Arab Initiative, Arab elites launch call for physical freedom of Leader Ocalan

The Arab Initiative for the Freedom of Leader Abdullah Ocalan, in cooperation with a group of Arab intellectuals and thinkers, has issued a humanitarian and political statement calling for the immediate release of the leader and thinker Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on Imrali Island for more than twenty-six years. The statement considers his continued isolation a deliberate silencing of a voice that could contribute to saving the Middle East from conflict and division.

The statement affirms that despite the years of isolation, Leader Ocalan still has a comprehensive civilizational project, “Democratic Nation”, which presents a model for fair coexistence among ethnic, religious, and sectarian groups in the region, and offers an alternative to the traditional authoritarian state.

The signatories stressed that Leader Ocalan's imprisonment constitutes not only a grave human rights violation but also the deliberate exclusion of a voice capable of contributing to peace negotiations and restoring the rights of the Kurdish people. They pointed to the success of the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria, inspired by his ideas, as a model for building a democratic and humane society.

The Initiative called on Arab intellectuals, writers, and activists to join the global campaign demanding an end to Leader Ocalan’s isolation under the slogan: “I Want to Meet Ocalan,” and to sign the statement in support of his right to have his voice heard and to participate in a negotiation process that could end decades of conflict and lay the foundation for a shared Arab-Kurdish future.

The list of signatories includes a large number of political and intellectual figures from Egypt, Palestine, Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon, Tunisia, Syria, Yemen, and Jordan. Among them are heads and leaders of ten Arab political parties, academics, ambassadors, and prominent media and human rights figures.

Text of the Statement:

Leader Abdullah Ocalan... The Voice of Peace in a Time of Isolation

"At a time when defeats and betrayals pile up, and the East teeters between the fires of war and the swamps of despotism, we. the “Initiative” and a group of Arab intellectuals and elites, raise a call that transcends political stances and touches the realm of morality and human conscience:

Open the gates of Imrali and release a voice that has not been broken, despite a quarter-century of isolation.

Leader Abdullah Ocalan, the thinker and fighter imprisoned for more than 26 years, still holds a key that can close the door to war and open the horizon for reconciliation, not only between the Kurds and the Turkish political system, but also among all the peoples of the region exhausted by ethnic, religious, and sectarian divisions.

In the heart of his isolation, Leader Ocalan produced a comprehensive civilizational project, “Democratic Nation”, as a new formula for coexistence that transcends the artificial borders drawn by maps of blood and opens up the concept of a community-based state, where power is freed from the logic of domination and becomes a servant of all human beings.

We see that the continued detention of Leader Ocalan and the prevention of his voice and ideas from reaching the world is not only a serious human rights violation, but a deliberate suffocation of a voice that could pull the Middle East out of the spiral of destruction.

Excluding Leader Ocalan from the political scene at a moment when the peoples of the region need his wisdom and experience is a deeper entrenchment of non-peace.

We are not asking for privileges, nor are we making emotional appeals. We are demanding a human, political, and moral right:

That Ocalan, the leader and thinker, be allowed to meet with his people, supporters, and peace activists, and be given the freedom to lead a negotiation process that restores Kurdish rights and puts Turkey and the region on the path to genuine peace.

The experience of the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria, inspired by Leader Ocalan’s ideas, has proven that it is not merely a Kurdish project but an authentic human model of how to build a society that rejects ethnic supremacy, gender discrimination, and religious domination. It is a project of life in the face of a project of extermination.

This call aligns with noble global campaigns launched by leftist and progressive forces worldwide, under the slogan:

“I Want to Meet Ocalan”

From our position as Arabs who believe in the unity of peoples’ struggles, we invite everyone to join this campaign and turn it into an international pressure movement to break the walls of isolation and return the voice to its rightful owner.

Leader Abdullah Ocalan is not a personal prisoner, but a symbol of a just cause and an alternative voice in a time of silenced voices.

His freedom today is one of the conditions for building a shared Arab-Kurdish future based on reconciliation, dignity, and coexistence, not exclusion and oppression.

We demand the immediate release of Leader Ocalan and declare our full support for his right to meet with cultural and intellectual delegations, both Arab and international, to engage in his vision for peace and lead negotiations that end decades of bloodshed and lay the foundation for a new era of shared life.

Call for Signatures

We call on Arab intellectuals, writers, academics, and activists to sign this statement and join the campaign calling for the freedom of Leader Abdullah Ocalan, in support of a just peaceful path and to amplify the voice of wisdom in an age of arrogance.

Contact for confirmation of signature:

[[email protected]]

Or via the official “Initiative” page on social media platforms

Signatories so far include:

(1) Elhami El-Meligy – Writer, media figure, politician, and coordinator of the Arab Initiative. 

