Kurds and their friends held a rally in front of the German Federal Parliament in Berlin, demanding freedom and the ‘Right to Hope’ for Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been incarcerated in İmralı Island Prison in Turkey since 1999.
The demonstration, promoted by the Dest-Dan Hêvî Women’s Council and Nav-Berlin, was also attended by Cansu Özdemir, Foreign Affairs Officer of the Left Party (Die Linke), Vinzenz Hans Glaser, Member of Parliament for the Left Party and also a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and Federal MP Mirze Edis.
Glaser: The Right to Hope is a public value
Vinzenz Glaser, a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, reiterated his call for the release of Abdullah Öcalan, saying: “Abdullah Öcalan has been held in prison since 1999. This unlawful and inhumane detention must end. This is vital not only for his personal rights, but also for restarting the peace process in Turkey.”
Glaser emphasized the importance of pressure from European countries for a resolution to the Kurdish question and stressed that Europe must not compromise on human rights standards. He continued: “If we do not defend the right to hope, we lose one of the fundamental pillars of our public values. Our call to the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers and member states is clear: The isolation in Imralı must end, the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights must be implemented, and a binding roadmap on legal reforms must be established.”
Cansu Özdemir: Öcalan’s inclusion is necessary for a democratic solution
Left Party MP Cansu Özdemir touched on foreign policy, women’s rights, and the Kurdish question, saying: “A democratic, inclusive, and feminist system is possible in the Middle East. Organizations like HTS cannot be an alternative with their centralized structures that exclude women. However, the Kurdish Women’s Movement proves that another future is possible in this region.”
Cansu Özdemir drew attention to the “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” [Woman, Life, Freedom] movement that began in Iran after the death of Jina Mahsa Amini, stating that these words have now become a universal manifesto of women’s freedom.
Özdemir continued: “If Selahattin Demirtaş, Figen Yüksekdağ, and thousands of other opponents are still in prison, we cannot speak of true freedom in Turkey. Therefore, the inclusion of Abdullah Öcalan in the process is necessary for a democratic solution. As the Left Party, we support the demands for peace and democracy together with progressive forces in the Middle East.”