FREEDOM POEMS FOR OCALAN
The poems collected in this volume are presented to Abdullah Ocalan on his 70th birthday on 4 April 2019.
They are each a gesture of solidarity and token of friendship for Ocalan himself and for the Kurdish people from whom he is inseparable.
Each poem is an expression of admiration for the spirit of the Kurds,
inspired by their resilience, resistance and belief in the joy of life.
The remarkable awakening of the consciousness and political activism of
the Kurdish people in recent years has been engendered by the
remarkable leadership and writings of Abdullah Ocalan. Despite enduring
decades of incarceration removed entirely from the world, his people and
denied all human contacts, Ocalan still communicates through his words
and as a living example of the essential strength of the Kurdish spirit.
He will not and cannot be silenced.
The immediate context for the publication of this book is the mass
hunger strike waged by Kurds within Turkey and the diaspora for the
freedom of Ocalan. There is also, at the time of going to press, the
mounting political crisis within Turkey reflected in the dramatic
collapse in support for Erdogan’s party, the AKP, in the recent
elections. That poll result is a welcome sign that change is on its way
and it is about time too.
But this volume looks forward to a time when Abdullah Ocalan himself
will be able to read the poems contained in its pages at leisure and in
freedom. That will be an important milestone in the liberation of the
Kurds as a whole and only then will our task have been achieved.
We hope these poems will move you and inspire you into taking action in support of the Kurdish people.
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk
