🔴Giovanni Russo, former Italian senator, is leading a campaign to support Abdullah Öcalan's ideas for a democratic and peaceful Turkey. Learn more about their efforts here:#MedyaNews
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Giovanni Russo, a former Italian senator, has outlined an ongoing campaign to gather international support and promote imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan’s ideas for a democratic and peaceful Turkey.
The Italian politician is also the spokesman for the Italian Committee for the Freedom of Öcalan.
“We started this campaign in Italy to fight for Öcalan’s freedom and to gather international support through signatures. Intellectuals, trade unionists and different international sectors have supported our efforts. In Italy, we’ve organised events involving young people in protests and marches demanding Öcalan’s freedom,” Russo told Medya Haber TV’s Serkan Demirel in Rome.
The Italian Committee for the Freedom of Öcalan has been actively campaigning for the PKK to be removed from the list of terrorist organisations, while at the same time pressing for improvements in Öcalan’s prison conditions, which Russo described as “harsh, almost torturous”.
Despite his imprisonment, Öcalan has managed to write numerous books and his ideas have been disseminated throughout Italy. Russo’s committee is also working with Öcalan’s legal team, who obtained a form of political asylum for him from a Roman court after the PKK leader was forced to leave Italy in the process leading to his arrest in 1999, recognising his role as a representative of a people deprived of their rights and freedoms.
Russo has called on the Italian parliament and government to recognise the court’s decision and officially ask Turkey to consider political asylum for Öcalan.
“Öcalan’s freedom is of great importance to us. It is crucial not only for the Kurdish people but also for Turkey as a whole. Öcalan’s ideology is not one of division, but of peace between Turks and Kurds. His project of democratic confederalism is based on peace, freedom and fundamental human rights. Therefore, Öcalan’s ideas could help to democratise a currently undemocratic Turkey,” Russo emphasised.
He went on to say that Öcalan’s freedom means not only the freedom of peoples, but also self-government and democracy. Russo pointed to the experience of North and East Syria, where Öcalan’s ideas have been implemented and have led to significant social and political changes, including a prominent role for women, in contrast to the capitalist model.
These experiences, Russo argued, offer valuable insights for the wider international community and represent a unique opportunity to promote democracy and peace, not only in Turkey but in the region as a whole.
