In Strasbourg, a rally was held in front of the Council of Europe building by the Preparatory Committee of the Kurdish People’s Assembly, demanding the freedom of Abdullah Öcalan and the implementation of the “Right to Hope” in his case. The event saw a large turnout of Kurds and their friends, who carried banners in different languages and photos of the Kurdish leader. The crowd frequently chanted slogans demanding Öcalan’s freedom.
The rally, which took place ahead of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers’ session on September 15-17, began with an opening speech by the organizing committee. This was followed by speeches from Zübeyde Zümrüt and Engin Sever, Co-Chairs of the Congress of Kurdish Communities in Europe (KCDK-E).
Zübeyde Zümrüt highlighted the European Court of Human Rights’ 2014 ruling on the “right to hope” and the deadline given to Turkey by the Council of Europe last year, emphasizing that the failure to implement these rulings was a political choice. Stating that the Council of Europe should not legitimize lawlessness, Zümrüt said they were waiting for concrete steps to be taken for the freedom of Abdullah Öcalan.
Engin Sever stated that Turkey had not used the time allotted to it and that European states had not spoken out enough, saying, “Leader Öcalan’s freedom is a red line for the Kurdish people.”
Speaking on behalf of the Kurdish Women’s Movement in Europe (TJK-E), Ayten Kaplan stated that Öcalan is the main interlocutor of the peace process and called for Turkey to make legal reforms and release political prisoners.
“Rights are granted to everyone, so why not to the Kurds? This question must be answered,” she underlined.
Ömer Güneş, one of Öcalan’s lawyers, stressed that the Council of Europe is responsible for ensuring the implementation of the ECtHR’s “right to hope” ruling. Referring to the example of Azerbaijan, Güneş stated that Turkey should also be subject to the same sanctions.
Other speakers included Sinan Önal on behalf of the “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, Political Solution to the Kurdish Question” initiative, Ercan Jan Aktaş on behalf of the European Peace and Freedom Forum, and Zülfü Sever, one of the coordinators of the 14-year-long sit-in protest in front of the Council of Europe.
Sinan Önal said: “On September, like these days last year, the Committee of Ministers gave Turkey one final year to amend its legislation to comply with the European Court of Human Rights, postponed for 11 years upto now. That deadline has now expired. Turkey’s refusal to implement these reforms is no longer an internal legal debate—it is a breach of its obligations to Europe and to humanity.
We are therefore at a crossroads. Will the Council of Europe, the unique defender of humanitarian law in these brutal days of the world, act decisively to defend its own values, or will Turkey be kept allowed to continue defying the judgments of Strasbourg while silencing the voice of peace?”
Önal added: “This is not an abstract legal question. It is a deeply political and moral issue. For more than 26 years, in exactly 26 years and 7 months, Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan has been held in isolation on İmralı Island special prison. And yet, from his cell, he has consistently advanced the idea that peace is possible, that a democratic and just society can replace the endless war. His vision of democratic confederalism, of gender equality, of ecological sustainability, has already inspired movements from Asia, Europe, Australia to Latin America and all the continents over the world.
In February this year, under conditions of extreme isolation, Mr Öcalan made a historic appeal. He called for the dissolution of the armed struggle, and for a transition to a democratic and peaceful process. This was not simply a tactical gesture. It was, and remains, a strategic offer for a lasting peace—a chance to turn the page on decades of bloodshed.”
Önal underlined that “Peace cannot be built upon prisons, walls, and laws of enmity. It requires structural change. Turkey must abolish the discriminatory laws that categorically exclude certain prisoners from parole. It must align its justice system with the European Convention on Human Rights. And it must finally recognise that Kurdish rights and freedoms are inseparable from the future of democracy in Turkey.
Öcalan’s freedom is the key. His freedom is the bridge between peoples. And his freedom is the condition for a genuine peace process that can end not only the Kurdish question in Turkey, but also inspire democratic transformation across the entire Middle East.”
Following artist Kawa Urmiye’s musical performance, the rally ended with slogans.
After the rally, a four-day sit-in was launched with the participation of Kurds and their friends, which will continue until September 19.