks and shelling are deadly and indiscriminate.

    Demonstrators met by warning shots

    Demonstrations broke out after the delegation was refused access to Qandil. Demonstrators were met with warning shots by security forces:

    Several Kurdish movements who joined the international delegation in their attempt to reach Qandil have criticised the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which controls the area, for preventing freedom of movement.

    The Kurdistan Democratic Party is accused of trying “to legitimize Turkish occupation”. Defend Kurdistan’s statement reads:

    Unfortunately, the Kurdistan Region (KRG) and the Iraqi government have done little to stop Turkey’s occupation attempt. In particular, it has been disappointing for us to see how Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) officials have even tried to legitimize the Turkish occupation. Whatever Ankara’s economic pressure might be, the KDP must not allow itself to be turned into a Turkish proxy, as the consequences of this war can be grave for all of Kurdistan and the region.

    “We need the internationalists as a voice in their countries to stop these attacks“

    One of the people the International Peace delegation spoke to in the village of Kuna Masi said:

    We need the internationalists as a voice in their countries to stop these attacks

    The international delegation is part of a global movement against the Turkish attacks, and in solidarity with the people under attack in Northern Iraq and North and East Syria. You can follow the delegation’s progress on Twitter here.

    Featured image via – Twitter – Defend Kurdistan 

    Tom Anderson is part of the Shoal Collective, a cooperative producing writing for social justice and a world beyond capitalism. 

    By Tom Anderson

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • On International Women’s Day, let’s take a look at one of the strongest women’s movements in the world

    Perhaps the strongest women’s movement in the world right now is the Kurdish Women’s Movement. On International Women’s Day, The Canary takes a look at these revolutionary women.

    Kurdish women came to world attention in 2014, gaining global media headlines in their fight against Daesh (ISIS/Isil) in Rojava, Syria. Yet, as is typical in a patriarchal society, western media outlets usually depicted the Kurdish Women’s Movement as young, beautiful twenty-somethings with guns, even appearing in women’s magazine Marie Claire. But Kurdish women, from the young to the very old, were struggling against patriarchy and fascism for decades before Daesh existed.

    Kurdish people are the largest stateless group on Earth. Most live in the geographic region of Kurdistan, which lies within Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. The Kurdish people have experienced generations of oppression in all four countries, from Saddam Hussein’s Anfal genocide in Iraq, to the torture and disappearance of hundreds of thousands of people and the burning of villages in Turkey.

    Sakine Cansız

    Yet this oppression contributed to the creation of one of the largest women’s struggles in the world in the Kurdish regions within Turkey and Syria. One of the biggest icons of this struggle is Sakine Cansız (in the left-hand image at the top of the page). She was a co-founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in 1978 with Abdullah Öcalan. The PKK began an armed struggle against the Turkish state in 1984. Kommun Academi writes:

    Sakine Cansız was tasked by the leadership to build the women’s movement, a duty that she took very close to her heart. She single-handedly managed to gather large groups of young women, often students, for discussion and educations. On November, 27th 1978 only at the age of 20, Sakine Cansız became one of the two female co-founders of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, when she participated in the party’s founding congress.

    Cansız was imprisoned and tortured in Diyarbakır prison from 1979-1991. Kommun Academi continues:

    The resistance of Sakine Cansız in Diyarbakir prison led to a new approach towards women in Kurdish society. It encouraged women to join revolutionary structures in the cities and moved women towards politicization in the villages. Starting with her prison resistance, Kurdish women’s activism gained increasing respect and support among the popular masses.

    After her release from prison, Cansız continued in the PKK, and later as an educator of the Kurdish Freedom Movement in Europe. She was murdered in Paris in 2013, along with Leyla Şaylemez and Fidan Doğan, both central women in Kurdish organising.

    Decades of organising

    Long before the 2012 Rojava revolution in northern Syria, the Kurdish movement was developing structures for radically changing how society was organised. If you speak to any women in Kurdistan, they will tell you that this struggle didn’t start during the Arab Spring, or in the fight against Daesh. It began more than 40 years ago, through women such as Cansız, who organised tirelessly from prison.

