‘A Thousand Women, One Voice,’ initiative has been launched under the international rolling campaign, ‘Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan – a political solution to the Kurdish issue.’
The wider campaign was launched in October last year, a worldwide effort to secure the release of the Kurdish leader. Öcalan is viewed by supporters as the single figure able to negotiate a renewed peace process with Turkey and end the conflict by democratic means. He has been detained since 1999 in the Turkish high-security prison of Imrali and held for the last 36 months in total isolation, deemed by human rights advocates as an inhumane and torturous act.
The Twitter feed for ‘1000 Women’ is alive with messages from around the globe, shared in diverse native languages as ‘one voice’ against the practice of prolonged isolated detention, in solidarity with the Freedom for Öcalan campaign.
Öcalan, as the pioneer of the Kurdish freedom movement, developed a core principle of women’s liberation, the establishment of their rights, and the leadership of women in society.
An Italian participant in the ‘1000 Women’ campaign, who focused on women’s empowerment, said, “We support the Kurdish women’s struggle because that struggle is our struggle. Millions of women have protested on the streets crying ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’ (Women, Life, Freedom), as that idea can bring a new perspective to the world.”
The ‘‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’ slogan, originally coined by Öcalan, took hold worldwide in 2022 during the feminist anti-regime uprising in Iran. The Kurdish-origin motto was used because it was the violent death in police custody of a young Kurdish-Iranian woman, Jîna Mahsa Emînî, which sparked the protests.
International action in support of Öcalan, and the evolving feminist movement he spurred, has been held outside the Council of Europe every day since 2012. Demonstrators demand that the council’s anti-torture committee pressurise Turkey to end the use of isolation practices.
Frustration is growing for human rights advocates, as Turkish authorities continue to bar the publication of reports on the inspection of Imrali prison. A conference on the issue will take place in the European Parliament on 11 April, 2 – 5 pm, and live streamed on Medya News’ X (Twitter) feed.
