Former Syrian presidential candidate seeks meeting with leader Ocalan

The “Syrian Initiative for the Freedom of leader Abdullah Ocalan,” in coordination with the “Syrian Lawyers’ Initiative to Defend leader Ocalan,” has launched a campaign entitled “I Wish to Meet  Leader Abdullah Ocalan.” The campaign aims to mobilize broad political and social support from prominent figures, including politicians, academics, intellectuals, and community leaders, through a nationwide petition drive.

During the first three days of the campaign (21–24), approximately 370 signatures were collected across North and East Syria as well as in other Syrian cities (Latakia, Tartous, Sweida, Homs, Aleppo, and Damascus). The signatories included political, academic, medical, cultural, legal, and religious figures, in addition to tribal elders. Among them was former Syrian presidential candidate and researcher Daa’d Kanoua, who spoke to ANHA aygency about her reasons for joining the campaign.

Kanoua, a scholar specializing in democratic society studies, stressed that the call to meet with leader Abdullah Ocalan is no longer a symbolic gesture but rather a concrete objective for advocates of liberation and peace—globally and particularly within Syria.

She said: “I have reviewed the statement of the Arab Initiative for the Freedom of leader Abdullah Ocalan, entitled ‘The Voice of Peace in a Time of Isolation,’ and I found in it an embodiment of the spirit of this era, as well as an intellectual and moral necessity for saving our societies.”

Kanoua emphasized that Syrian society is currently experiencing one of its most urgent historical moments, requiring the nourishment of collective consciousness with a deeply rooted philosophy of social peace, grounded in civilization and nature, and clearly centered on the role of women in restructuring the national household.

She continued: “I have long sought a way out of our intertwined social crises and found no clear answer except in the philosophy of the great thinker leader Abdullah Ocalan. His project is built on profound humanistic values that begin with the individual and extend to the cultural and civilizational fabric, in complete harmony with the essence and diversity of life. Within this framework, he has granted women a central role as the cornerstone of this construction.”

She added: “Leader Ocalan offers a comprehensive vision of the century-long conflict in the Middle East, a struggle shaped by international arrangements imposed by the West through force and domination, whose heavy shadow continues to this day.”

The Syrian researcher concluded that a thoughtful engagement with leader’s philosophy leads to a new awareness—one that instills pride in belonging to this land, the heart of the world, where balanced citizenship can be achieved, grounded in the strength of rights and the fulfillment of duties, as the essence of human existence.

She stated: “At that moment, I grasped the depth of leader Ocalan’s philosophy, and how the ethical feminist logic prevailed. I felt an overwhelming sense of sincerity infused with noble values, which turned that announcement into a true turning point.”

She added: “As a Syrian woman who has long struggled for human freedom, and sought to build leadership and administrative capacities—not only through knowledge, but also through conscious practice and practical models attuned to the essence of the region’s cause—I realized that the time has come to free this thinker from an isolation that has lasted more than a quarter of a century.

The Syrian researcher concluded: “The world has changed and become a small village. The waters surrounding Imrali Island can no longer suffocate the freedom of a thinker of such humanitarian and societal stature. We, women from across the globe, make a sincere appeal to the Turkish Ministry of Justice: end this violation of the will to life and release leader Abdullah Ocalan, for he is the voice of peace in an age of isolation.”

a.k

ANHA