(2) Ahmed Bahaa El-Din Shaaban – Head of the Egyptian Socialist Party. 

(3) MP Sayed Abdel Aal – Head of the National Progressive Unionist Party, Member of the Egyptian Senate

(4) Salah Adly – Secretary-General of the Egyptian Communist Party. 

(5) Bassam Kamel – Secretary-General of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party. 

(6) Ambassador Sherif Shaheen – Former Assistant to the Egyptian Foreign Minister

(7) MP Atef Maghawry – Member of Egyptian Parliament, Vice President of the Tagammu Party. 

(8) Ali Said – Political Bureau Member of the Sudanese Communist Party. 

(9) Elhami Al-Mirgani – Vice President of the Popular Alliance Socialist Party. 

(10) Hani Madi – Leader in the Arab Democratic Nasserist Party. 

(11) Shaimaa El-Shawarabi – President of the Women's Union of the Egyptian Liberal Party. 

(12) Mohammed Alloush – Palestinian poet and writer. 

(13) Dr. Ali Shoshan – Political Bureau Member of the Egyptian Communist Party. 

(14) Farnaz Attia – Ph.D. in Political Science. 

(15) Prof. Dr. Mohamed Rifaat Elimam – Professor of Modern and Contemporary History, Former Dean of Damanhour College. 

(16) Fathi Mahmoud – Head of Aton Center for Studies. 

(17) Dr. Taha Ali – Political researcher in Middle East affairs and identity politics. 

(18) Abdul Rahman Rabo’a – Writer and journalist. 

(19) Massoud Al-Hassan – Central Committee Member of the Sudanese Communist Party. 

(20) Dr. Sahar Hassan – Ph.D. in Modern and Contemporary History. 

(21) Hassan Badi’ – Writer and journalist. 

(22) Essam Kamel – Editor-in-chief of Veto newspaper and website (Egypt). 

(23) Dr. Medhat Hamad – Head of the Farabi Center for Political and Development Studies, Professor of Persian Language and Iranian Studies at Tanta University. 

(24) Amal Al-Kurdi – Jordanian writer and researcher. 

(25) Dr. Hosni Ahmed Mostafa – Social researcher. 

(26) Dr. Nabil Rashwan – Geologist and Egyptian politician. 

(27) Mostafa Habash – Writer and journalist from Tigray Region, Ethiopia. 

(28) Lobna Ben Abdallah – Tunisian civil society activist. 

(29) Dr. Ahmed Ragab – Member of the Arab Lawyers Union. 

(30) Dr. Counselor Alaa Ali Zein Al-Abidin Salama – Former judge, currently an international lawyer. 

(31) Ali Naji – Iraqi writer and journalist. 

(32) Khalil Qadi – Lebanese writer and journalist. 

(33) Sherif Abdel Hamid – Head of the Gulf Center for Iranian Studies. 

(34) Dr. Ibrahim Ali Marjouna – Professor of Islamic History and Civilization at Damanhour University. 

(35) Faten Sobhi – Journalist. 

(36) Saad Mehio – Lebanese thinker and writer, Director of the Regional Integration Forum. 

(37) Magdy Bouhna Hatna – Head of the Initiative for Construction and Development Organization, Libyan human rights activist. 

(38) Mamoun Al-Noubi – Sudanese civil activist. 

(39) Mohammed Salem – Political researcher at Aton Center for Studies. 

(40) Rami Zuhdi – Politician and researcher on international and Middle Eastern affairs. 

(41) Firas Eid Younis – Syrian politician and writer. 

(42) Ayman Al-Raqeb – Professor of Political Science at Al-Quds University. 

(43) Othman Baraka – Politician from the National Current of Engineer Saif al-Islam Gaddafi. 

(44) Dr. Ali Thabet – Academic and editor-in-chief of the Armenian magazine Arik. 

(45) Sayed Abu Al-Yazid – Writer, journalist, editor-in-chief of Al-Gomhouria newspaper. 

(46) Dr. Mahmoud Zayed – Professor at Al-Azhar University, expert on Kurdish affairs. 

(47) Mounir Adeeb – Researcher on extremist movements and international terrorism. 

(48) Dr. Soni Al-Ashqar – Lebanese writer, media personality, and visionary. 

(49) Dr. Raed Al-Masri – Lecturer in political thought and international relations. 

(50) Dr. Azza Mahmoud – Ph.D. in Historical Documentation, political researcher and poet. 

(51) Sayed Hussein – Writer and journalist. 

(52) Dr. Ali Abu Al-Kheir – Ph.D. in Islamic History and Civilization. 

(53) Dr. Ra’ida Al-Dhabhani – International legal expert and Peace and Humanity Ambassador from Yemen. 

 A-H 

ANHA