News Center- The Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan Initiative in North and East Syria has met with officials from the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) in Strasbourg to discuss the isolation imposed on the Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.

The delegation from North and East Syria consisted of Idris Said, Co-spokesperson of the initiative, Xanim Ayo, Co-chair of the initiative, and HDP European Council Representative Faik Yağızay handed over 2,646,211 signatures collected in Rojava, North East Syria, Aleppo and Damascus to demand freedom for Abdullah Öcalan to the officials from the CPT.

Meeting with the CPT

After the meeting with the officials from the CPT, the delegation held a press conference. At the conference, Idris Said reported that 2,646,211 signatures had been collected as part of the campaign launched from 12 January to 12 March across Rojava. Idris Said indicated that Kurdish, Arab, Armenian, Syriac, Assyrian, Turkmen and other communities in Rojava showed great participation in the campaign.

“We demanded an immediate meeting with Öcalan by the CPT, as well as by his lawyers and family members. They told us that they had been monitoring the situation of Abdullah Öcalan and that they would convey our demands to the concerned authorities. They told us that they had visited leader Öcalan and his three fellow prisoners last year. We thanked them for their visit.”

‘They prepared a report but cannot release it’

At the conference, Xanim Ayo, who attended the meeting on behalf of the Union of Lawyers in Syria, said, “During our meeting with the CPT, we voiced our demands for an end to the isolation imposed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and for his physical freedom. They gave us information about their last visit to Imrali. They told us that they had prepared a report on their last visit to Imrali but they cannot release it because they need the permission of the countries to do so.”