    Democratic confederalism – an anti-capitalist, anti-patriarchal and anti-state ideology – was created by Öcalan from his prison cell. Democratic confederalism ensures that power that would usually be held by governments is given to people at the grassroots level. Local communes were set up within the Kurdish part of Turkey in 2007, empowering people to make decisions over areas of their lives. In Syria, people began putting the ideas of democratic confederalism into practice in 2005.

    Within the Kurdish Freedom Movement, women’s councils, academies, and cooperatives have been created, while positions of power are always held by co-chairs, at least one of whom identifies as a woman.

    A crucial ideology within the Kurdish Freedom Movement is jineoljî, or women’s science. A role of jineoljî is to transform the patriarchal mindset:

    The patriarchy of the government, which has constructed itself on the basis of women’s bodies, feelings, ideas, beliefs and labour, intervenes constantly in our daily lives. It invades our space with violence, exploitation denial, murder and creating illusions. As important as tearing off these masks and organising a strong self-defence against these patriarchal attacks is the construction of a mindset. Jineoloji, which we have reached by setting out from a paradigm based on freedom, will succeed in achieving this.

    Continuing the struggle

    Cansız and the many other women who have died in their struggle for women’s liberation, continue to be a source of inspiration not just in Kurdistan, but around the world. Within Turkey, thousands of Kurdish women continue to be imprisoned, including Leyla Güven (to the right of the photo at the top of the page), who survived a 200-day hunger strike in 2019. The women currently imprisoned gain their strength from those who have struggled before them.

    In the UK, Kurdistan Solidarity Network Jin (‘Jin’ means ‘women’ in Kurdish) released a statement for International Women’s Day. They said:

    As feminists, we know that struggle involves work and it involves love. It is militant just as much as it is joyful. Whether we look to you, our sisters and comrades who have been imprisoned by the Turkish state, to the women fighting in the mountains of Kurdistan, or the women building new ways of life across society in all four parts of Kurdistan, we see this same love and dedication in their actions.

    They continued:

    We join your call to continue the struggle, to stand side by side as free women and raise our voices, to oppose all forms of injustice and fascism, to strive for building a society where justice and equality prevail and where the rights and dignity of women are respected.

    We call for unity and solidarity, against feminicide and in defence of a free life and free society everywhere. United we will overcome. We salute you and wish you peace and strength.

    “Women, Life, Freedom” is an important slogan of the Kurdish Women’s Movement. On this International Women’s Day, we must stand in solidarity with all women like Güven, locked up as political prisoners, and we must remember all those who have died in their fight against misogyny and patriarchy.

    Featured images via ANF English

    By Eliza Egret

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Jury takes under an hour to acquit Kurdish solidarity campaigner after watching damning police bodycam footage

    A protester arrested for assaulting a police officer was found not guilty last week. A jury at Southwark Crown Court reached their verdict after watching damning police bodycam footage.

    Simon Walker (not his real name) was arrested for assaulting a police officer at a Kurdistan solidarity protest at the Turkish Embassy in Belgravia in June 2019. Walker faced up to a year in prison for the offence.

    I was part of the protest, along with fellow Canary journalist Emily Apple. We both attended the three day long trial to support Walker, and to report for The Canary.

    Campaigners accused the police at the protest of using “disproportionate and aggressive” tactics to crack down on protesters.

    The protest was against the construction of the Ilisu Dam by the Turkish state in Northern Kurdistan. The Canary spoke to Ercan Ayboga, who is a longterm Kurdish organiser against the dam. Ayboga told The Canary that the dam, which is now complete, has directly affected the livelihoods of 100,000 people, 25,000 people have so far been displaced.

    The construction of the dam has tragically submerged the beautiful 12,000-year-old town of Hasankeyf.

    “I’ll do what I want”

    The jury in Walker’s trial heard from only one prosecution witness who had been present at the demonstration, PC Nicholas Swift. Swift said that he had arrested Walker after Walker had given him a shove while he was dealing with another protester.

    The court heard how Walker had sustained a head injury and bruising to his wrists and chest area during his arrest.

    However, when footage from Swift’s bodycam was shown to the court, it showed that the officer had waded into the protest in a heavy-handed manner, pushing Walker and several other protesters.

    At one point a protester who Swift had grabbed hold of says “Don’t hurt my arm”. Swift replied “I’ll do what I want”, and then continued, “I can use force”.

    It was at this point that Walker gave Swift a small push. In evidence, Walker said that he was concerned for the other protester and that the push was intended to separate them. Walker told the court:

    If you see someone in front of you and one of them is being violent – or at least you anticipate violence – the instinct is to separate them.

    The defence argued that Swift had “unlawfully manhandled” the other protester and that Walker had acted lawfully to defend him. The jury agreed, taking less than an hour to acquit Walker of the charges.

    Police officer admits acting unreasonably

    Under cross-examination by the defence, Swift admitted that he had felt “frustrated” at Walker and the other protesters’ failure to move.

    When confronted with the bodycam footage, Swift agreed that his actions had not been reasonable, and that if he had seen another officer acting in that way he would have “had words” with them.

    After Walker’s arrest, police violence against the protesters escalated, leading to Apple being hospitalised. According to Apple:

    Protesters blocked the road outside the embassy. One person was violently arrested. In the process, I was threatened with CS gas and thrown on the ground, sustaining ligament damage to my knee. I am still waiting for surgery on my knee. This was a disproportionate and aggressive response from police officers, who seemed intent on aggravating the situation.

    Dragged through a pointless trial during a pandemic

    After his arrest Walker was put on bail for almost two years, facing an imprisonable charge of ‘battery’ against Swift. Walker told us that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had repeatedly refused to drop the case, despite applications that it was not in the public interest to continue with the prosecution.

    Walker lives in Wales and was forced to travel to London to attend court in spite of the lockdown. Apple travelled from Cornwall as a witness. I counted 25 people in the court room at one point in the proceedings. The risk of spreading coronavirus was very real.

    You would be forgiven for thinking that Walker had been accused of something serious in order to be treated like this. However, the evidence in the case amounted to giving Swift “a little push”.

    Edward Hollingsworth, the prosecutor in the case, admitted the alleged ‘assault’ was:

    fairly small fry, it’s not serious violence but we would say it’s unlawful.

    One might ask, why was a case like this ever brought to court in the midst of a pandemic?

    Disrupting international solidarity

    The reason the CPS refused to drop this ridiculous prosecution may well be because the protest was in solidarity with the Kurdish freedom movement. A movement that has been increasingly criminalised since several Kurdish organisations were proscribed under the Terrorism Act in 2000.

    The move to criminalise the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) and other Kurdish organisations is in line with the UK’s close ties with Turkey. Turkey is seen as a key trading partner and NATO ally. And yet European courts have insisted on numerous occasions that the PKK is simply a party to an ongoing conflict, not a terrorist organisation.

    Several British citizens who have fought against Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) in Syria as part of the Peoples’ Protection Units, or YPG, have been unsuccessfully prosecuted in recent years. The state tried but failed to argue that those fighting for these largely Kurdish forces are guilty of terrorism.

    Kevin Blowe, campaigns coordinator of the Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol) agrees that protesters are often prosecuted because of the cause they support. He made the following statement:

    All too often we have seen wholly disproportionate charges used as a deliberate attempt to disrupt protests involving international solidarity. This isn’t the first time that campaigners appear to have been treated more harshly because of the cause they support. It is intended to wear people down, alienate potential public sympathies and restrict campaigners’ ability to exercise their rights to freedom of assembly and association.

    “Aggressive and unacceptable” response to protest

    The Boycott Turkey campaign made a statement in solidarity with Walker saying:

    The violent arrest of Simon as part of attempts to break up a protest against the Ilisu dam and the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to force Simon to attend trial during a global pandemic represent an aggressive and unacceptable response to the protest. The Boycott Turkey campaign stands in solidarity with Simon and everyone struggling against state violence. The use of aggressive policing against protesters is completely disproportionate and we condemn such state violence unreservedly.The Boycott Turkey campaign stands in solidarity with everyone facing state violence and police brutality.

