33 thinkers call for "right to hope" for leader Abdullah Ocalan

33 prominent intellectuals, including Edgar Morin, Alain Badiou, Slavoj Žižek, and Michael Lowy, have called for the implementation of Abdullah Ocalan's "right to hope."

In a statement titled "Abdullah Ocalan's Universal Right to Hope," they declared: "We call upon the progressive, secular, and democratic forces of the world to listen to Abdullah Ocalan."

The statement was presented to the relevant representatives of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Imrali delegation.

The statement included:

"Abdullah Ocalan proposes a peaceful, democratic, national liberation based on the historical unity of the Turkish, Kurdish, Arab, and Persian peoples. Ocalan's call, which categorically rejects violence, transcends borders and resonates throughout the world.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) dissolved itself and ended its armed struggle. The war in Syria ended at Ocalan's call, and the integration process began. It is time to realize the right to hope, as powerfully expressed by Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in Turkey. Abdullah Ocalan must be able to work freely, and the Kurdish people must be able to hear the voice of their leader. We call upon the progressive, secular, and democratic forces of the world to listen to Abdullah Ocalan."

Signatories to the appeal

Among the signatories of this appeal are numerous academics and activists in the fields of philosophy, political theory, sociology, and human rights, including; the French thinker Edgar Morin; Alain Badiou, known for his work in political and existential philosophy; Jacques Rancière, known for his theory of aesthetics and democracy; Axel Honneth, representing critical theory; the postcolonial theorist Gayatri Spivak; Angela Davis, a representative of the Black liberation movement; the political philosopher Nancy Fraser; the Slovenian thinker Slavoj Žižek; the historian Enzo Traverso; the sociologist Craig Calhoun; and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jody Williams.

The list also includes representatives of liberation theology, Marxism, psychoanalysts, anthropologists, and political scientists.