Submit memorandum to Turkish Ambassador to India
A group of activists and supporters gathered in Indian national capital Delhi on February 15 to mark 27 years of imprisonment of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan in Turkey and appealed for his release.
Ocalan, founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has been lodged in Imrali Island prison since February 15, 1999. Addressing the gathering, former Rajya Sabha MP Aneel Prasad Hegde described Ocalan as a prominent Kurdish political leader and called for his release on humanitarian grounds.
Speakers at the event said the Kurdish people, spread across Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq, have long sought greater political rights and recognition. They referred to Ocalan’s writings from prison, including his advocacy of “democratic confederalism,” a political concept that emphasises grassroots democracy, gender equality and environmental sustainability.
The participants also highlighted that Ocalan had, in recent years, called for an end to armed struggle and supported a political process aimed at democratic reforms and constitutional guarantees for Kurdish rights across the region.
Following the meeting, a memorandum appealing for Ocalan’s release was submitted to the Turkish Embassy in New Delhi.
Ocalan was arrested in 1999 and later sentenced to life imprisonment by Turkish authorities. The PKK, which he founded in 1978, has been designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
