In a stirring video message on Monday, prominent German musician and activist Konstantin Wecker declared that the release of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned in Turkey for over 25 years, is fundamental to achieving a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
Wecker’s statement condemned the ongoing Turkish military offensives against the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), Iraqi Kurdistan, and the Yazidi community in Sinjar (Şengal), branding the actions as illegal under international law and amounting to crimes against humanity.
Wecker criticised Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s regime, stating that its military operations target civilians and essential infrastructure. He praised AANES, or Rojava—meaning “West” in Kurdish—as a social model symbolising “a utopia and beacon of hope for the Middle East and many people around the world”. This model, Wecker highlighted, is rooted in “grassroots and council democracy, feminist, ecological, and socially-just values”, promoting a society inclusive of various ethnic and religious backgrounds.
The activist also condemned the German government’s recent arms sales to Turkey, marking the first significant arms exports from Germany to Turkey in years, accusing Berlin of complicity in the violence against Kurdish populations.
Expressing deep concern over Öcalan’s prolonged isolation, Wecker described it as “inhumane and scandalous”. He stressed that Öcalan’s freedom is “a basic condition for a democratic future in Kurdistan, Turkey, and the entire Middle East”. Wecker drew parallels between Öcalan and South African leader Nelson Mandela, recalling how Mandela was once branded a terrorist—a label now affixed to Öcalan by Erdoğan and several of Turkey’s allies. He called for a global resistance movement similar to the one that secured Mandela’s release.
Wecker’s support for Öcalan is well established. Last year, he voiced solidarity with the Kurdish leader at a concert in Munich, dedicating a poem to Öcalan. Known for championing the Kurdish cause, Wecker was also a sponsor of the Kurdish Cultural Festival in Frankfurt, where he called for peace alongside Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek.
