ANF, LONDON — The International Initiative “Freedom for Öcalan. Peace in Kurdistan” has published an ad in the British daily The Guardian today.
The appeal asking for freedom for the Kurdish leader in order to enable him to play his role in the search for a solution to the Kurdish question and the achievement of a just and lasting peace, is signed by hundreds of prominent figures.
Nelson Mandela, Gerry Adams, José Ramos-Horta and Aung San Suu Kyi – it reads – had and have the respect and confidence of their communities and so can convince them to work constructively.
Without doubt Abdullah Öcalan also falls into this category. It is due to him that in the past few years the focus of the Kurdish freedom movement has shifted decisively away from military to political solutions.
From 1993 onwards successive Turkish governments have from time to time approached Öcalan and thus recognized his key role in the search for a solution”.
The appeal adds that “The present Erdoğan government maintained negotiations with him for two and a half years, during which time Öcalan proposed a step-by-step plan for achieving peace, from confidence-building measures, to the silencing of arms under international surveillance, to a permanent political solution to the Kurdish question. The negotiations broke off in July 2011, but Öcalan’s proposals, laid out in his “Road Map,” remain of the utmost importance”.
Firat News Agency