Öcalan Books Day has been celebrated in countries around the world since 10 December, with a lively event in front of London’s Amnesty International building, led by the Jiyan Women’s Assembly, a Kurdish women’s initiative. International groups and Kurdish organisations supported the event, chanting, “Yesterday Mandela, today Öcalan” and “Freedom for Öcalan, status for Kurdistan”.
🔴 Öcalan Books Day marked outside London's Amnesty International, as renowned human rights lawyer Margaret Owen (@ElectionMargie) presents dossier outlining extent of human rights abuses committed against Öcalan, leader of the PKK.#OcalanBooksDay |… pic.twitter.com/VpPrpKbb0U
— MedyaNews (@1MedyaNews) December 12, 2023
Demonstrators condemned the continued isolation and human rights violations imposed on Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, displaying banners and placards. Margaret Owen, a 91 year old renowned British human rights lawyer, took a particularly active part in the demonstration.
Lawyer Margaret Owen joined a delegation from the Jiyan Women’s Assembly to present a dossier to Amnesty International officials, outlining the extent of human rights abuses committed against Öcalan, including prolonged isolated detention.
After the presentation, Owen and a group of rights advocates, including various international organisation representatives, gathered outside the Amnesty International building for the protest. Participants shared public readings of passages from Öcalan’s books.
In a short speech, Owen highlighted the PKK leader’s influential social theory in which he developed a unique approach to the women’s liberation movement. She also stressed that the isolation imposed on Öcalan by the Turkish government was a violation of international law. Owen called for collective global action to secure Öcalan’s release.
“The whole world needs him because it’s his ideas that are our hope, not only for peace, justice and freedom, but also for the survival of our planet,” she said, stressing the importance of the ideas contained in the PKK leader’s extensive writings, which poises the empowerment of women, ecology and grassroots democracy as the cornerstone of modernity.
The event aimed not only to raise awareness, but also to garner international support for the Freedom for Öcalan campaign, and for the broader recognition of Kurdish rights.