    The campaign statement went on to point out the irony of the British state prosecuting Walker over a little push, while at the same time propping up the violence of Turkish president Erdoğan’s regime through its close ties:

    Whilst the British state talks of justice, it continues to prop up the unjust regime in Turkey by suppressing attempts to build solidarity with those struggling against the regime’s brutality. The Ilisu dam project has displaced tens of thousands of people, caused untold ecological destruction, destroyed a world heritage site and threatens to restrict access to water for millions of people down-river from the dam.”

    “Repression of protest”

    The UK Kurdish People’s Assembly gave the following statement upon hearing the verdict:

    The fact that this case was ever taken to trial speaks volumes about how those who stand in solidarity with the Kurdish people are mistreated and persecuted by the British state. This is a repeating pattern in the treatment of political protestors in the UK, and a worrying sign of continuing repression of protest and solidarity that specifically targets the Kurdish cause.

    The defendant is an anti-imperialist, an environmental activist and friend of the Kurdish freedom movement, and we are relieved to see a just verdict in his case. We extend our enduring solidarity to people fighting criminalisation and unjust prosecution across the world.

    A ‘circus’

    Outside court, Walker said that the 18-month prosecution had been “extremely stressful”. He continued:

    It’s absolutely outrageous that they would drag not only myself and the defence witness halfway across the country during a pandemic, but also 12 jurors … to oversee a trial this minor.

    The whole case has been a circus intended to intimidate protesters and those who defend themselves against police acting violently.

    Walker’s case shows that the state’s political prosecutions of protesters are continuing, despite the ongoing lockdown. We need to make it clear that if the CPS persist in bringing our comrades to court during this health crisis, then we will be with them in solidarity.

    Featured image by Emily Apple

    Tom Anderson is part of the Shoal Collective, a cooperative producing writing for social justice and a world beyond capitalism. 

    By Tom Anderson

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • Campaigners call for the strengthening of Welsh language rights as people globally stand up for oppressed mother languages

    Sunday 21 February was International Mother Language Day, and people around the world took the opportunity to stand up for oppressed mother tongues.

    The International Mother Language Day is a global event intended to highlight the need to protect linguistic diversity. And as activists stood up for oppressed languages around the world, there’s also a need to stand up for linguistic freedom closer to home.

    Kurdistan

    Commentators on Twitter highlighted the continued oppression of the Kurdish language.

    Several people pointed out that a schoolteacher in Iran has recently been sentenced to five years in prison for teaching Kurdish children in their mother tongue:

     

    Bangladesh

    Several people tweeted about language rights in Bangladesh, commemorating four people who were killed by police in the 1950s while demonstrating for the right to speak Bangla:

    Mother language marginalised in Wales

    Closer to home in Wales, lots of people sent tweets celebrating the Welsh language on 21 February:

    But unfortunately it’s clear the Welsh language is still under attack. For example, on International Mother Language Day 2020, a presenter at Sky News showed that colonial views toward the Welsh language are alive and well.

    Sky News interviewed Alex Rawlings about International Mother Language Day in 2020. Rawlings is a multilingual travel writer. The interviewer asked: ‘which language is the most pointless’.

    According to the Nation Cymru:

    Alex Rawlings, who speaks 15 languages, had been invited on to discuss UNESCO’s International Mother Tongue Day.

    The presenter asked: “Which is the most pointless?” She then pointed to her ear and said: “People in my ear just said Welsh. That’s insulting-”

    Rawlings responded:

    I don’t think there’s such a thing as a useless language. If you can use a language to speak to people, it’s useful. If you can use a language to learn about people’s culture, it’s useful.

    It doesn’t matter how big or small that community is. And I’m really proud of the fact that in the UK, we have indigenous languages like Welsh and Gaelic and Irish and they’re promoted and a part of this country and I’d love to see that continue.

