News Center- Trade unions in Galicia, Asturias, Basque Country, Catalonia and Canary Islands, Aragon, Andalusia, Balearic Islands and the Valencian Country, autonomous communities of Spain, have issued a joint statement, demanding freedom for Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and a democratic and political resolution to the Kurdish question.

Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan is an important figure in the struggle of the Kurdish people for their rights and determining their own destiny, the statement said, drawing attention to the recent political repression in Türkiye.

In the statement, the trade unions said the release of Abdullah Öcalan, who has been held in the prison island of Imrali since 1999, would be a critical step in recognizing the democratic rights of the Kurdish people and ensuring peace in Türkiye.

Call on the international community

The statement also reminded the isolation imposed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan in the prison, stressing that the meeting between the Imrali delegation of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and Abdullah Öcalan on December 28 “was a positive development. But a new peace process must be a fair and transparent process. Although peace will always have powerful enemies, a political and democratic solution to the Kurdish issue will be a victory for all parties. The international community cannot ignore this. The international community must switch on political mechanisms to build peace in Kurdistan because this will have positive results not only for the region but also for the whole world.”

Signatories

CCOO, CGT, CIG, Confederación Intersindical, Sindicat COS, CSI Asturies, CUT Aragón, CUT Galiza, ELA Sindikatua, ESK Sindikatua, IAC Catalunya, Intersindical Catalana, Intersindical Valenciana, LAB Sindikatua, MTC Canarias, OSTA, SAT Andalucía, Solidaridad Obrera, STEI Balears, STEILAS Sindikatua, UGT.