At this crucial time for the future of Turkey, Syria, and the whole Middle East, four MEPs took time out from their busy schedule to go into the winter cold and join us at the vigil. They were there to show their support for a new Kurdish peace process and for enabling Abdullah Öcalan to play his vital role and make peace possible.
Pernando Barenna is a member of the Basque EH Bildu. He noted that this was not simply a call to end bad prison conditions but also to allow Öcalan to be able to build peace for the Kurdish people. And he reminded us of the situation in Syria and the need to respect different peoples and to enable the participation of the Kurds.
Sebastian Everding is from the German Party for People the Environment and Animals. He recalled the decades of structural discrimination against the Kurds by Turkey, and he stressed the need for the Turkish state to match Ocalan’s clear stance for peace with a genuine commitment, adding that peace in Turkey cannot be at the expense of loss of autonomy in Syria or Iraq. He concluded with a warning that Erdoğan must realise that without protection of minorities, the doors of the EU will remain closed to Turkey.
Leila Chaibi is a member La France Insoumise. She began by recalling, positively, the protest by young pro-Kurdish activists that shut down the debating chamber of the European Parliament in December. She stressed the importance of respecting the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights; and she noted that her political group shared with the Kurds the values of democracy, feminism, equality, and solidarity, thanking the Kurdish movement for their bravery.
Andreas Schieder is a member of Austria’s Social Democratic Party, as well as co-chair of the Kurdish Working Group in the European Parliament. Unlike the other three speakers, who are from the Left Group, he is part of the Group of Socialists and Democrats. He began by praising the activists who have kept up the vigil through the years in all seasons to support Öcalan’s freedom. He spoke of the new moves towards dialogue which could make it possible for Kurds to have peace and self-determination, to be able to use their language and practice their traditions and be fully respected; and he also noted the importance of finding a solution for Syria, where the Kurds have provided a source of stability. He concluded with the importance of freeing Öcalan and allowing him to become the Nelson Mandela of the Kurdish People.
This is a time of hope – the first visits to Öcalan after 4 ½ years, and the sharing of his manifesto for reaching peace and democracy – but also a time of great worry and concern – more oppression in Turkey, more imprisonment of elected mayors, and a military campaign in Syria aimed at destroying all the achievements of the Autonomous Administration there.
Ocalan has now had two visits – by his politician nephew and by an official DEM Party delegation. He has made it clear that he is ready, as he has always been, to negotiate for peace; and the response from Kurds everywhere demonstrates yet again that he has the vital support to make this possible. He can provide the key to a new future. But, despite all their references to ‘brotherhood’, the government has not moved from their talk of war or made one concession to show they will treat Kurds differently from before.
Öcalan is still effectively in isolation. For any realistic peace process he must be free to meet and talk with all those involved.
It is hard to understand what is going on – and, indeed, confusion is one of Erdoğan’s tactics – but we can say that Turkey and the wider Middle East are at a crossroads and facing the possibility of very different future paths.
In this complicated world, politicians must be ready to adapt and take advantage of changes of circumstance. The Turkish Government may want to see Kurdish hopes and culture violently destroyed, as in Erdogan’s blood-laced speeches; and peace and democracy may not be the Turkish Government’s plan A or even plan B. But, with the right pressure and encouragement, they may find themselves having to adopt a more conciliatory route. They may come to realise that for Turkey to thrive, it needs peace and democracy, not endless war – it needs to work with the Kurds for a better future, rather than focussing energy and resources on Kurdish destruction.
An important part of Öcalan’s message when he was visited by the DEM Party delegation in December was the need for wide political involvement in any peace process. The DEM Party MPs who visited Öcalan in İmralı have since been meeting with politicians from different parties. The reaction from Erdoğans’s ruling AKP may be disappointing, but these visits and discussions have revealed a wider recognition of the need to give serious and constructive answers to the Kurdish question and to build democracy and peace in Turkey. There is a new acceptance of the need for a peaceful resolution.
In these circumstances, there is a possibility that the Turkish state may choose to turn in the direction of peace and away from violence. Support and encouragement for peace and for Ocalan’s freedom to work for that peace have become even more important.