    The presenter later tried to pass the comment off as banter. But viewers responded angrily on Twitter:

    A pattern of marginalisation

    Unfortunately the situation isn’t much different this year. The notion that Welsh is a pointless language is part of a pattern of repression and marginalisation of the Welsh language that is still alive and well today.

    Just last month The Canary reported allegations by a Welsh language speaking prisoner at HMP Berwyn (in North Wales) alleged that he and others were being discriminated against for speaking Welsh in the prison.

    And last week a director of Iceland the supermarket was fired after mocking the Welsh language in his blog. He called the language “gibberish” and allegedly previously compared it to the sound of someone clearing their throat. Additionally, writer Lowri Llewelyn feels the language is the subject of “ridicule” in the UK.

    The Canary asked Mabli Siriol about the need to protect the Welsh language. Siriol, a chair of Cymdeithas yr laith (the Welsh Language Society) said:

    Welsh is a living, breathing, dynamic language, with hundreds of thousands of people using it every day across the country. However, more needs to be done to increase the number of Welsh speakers and strengthen Welsh as a language of daily life in workplaces, services and communities. That’s why we’re calling on the Welsh Government to ensure Welsh-medium education for all, create a thousand spaces where Welsh is the primary language and offer free Welsh lessons to all adults.

    A ‘fundamental right’

    Siriol continued:

    The right to live through the medium of Welsh is a fundamental right, and we are extremely concerned whenever this right is undermined.

    We are unfortunately more than used to hearing people make derogatory comments about the Welsh language, but such comments are completely out of touch with the lived experience of hundreds of thousands of Welsh speakers and the majority of people in Wales who celebrate and support the language.

    Tom Anderson is part of the Shoal Collective, a cooperative producing writing for social justice and a world beyond capitalism. 

    Featured image via Wikimedia Commons – Llywelyn2000

    By Tom Anderson

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • People around the world demand the immediate release of the ‘Nelson Mandela of our time’

    Demonstrations have taken place around the world to mark the anniversary of the capture of Abdullah Öcalan. Millions of Kurdish people see 71-year-old Öcalan as their leader and political representative. He was abducted by international security agents – including the CIA – 22 years ago today, and has been imprisoned in isolation by Turkey for almost a third of his life. The 15 February is a day of mourning for Kurds, known as ‘Roja Reş’, or Black Day.

    Öcalan is a key figure in the Kurdish people’s struggle against their oppressor, Turkey. He co-founded the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in 1978, which began an armed struggle against the Turkish state in 1984. Over the decades, the PKK’s tactics have evolved, and from his prison cell, Öcalan has produced many writings critiquing nation states, patriarchy and capitalism. His books are seen by many as key to mapping out peace in the Kurdistan region. Öcalan’s ideas have also been a cornerstone of the Rojava revolution in northern Syria.

    Turkey, of course, defines the PKK as a terrorist group, and Öcalan as a terrorist. Most Western states have also followed suit in listing the PKK as a terrorist organisation, seeing Turkey as a key trading partner and NATO ally. Indeed, the first trade deal post-Brexit Britain made was with its Turkish ally.

    Even social media outlets target campaigners who call for Öcalan’s freedom. Facebook consistently blocks posts about Öcalan, censoring groups and individuals that upload images of him. It is for this reason that this article appears without an image Öcalan. And yet European courts have insisted on numerous occasions that the PKK is simply a party to an ongoing conflict, not a terrorist organisation.

    “The Nelson Mandela of our time”

    The Canary spoke to an activist from the Kurdistan Solidarity Network about the anniversary of Öcalan’s capture. He said:

    Abdullah Öcalan is rightly compared to being the Nelson Mandela of our time, in that his unjust life imprisonment in isolation –which is abuse and torture – is crucially tied to the liberation struggle of the Kurdish peoples. He has said time and again that actually he doesn’t want to be released if the Kurdish people aren’t liberated from their colonial oppression.

