Thread by @dersi4m

On this day in 1998 Abdullah Ocalan was forced to leave Syria. In Europe he wanted support for a peaceful solution of Kurdish issue. Today, Ocalan’s philosophy which led to #JinJiyanAzadi can be heard in any country that refused to guarantee him political asylum #FreedomForOcalan

No country was willing to take the Kurdish leader, or to take initiative in mediating negotiations between the conflicting parties. The Kurds were seen to be standing in the way of the geostrategic & economic interests of the leading powers in the Middle East #FreedomForOcalan

On 14th Feb 1999 Ocalan was kidnapped in Nairobi & handed over to Turkey as an act of international piracy involving the CIA, the Turkish MIT & Mossad. It was also supported by the governments of Russia, Greece and other European countries #FreedomForOcalan

Thus ended a story of intrigue, deceit and an odyssey of Abdullah Öcalan and the Kurdish people.

Ocalan was brought on the prison island Imrali which can be called the unexposed Guantanamo of Europe. It is declared a military zone & guarded by 1,000 soldiers #FreedomForOcalan

Since July 2011 Ocalan has not seen his lawyers, since October 2014 his custodian and family have been barred from the island. Ocalan has been held in total isolation with no news from prisoners, no lawyer-client consultations, family visits, letters #FreedomForOcalan

Although the anti-torture committee of the Council of Europe (CPT) has repeatedly sent a delegation to Imrali and demanded an end to his solitary confinement, Turkey has not followed the recommendations or implemented the judgements #FreedomForOcalan

The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, its Parliamentary Assembly and even the Court itself have turned a blind eye to Turkey’s human rights violations when it comes to Ocalan, and thus have become Turkey’s accomplices #FreedomForOcalan

The current total isolation of the whole Imrali Island Prison –which is now spilling over to other prisons – is not only unprecedented in the history of Turkey & a grave violation of ECHR. It is also an indication of the conflict’s current & future escalation #FreedomForOcalan

Abdullah Ocalan is more than a political prisoner. He is one of the most influential thinkers and philosophers of our time.

Ocalan’s ideas & paradigm led to the establishment of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) which has become a beacon of hope in Turkey #FreedomForOcalan

It was Ocalan who proposed to establish a military force called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Northern and Eastern Syria.

In the recent years the multiethnic military alliance SDF played a key role in the fight against ISIS in Syria

#FreedomForOcalan

The leading slogan of the #IranProtests #JinJiyanAzadi is based on Ocalan’s ideas and paradigm on women’s liberation for decades #FreedomForOcalan

Briefly: Turkey can imprison Abdullah Ocalan, but they can not halt his ideas, philosophy and paradigm which have been already spread from his little prison cell into every corner around the world! #FreedomForOcalan