Cansu Özdemir, a German MP for the Left Party (Die Linke), has called for the release of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, emphasising his pivotal role in negotiations for a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish issue in Turkey.
Özdemir, a member of the German Bundestag, shared a video on X (formerly Twitter) in which she explained that the paradigm behind the slogan ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadi’ (Woman, Life, Freedom) had been shaped by Öcalan, and that it offers a “radical alternative to a world characterised by war, patriarchal violence, and state oppression”.
She also emphasised that, following the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) dissolution announcement on 12 May, a historic opportunity for peace in Turkey had emerged, with the potential to positively impact the entire Middle East. She described the PKK’s decision as a “courageous and strategic step” that demonstrates their “will for peace”.
Özdemir highlighted that it is now up to the Turkish state to create conditions for a successful peace process and stated that Öcalan must be released immediately as a political negotiating partner, along with all political prisoners in Turkey, and that the Turkish state must end “military violence”.
Jin, Jiyan, Azadî ist ein politisches Versprechen! pic.twitter.com/9bXPch2QEo
— Cansu Özdemir (@CansuOezdemir) May 15, 2025
She also highlighted the Kurds ongoing fight against the Islamic State:
“For while Islamist organisations such as IS are bringing chaos, destruction and violence to entire regions, it is the Kurds who are courageously standing in their way. They are the bulwark against Islamism, against terror, against contempt for women.”
“Peace finally needs solidarity with those who have been fighting for it for decades,” Özdemir emphasised, calling on the German government to end its criminalisation of Kurds in Germany.
In a speech delivered in the German Bundestag on 12 May, the day on which the PKK announced its dissolution, Özdemir said that the PKK had taken a historic step by “opening the doors to a peace process under difficult conditions”, and emphasised that the Turkish government must now respond by enacting legal reforms.
“The release of Abdullah Öcalan as a direct dialogue partner must now be guaranteed and secured legally. This also means the release of all political prisoners and an end to military violence by the Turkish military”, he stressed.
The Left Party MP also urged the German government to support the peace negotiations in Turkey by ending the criminalisation of Kurds in Germany based on the PKK ban and stopping arms deliveries to Turkey.
