BUS TOUR: FREEDOM FOR ABDULLAH OCALAN 8TH SEPTEMBER 24TH NOVEMBER 2012

BUS TOUR: “FREEDOM FOR ABDULLAH OCALAN”

8TH SEPTEMBER – 24TH NOVEMBER 2012

A bus tour to demand “Freedom for Ocalan” was launched on 8th September and will travel to various destinations until the 24th November, to win support for the freedom of Abdullah Ocalan and for the start of peace talks to end the conflict between Turkey and the Kurds.

On 24th July 1923, with the Treaty of Lausanne, Kurdistan was divided by the Allied States of WWI between Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, and was put under foreign rule. Ever since, the Kurdish nation of almost 40 million people has been exposed to ongoing policies of denial and oppression. Many Kurds have been forced to leave their country because of this. In the European diaspora alone there are 2 million Kurds.

The most recent developments in Turkey show the extent of this conflict: the Turkish army carries out military operations on a daily basis in Kurdistan and thereby also killing Kurdish civilians. On 28th December 2011 34 civilians were murdered by a bomb attack by the Turkish Air Force – amongst them were 19 children. The Kurdish political opposition is persecuted relentlessly by the government. Since April 2009 around 10,000 Kurdish politicians, human rights activists, journalists, lawyers and students have been arrested. The AKP government has deliberately created a lynch-mob atmosphere, where the Turkish fascist forces attack the party representing the Kurdish interests, the BDP (Peace and Democracy Party), as well as Kurdish politicians, students and workers. The AKP are currently attempting to lift the immunity of the BDP representatives and impose a new party ban.

The Kurdish question concerns Iraq, Iran, Syria and especially Turkey, and represents one of the greatest and, up till now, unresolved problems in the Middle East. A peace process needs strong national figureheads, who are in the position to convince their societies of a peaceful resolution to the conflict. Examples of such individuals are Nelson Mandela, Gerry Adams, Jose Ramos Horta and Aung San Suu Kyi. Abdullah Ocalan undoubtedly belongs to this group. That the focus of the Kurdish freedom movement in recent years has shifted from military to diplomatic solutions is the work of Ocalan.

Turkish governments have held contacts with Ocalan since 1993 and recognised his key role for a resolution to the conflict. The present government under Erdogan led a two-and-a-half year negotiation with Ocalan, which unfortunately broke down in July 2011. In these talks a protocol was agreed upon, which, amongst other things, set out a step-by-step plan that would lead up to a ceasefire under international observation. We are firmly convinced that Abdullah Ocalan has a decisive significance in the resolution of this conflict.

The overwhelming majority of Kurds also support him. In 2006, 3.5 million Kurds backed Ocalan as their political representative with their signatures.

All of this proves his key role in the any peaceful resolution. He cannot play this role in prison, where his communication is extremely restricted. Ocalan has found himself in complete isolation from the outside world since 27th July 2011. For nearly 500 days any consultation with his lawyers and relatives has been arbitrarily rejected.

In order to make people aware of this situation and to lobby the international institutions concerned, like the UN and the European Council (especially the European Council for the Prevention of Torture CPT) into action, Kurds marched for 15 days at the start of the year through ice-cold weather from Geneva to Strasbourg. When this action failed to convince these institutions to act, a 52 day continuous, uninterrupted hunger-strike was carried out in Strasbourg. An ongoing picket in front of the European Council in Strasbourg demanded the release of Abdullah Ocalan in June. The numerous actions will continue until the objective is fulfilled because, for Kurds, the freedom of Abdullah Ocalan is an essential condition for a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish question.

Now, the participants of the long march and the hunger-strike have launched a new action. A bus with the demand “Freedom for Ocalan” began a tour since 8th September and will continue until the 24th November. The bus tour will stop in 60 European cities and, with cultural programmes and information stands, spread the message “Freedom for Abdullah Ocalan” in public in central squares.*)

During this bus tour signatures for the international campaign for the release of Abdullah Ocalan will be collected.

Ocalan's freedom is necessary in order to break the military logic of the conflict and in order to initiate peace negotiations. We appeal to all democratic forces, peace activists, human rights defenders to participate in our action, and to express their solidarity. All members of the press are also invited to visit our rallies and to report on them.


For information including leaflets and brochures contact the International Initiative Freedom for Ocalan – Peace in Kurdistan: http://www.freeocalan.org/

International Initiative,
Postbox 10 05 11,
D-50445 Cologne
Tel +49 221 1 20 15 59
Fax:+49 221 1 30 3071
info@freedom-for-ocalan.com

*) Schedule for “Freedom for Abdullah Ocalan” bus tour:


08.09. Mannheim
09.09. Straßburg (F)
13.09. Göteborg (SWE)
14.09. Uppsala & Gavle (SWE)
15.09. Stockholm (SWE)
16.09. Kopenhagen (DK)
18.09. Kiel
19.09. Leipzig & Magdeburg
20./21.09. Berlin
22.09. Hamburg
23.09. Bremen
24.09. Oldenburg
25.09. Arnhem (NL)
26.09. Amsterdam (NL)
27.09. Den Haag&Eindhoven (NL)
28.09. Antwerpen (BE)
29.09. Liege (BE)
30.09. Brüssel (BE)
02.10. Saarbrücken
03.10. Mannheim
04.10. Darmstadt
05.10. Nürnberg
06.10. Frankfurt
07.10. Stuttgart
09.10. Pforzheim & Heilbronn
11.10. Freiburg
12.10. Ulm
13.10. München
14.10. Salzburg (Ö)
15.10. Innsbruck (Ö)
16.10. Bregenz (Ö)
18.10. Linz (Ö)
19.10. Graz (Ö)
20.10. Wien (Ö)
22.10. St.Gallen (CH)
23.10. Luzern (CH)
25.10. Zürich (CH)
26.10. Basel (CH)
27.10. Biel & Bern (CH)
28.10. Lausanne & Geneva (CH)
30.10. Lyon (F)
01./02.11. Marseille (F)
03./04.11. Paris (F)
07.11. Aachen & Düren
08.11. Kassel
09.11. Salzgitter
10.11. Celle & Hannover
11.11. Bielefeld
12.11. Münster & Osnabrück
13.11. Dortmund
14.11. Bochum
15.11. Essen
16.11. Duisburg
17.11. Düsseldorf
18.11. Hagen
20.11. Wuppertal
21./22.11. Köln
23.11. Bonn