On the 25th anniversary of the capture and imprisonment of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan, prominent figures within the Kurdish community have demanded his immediate release and underscored the critical need to address the Kurdish question through democratic means.
In a series of interviews and analyses, the Kurdish politicians, writers, and intellectuals also denounced the failed policies of the Turkish state, advocating for solidarity and a united struggle against the current system.
DEM Party Van (Wan) Member of Parliament (MP) Gülcan Kaçmaz Sayyiğit criticised the government’s ineffective policies as regards the Kurdish question and highlighted the longevity of the Kurdish liberation movement, on-going for 38-years.
Sayyiğit underscored solidarity within the movement as key to resistance of what she termed fascism, and emphasised the importance of a unified approach in advocating for a democratic resolution to the Kurdish issue.
M. Zeki İrmez, another DEM Party MP, condemned the Justice and Development Party (AKP)-National Movement Party (MHP) government’s tactics of fear and repression, pointing out the widespread impact of Öcalan’s isolation on all Kurdish and Turkish communities.
“We have seen very clearly from the reactions of the people, especially from our mothers [an activist group known as the Peace Mothers], that this issue cannot be resolved by any means other than democratic, peaceful, free, and human rights-based means. The addressee is Mr. Öcalan,” he said.
Reiterating the failure of decades-long oppressive policies in resolving the Kurdish issue, İrmez presented Öcalan’s paradigm as a beacon of hope for Kurds and all peoples in the region.
He praised on-going ‘Great Freedom March’, as a manifestation of the Kurdish aspiration for democracy and freedom, and said the marches would continue until Öcalan is freed and the Kurdish question resolved.
