Kurdish activists submit dossier on Öcalan’s isolation to the CoE

The vigil launched on December 1 by the Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan Initiative as part of  the‘Dem Dema to Azadiyê’ [Time for Freedom] campaign has completed its second week.

The activists demand an end to the isolation of Öcalan and secure his freedom in their action carried out under the motto ‘Liberty Will Win; Take Action for Abdullah Öcalan’.

Kurdish politicians in Europe, women’s and youth organizations, Kurdish Democratic Community Centres and constituents of the European Democratic Union of Forces carry out the protest in front of the Council of Europe on a daily basis.

On the last day of the second week, members of the Dutch Democratic Kurdistan Community Centres Federation (DEM-NED) and the Belgian Democratic Kurdistan Community Centres Federation (NAV – BEL) took over the action.

NAV-BEL co-chair Davut Keskin read out a press statement on behalf of the group. He pointed out that the Turkish state’s invasion attacks and attempts to massacre the Kurdish people are gradually increasing as the Kurds are going through extraordinary times.

Keskin stated that the Turkish army has used chemical weapons against guerrillas and the civilian population even at the risk of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He condemned the silence of Europe and the international community towards the crimes committed by the Turkish state in Kurdistan.

Keskin stressed that the war in Kurdistan escalated as the isolation of Kurdish leader Öcalan is aggravated.

Keskin commemorated Shengal Autonomous Administration Council Co-Chair Merwan Bedel who was killed in a Turkish drone attack in the town of Khanasor on December 7 and defined Turkey’s deadly drone attacks as a crime against humanity.

Keskin told that the Kurds have overthrown many governments over the years through their resistance and added that an all-out Kurdish resistance will defeat the AKP-MHP fascist regime.

The Kurdish activist expressed that the European countries have become a partner to Turkish war crimes through their silence. He emphasized that Turkish fascism will turn into a great danger for Europe unless it protects its own values.

Urging the Kurdish people to protest this silence and hypocritical policies, Keskin stressed that they will establish a free Kurdistan by freeing their leader through their struggle.

The activists delivered a dossier documenting the isolation of the Kurdish leader to Michael Neurauter, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

During a meeting, the activists highlighted the duties of the Council of Europe and said that the Turkish state committed a crime against humanity against the Kurdish people in the person of Öcalan violating the conventions it signed and its own domestic laws.

The activists demanded the Council of Europe to impose the necessary sanctions urgently, noting that Öcalan has not been allowed to meet his lawyers and relatives under any circumstances, which has caused the Kurdish people to worry about his conditions in prison.

Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Michael Neurauter, is reported to have replied that they attach importance to the actions carried out by the Kurdish people and that they closely monitor the violations of rights in Turkish prisons, particularly on İmralı where Öcalan is kept under aggravated isolation.