, describing his freedom as key to peace and democracy in Turkey, the Anka news agency reported.){kind=link}
An international delegation of politicians, academics and activists has called for the immediate and unconditional release of Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), describing his freedom as key to peace and democracy in Turkey, the Anka news agency reported.
The 39-member group, visiting İstanbul this week, is part of the “I Want to Visit Öcalan” campaign, launched by the European Forum for Freedom and Peace (EFFP). The campaign seeks to emphasize Öcalan’s role in renewed peace talks between the Turkish government and the PKK, a group designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
Öcalan has been imprisoned on İmralı Island since 1999 and has spent much of that time in isolation. Despite this, he remains a central figure for many Kurds and is widely seen as instrumental in efforts to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the decades-long conflict.
“This is a historic opportunity to resolve the Kurdish conflict through dialogue and negotiation,” the delegation said in a joint statement delivered Wednesday in both Turkish and English by Ferhat Koçak of Germany’s Left Party and Eulalia Reguant Cura of CUP Catalonia at a hotel in Taksim in central İstanbul. “The immediate and unconditional release of Öcalan and all political prisoners is imperative for the democratic process to reach its full potential.”
Broad international representation
The delegation includes lawmakers, trade unionists, journalists, scientists, civil society members and municipal officials from Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Catalonia, France, Switzerland and Japan, according to a report by ANF English.
They met with officials from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), whose co-chair, Tuncer Bakırhan, had earlier announced the visit. The group first stopped at the party’s İstanbul headquarters before having talks with Bakırhan about their request to visit Öcalan in prison.
“We exchanged views on recent political developments in Turkey and the Middle East and on Mr. Öcalan’s role,” Bakırhan said in a post on X. He added that permitting visits to Öcalan would broaden both diplomatic and societal support for the peace process.
“International solidarity will make a significant contribution to the shared future of Turkey’s peoples, who stand as the guarantors of peace and democracy,” Bakırhan noted.
Message from Öcalan
In a written message delivered to the delegation, Öcalan praised the initiative, calling it “meaningful and valuable.”
“I do not see this effort as merely an act of personal solidarity. Rather, I see it as part of a broader will for social peace, democratic resolution and the shared freedom of peoples,” he said. Öcalan stressed that he does not separate his personal freedom from that of society, stating, “Individual freedoms cannot find real meaning without the construction of social freedom.”
He called the group’s campaign a “courageous call” and expressed hope that conditions for a visit would materialize soon.
Renewed peace prospects
The delegation’s visit comes amid revived efforts to negotiate peace between Ankara and the PKK after years of armed conflict. A previous ceasefire collapsed in 2015, but a new process has reportedly been gaining momentum in recent months.
In a major development, the PKK announced on May 12 that it was disbanding and laying down its arms as a result of ongoing peace talks. Two senior PKK figures said this week that the group would soon destroy its remaining weapons as a gesture of goodwill.
The DEM Party, a key political player in the Kurdish movement, has advocated for greater Kurdish representation in peace talks and called for broader reforms, including political and cultural rights for the Kurdish community.
The delegation urged the Turkish government to take “concrete steps toward genuine, constructive dialogue with all sectors of the Kurdish community” and called on progressive forces in Turkey to support the process.
“Only through inclusive engagement can lasting and meaningful change be achieved,” the delegation said. It also called on Turkey to uphold its international obligations and “respect, fulfill and protect the human rights of all people within its borders.”