by Penny Papadopoulou/Athens
A panel in Athens on Wednesday marked the anniversary of the 9 October conspiracy against Abdullah Öcalan, calling for the release of the Kurdish leader and denouncing the continued isolation imposed on him at İmrali prison.
“We will continue the struggle against the system in İmrali,” said Rezan Sarica, a lawyer acting for Öcalan, urging the international community no longer to remain blind, deaf and mute to Turkey’s refusal to allow Öcalan access to his lawyers and family. “Is it normal for inmates to not have contact with the outside world?” Sarica asked, placing an emphasis on the lack of legal basis for the restrictions.
Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party MP Berdan Öztürk said that Öcalan’s situation is part of a wider pattern across Turkey, where human life is systematically devalued. “Öcalan cannot be seen as one person experiencing this because it is happening all around Turkey,” he said. Öztürk stressed Öcalan’s crucial role in the potential resolution of the Kurdish issue, stating, “If Öcalan is freed, all the other problems in the Middle East can be solved.”
Greek lawyer Ioanna Kourtovik referred to Öcalan’s abduction as a stigma against Greece. “The abduction and delivery of Öcalan to Turkey has been a shameful act of deceit and banishment,” Kourtovik said. “Greece has done nothing since then to defend the rights of the man she delivered in such a way to the brutality of the Turkish regime.”
Eleni Vassilopoulou shared her personal memory of meeting Öcalan shortly before his abduction, describing him as “the hero of a great people.” She called for continued efforts to fight for his freedom. The panel, moderated by Ariadni Antonaki, was part of the Free Öcalan Global Days awareness campaign.
