Two years of Global Freedom Campaign against isolation, conspiracy

On the 27th anniversary of the international conspiracy against leader Abdullah Ocalan on October 9, 1998, the “Freedom Campaign” continues to expand globally.

On October 10, 2023, friends of the Kurdish people—including writers, journalists, politicians, artists, and human rights activists—launched a global campaign titled “Freedom for  leader Abdullah Ocalan, Solution to the Kurdish Question.”

The campaign began with simultaneous statements in 74 centers across Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas, and later extended to 185 cities in 93 countries.

It featured a wide range of activities—marches, press statements, panel discussions, lectures, conferences, cultural festivals, signature campaigns, and letters to international institutions demanding an end to leader Ocalan’s isolation and his physical freedom.

Europe

From January 22 to February 15, 2024, marches were held in 25 European cities, culminating in Strasbourg, France. In addition to this major event, 38 other marches took place across the continent.

On February 17, 2024, hundreds of thousands gathered in Cologne, Germany, demanding “Freedom for leader Abdullah Ocalan and a solution to the Kurdish question.”

Between October 1 and 11, 2024, dozens of events were held worldwide marking the campaign’s first anniversary—49 events in total, including banner displays, seminars, statements, artistic performances, and a “Freedom Marathon for  leader Abdullah Ocalan.”

In June 2023, under the theme “Days of Dialogue with leader Abdullah Ocalan,” his books were introduced in 14 European countries and Kenya, alongside public meetings and conferences about the conditions of isolation in Imralı Prison.

On April 11, 2025, the International Freedom for leader Abdullah Ocalan Conference convened in Rome, attended by 300 delegates. Six similar conferences were held in other European cities.

Across Europe, 17 book platforms were established to display the leader works, distributing posters and brochures.

On December 9, 2023, an international women’s delegation of lawyers, MPs, environmentalists, and civil activists from seven countries held meetings in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan, later submitting a report on Imralı Prison to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), the UN, and relevant EU institutions.

Campaigns and Letters

On October 7, 2023, the campaign declared a “World Day of leader Abdullah Ocalan’s Books.” His defenses and writings were read and discussed in 170 centers across Europe, in 16 languages. A pictorial book titled “Freedom Will Prevail” was also published.

Between April 6, 2024, and April 30, 2025, the Kurdish Women’s Movement in Europe (TJK-E) launched several initiatives, including “A Thousand Women, One Voice”, “No Life Without the Leader”, “Rays of the Sun”, and “Free Life Dialogues with the Leader.”

They sent 20,000 letters to the CPT, while thousands of women from diverse countries sent video messages, and book platforms for leader Ocalan’s works were set up across Europe.

In total, 182 organizations, activists, and public figures sent thousands of letters to international bodies calling for leader Ocalan’s physical freedom and an end to isolation.

Additionally, 69 Nobel laureates, coordinated by activist Jody Williams, addressed letters to the CPT and the European Commission on Human Rights concerning the leader case.

On September 12, 2025, Argentine artist Federico Racca launched a viral Instagram campaign titled “A Place for Ocalan.”

North and East Syria

In North and East Syria, the campaign included 15 statements, 10 panel discussions, 10 cultural events, 6 public meetings, 38 marches and gatherings, 3 lectures, 3 conferences, and 4 exhibitions.

Reading circles were formed in 51 centers to study leader Ocalan’s writings, while letters were sent to international institutions.

A signature campaign organized by the People’s Initiative collected 2,626,828 signatures across Syria demanding an end to isolation.

In Raqqa, a mobile library distributed 200 Arabic-language copies of leader ÖlOcalan’s books.

Between August 20 and September 13, 2025, the Syrian Initiative for leader Ocalan’s Freedom and the Syrian Lawyers’ Initiative to Defend the leader gathered 2,541 signatures from intellectuals, academics, politicians, and tribal leaders across Syria, and sent them to international bodies and the Turkish Ministry of Justice.

Northern Kurdistan and Turkey

In Turkey and Northern Kurdistan, the Freedom for leader Ocalan Platform held about 100 events between October 2023 and October 2025, including marches, protests, sit-ins, hunger strikes, and book readings.

78 artists, writers, and intellectuals issued a “Peace Call” declaration, while political prisoners launched hunger strikes demanding an end to isolation. Families of prisoners in Van, Adana, Mersin, Istanbul, and Izmir held “Justice Sit-ins.”

The campaign’s growing global momentum increased pressure on the Turkish state, leading to a significant development:

On October 23, 2024, leader Ocalan’s nephew, Omer Ocalan, was allowed to visit him in Imralı Prison for the first time in 43 months.

During the meeting, leader Abdullah Ocalan stated: “If conditions are provided, I have the practical and theoretical capacity to move the process from a military framework to a legal and political one.”

Although isolation was not lifted, a new phase began. Delegations from the Party of Equality and Peoples’ Democracy later met with leader Ocalan, who issued his historic “Call for Peace and a Democratic Society” on February 27, 2025.

Following his call, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced its self-dissolution, a move that received widespread support across Kurdistan and internationally.

Over 100 meetings were held across Turkey and Kurdistan to discuss this process.

A Parliamentary Committee for National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy was formed in Turkey at leader Ocalan’s invitation, though it has not yet been allowed to meet him.

Finally, 200 Nobel laureates, along with numerous thinkers, journalists, politicians, and democratic organizations from Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Africa, expressed their support for leader Ocalan’s call for peace and a democratic society.

a.k

ANHA