Prominent Irish republican politician Martina Anderson has shared a message of support for Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Anderson is herself a former political prisoner who spent thirteen years in jail for militant, republican activity in Ireland before subsequently being released as part of the Good Friday Agreement, and being elected to public office.
“Despite 25 years in jail, Abdullah Öcalan’s spirit remains unbroken – he’s 75 today,” she wrote, in a message shared on the Kurdish leader’s birthday. “[Öcalan’s] indomitable resolve reminds us that true freedom transcends prison bars, and resides within the depths of one’s convictions.”
For 25 years, Öcalan has been held in solitary confinement on Turkey’s İmralı island, held totally incommunicado in conditions amounting to torture. Anderson this week also attended an event in Berlin intended to raise awareness over the detention of the Kurdish leader, seen by many as a focal point since he has previously played the leading role in peace negotiations with the Turkish authorities. To many, his release is the necessary precondition for peace and a just settlement in Turkey. Reflecting on the event in Berlin, Anderson said: “There’s an indomitable spirit that accompanies those who refuse to yield to oppression, and [Öcalan] embodies this spirit. His leadership has left an indelible mark on the global stage.”
Anderson’s journey into republican activity began early, and she was first arrested aged 18 as a volunteer for the Irish Republican Army (IRA). During the course of her imprisonment, she became one of only two female ‘category A’ prisoners in England, while gaining a first-class honours degree through remote study while jailed. She later became associated with Sinn Féin, a republican party advocating for the reunification of Ireland.
Elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle in 2007, Anderson served as Minister for Education in the Northern Ireland Executive. In 2012, she transitioned to European politics, winning a seat as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Northern Ireland. Throughout her tenure in the European Parliament, Anderson continued to champion progressive causes, advocating for human rights, environmental sustainability, and economic justice, including on behalf of the Kurdish people.
Anderson has attended events in support of the Kurdish cause including in Turkish Kurdistan itself, and raised Turkey’s military attacks on the Kurdish people in the European Parliament, as well as visiting Kurdish politician Leyla Güven in the course of her own hunger strike again intended to challenge the continued isolation of Öcalan and secure visitation rights following a prior period of prolonged isolation. She has since returned to politics in Northern Ireland.
Other members of Sinn Fein have also regularly spoken out in support of the Kurdish cause, given the two movements’ similar efforts to achieve national self-determination on the basis of a just, democratic, progressive political settlement. Francie Molloy, a Sinn Féin member of the UK parliament, has repeatedly emphasised the necessity of immediate dialogue with Abdullah Öcalan to find a political resolution to the Kurdish question. He drew parallels between Irish freedom fighter Bobby Sands and Öcalan during the 3rd Kurdish Conference in London, highlighting the Turkish state’s fear of Öcalan’s ideas.
