The “Call for Peace and Democratic Society” announced on February 27 by Abdullah Öcalan, the founding leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who has been held in isolation by the Turkish state on İmralı Island for 26 years, has caused shockwaves. In response to this call, the PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire and convened a congress soon thereafter, deciding to end its armed struggle against the Turkish state. Both Mr. Öcalan’s call and the PKK’s actions have created a historic opportunity for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question. It is clear that this opportunity offers a strong basis not only for peace, but also for the realization of freedom, equality, justice and democracy – in other words, for a genuine solution.
We, the founders of the European Forum for Peace and Freedom, are determined to ensure that this great opportunity is not squandered.
We say,
The conditions of Mr. Öcalan, who has shown with his call that he is capable of silencing weapons, must be immediately improved to allow him to proceed with stronger steps towards peace. The obstacles preventing Mr. Öcalan from sharing his vision for the future of Turkey, Kurdistan, the Middle East and even the world, which he has been preparing for years, must be removed. We would like to ask our questions and learn about Mr. Öcalan’s ideas and proposals for the construction of a more livable world. We believe that the way to accomplish this is through direct contact with Mr. Öcalan, without any obstacles between us.
We want to see Öcalan, ask him questions and listen to his answers. We want to visit Öcalan.
We ask all who wish to play an active role in promoting peace through an end to Mr. Öcalan’s isolation to send emails, letters and public appeals to the Turkish Ministry of Justice to request permission to visit the Imrali Island Prison, both institutionally and individually. Contact information is below. For requests sent by email, please CC barisforumu@gmail.com so that we track of how many requests have been sent. On social media, you can make a request as a post by adding “@yilmaztunc” and the hashtag #VisitOcalan.
Requests can be made on the following platforms:
Twitter: https://x.com/yilmaztunc
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/adaletbakanlik
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adalet_bakanlik/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/discover/adalet-bakanlığı
The call can be found here in other languages: https://forumforpeace.eu/visitocalan/
Campaign Announcement in Other Languages: