A delegation, consisting of politicians of numerous political parties in Denmark, last week visited the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) in Istanbul, according to Jin News.
Rebecca Søndergaard, a member of the Young Red Greens in Denmark, was among the delegates. During her visit in Istanbul, she made contacts with the HDP’s women’s and youth assembly, in her own words, “to learn from each other, to find common ground to work on together in the future”.
She announced that a new “Kurdish solidarity group” will be established to be the voice of the Kurds in Denmark.
“We are hoping that in my organisation in Denmark, the Young Red Greens, we are going to make a Kurdish solidarity group. So there will be more people who are fighting for the Kurdish people in Denmark.”
“It’s really nice to meet people, to see them in real life, to see all the things we have learned or tried to understand at home and that we have been very inspired by.”
The most inspirational political aspect regarding the Kurdish struggle for her is the Rojava revolution and the political leader, Abdullah Öcalan, she said.
“I think he should be released, freed in this moment. He should not be in prison and he should be freed and able to do his work. I really think that he is very inspiring,” she said about Abdullah Öcalan and his imprisonment in a high security prison on the island of Imralı since 1999.
She said that they are campaigning in Denmark trying to get the Danish government “to put pressure so that he should be freed.”
“Because I really think that he is so inspiring. His thoughts on how to structure an organisation and a country are very, very inspiring. So I would love him to be released and get out of prison.”
“I have been very inspired by the Rojava revolution. And at home, we read a lot about Öcalan. We try to get his thoughts into our work. So it is nice to see those who are actually implementing his thoughts, who have experience. So that you not only learn how it is on paper, but how it works in real life too.”
Abdullah Öcalan is no stranger to the people of Denmark, according to Søndergaard. She explained that they are campaigning hard in Denmark trying to get the Danish government “to put pressure so that he should be freed.”
“In the leftist communities in Denmark, people know about him,” she said.
“We are very inspired by him and we read all of his books and discuss them. It is really a very large part of our understanding of how to build democratic confederalism; we would like that to actually happen.”