German scholar, lawyer, and politician Prof. Norman Paech spoke about his 1996 meeting with Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan in an interview with ANF. He said: “I was fortunate to pay a visit to Ocalan in 1996 in Damascus and then the question was about the future of the armed struggle and how to form a Kurdish society within or out of Turkey. Now, the question is very different and is about how to integrate the Kurdish people within a modern state and the nation-state is not a modern state.”
Prof. Paech added: “The present situation has to be changed so that the Kurdish people can enjoy all rights, the same rights, within the borders of Turkey. Abdullah Öcalan must be freed and this is the first step to be taken. Then real consultation can start. The Turkish state, the Turkish government, has to change and be open to new proposals.”