    He went on to say:

    Öcalan has released texts whose central pillars are:

    1) anti-patriarchy in the form of women’s revolution, including women’s armed self-protection military units (imagine how liberating that would be if replicated across the patriarchal societies of the world!).

    2) social ecology to realise the integral link to life in society with all life in the environments of the world.

    3) anti-racist and decolonial in its struggle for full participatory democracy in Kurdistan and the whole world, with seats in all structures of power for women, all ethnicities, religious communities, youth and political structures (including liberatory projects) in society.

    Struggling against Turkish fascism

    To understand why it is so essential to release Öcalan from prison, it’s important to outline the history of the Kurdish struggle against Turkish fascism.

    There are around 30 million Kurdish people worldwide, most of whom live in the geographic region of Kurdistan, which lies within Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. The largest population of Kurds live within the borders of Turkey, making up almost 20% of the country’s population. After the founding of the republic of Turkey in 1923, Kurdish citizens were targeted. Kurdish languages were repressed, the words ‘Kurd’ and ‘Kurdistan’ were banned, and Kurdish citizens were renamed ‘mountain Turks’ by the state.

    In the 1980s, hundreds of thousands of Kurdish people were detained and tortured in Turkish prisons. The 1990s were even more horrifying as Turkish security forces burnt down more than 3,000 Kurdish villages in an attempt to wipe out Kurdish culture and identity (but under the guise of fighting the PKK). To this day, hundreds of Kurdish women, known as the Peace Mothers, demonstrate all over Turkey. They say:

    We are the mothers of victims of 17,000 unidentified murders, political killings and disappearances committed in the 80s and 90s. We are the mothers of 40,000 people lost during the war and the conflict.

    Under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s fascistic presidency, the situation for Kurdish people has gone from bad to worse. In 2015, bomb blasts ripped through a pro-Kurdish election rally in the Kurdish city of Amed, killing five, while a month later another bomb killed 34 Kurdish youths in Suruç. And in October 2015, at least 128 trade unionists and supporters of the pro-Kurdish HDP party were killed by two more bombs in Ankara while attending a peace rally. The Turkish state blamed the attacks on Daesh (ISIS/Isil), yet many Kurdish people laid the blame squarely on the government.

    After the bombings, Kurdish people declared autonomy in a number of Kurdish cities within Turkey. The Turkish state used artillery and tanks on the cities’ residents, carrying out its worst attacks on the Kurdish population since the 1990s. The military besieged towns, and thousands were murdered, tortured or displaced.

    Things haven’t got much better. In the last five years, Turkey has invaded Rojava, north-east Syria, and is alleged to have used chemical weapons on civilians. It has invaded and occupied Afrin, launched a major drone attack on Idlib, and murdered its own civilians. It has continued a war in Libya, while repeatedly bombing Iraqi Kurdistan. And on Sunday 14 February, the Turkish military was forced to retreat after carrying out airstrikes in an attempt to occupy the Gare region of Iraqi Kurdistan.

    There are currently tens of thousands of political prisoners in Turkey, including activists, musicians, academics, human rights defenders, writers, and politicians.

    Releasing Öcalan is key to peace

    The Kurdish diaspora and supporters around the world argue that the release of Öcalan is vital for there to be a resolution to the Kurdish question. As more and more young Kurdish people study their leader’s writings, Öcalan’s roadmap to peace provides the latest generation with hope. Peace in Kurdistan argues:

    Öcalan’s record in the struggle for peace and reconciliation between Turkey and Kurds needs to be generously acknowledged. This is the key to breaking the deadlock and moving forward…

    This anniversary of Öcalan’s capture by means of an undignified collaboration of international security agencies shows that the attempt to destroy the Kurdish movement by removing its leadership has failed and that a new approach is urgently required; one that is based on beginning the process of talking to each other and reaching agreement.

    As thousands march around the world today, the message is clear: Öcalan needs to be immediately freed. Until then, millions will continue to campaign and protest tirelessly.

    Featured image via Wikimedia and Freedom for Öcalan

    By Eliza Egret

    This post was originally published on The Canary.