Nobel laureates Jody Williams and Shirin Ebadi, representing 88 Nobel laureates in various fields, wrote a letter in support of the Peace and Democratic Society Process initiated by Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan and demanded his freedom.

 

The letter was sent to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment (CPT) and the United Nations Human Rights Committee.

 

The letter reads as follows: 

 

“Mr. Abdullah Öcalan’s February 27th call for ‘Peace and Democratic Society’ received widespread international support, while calls continue to be made for his freedom. Over the last years, Nobel laureates from a wide range of disciplines have voiced their continued support for the freedom of Mr. Öcalan, concern over his ongoing imprisonment and the conditions under which he continues to be held. To this effect, on two occasions letters were sent with the signatures of dozens of Laureates to International Institutions and the Turkish President Mr. Erdogan. In light of the current process, and to voice support for Mr. Öcalan’s insistence on the possibility of peace and democratic politics, as well as for his freedom, 88 Nobel laureates have endorsed the following letter to international institutions. A letter was also once again sent to President Erdogan, for positive steps to be taken towards a resolution of the Kurdish Question. This initiative would not have been possible without the outstanding support and leadership of Nobel laureate Jody Williams (1997) and Shirin Ebadi.

 

‘OCALAN’S CAL STANDS AS A BEACON OF HOPE’

 

We, the undersigned Nobel Laureates, express our support for Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan’s call for peace, and our ongoing concern about the conditions under which he has been held during his 26 years of imprisonment. In a time of intensifying conflict around the world, Mr. Öcalan’s call for peace and democracy in Turkey stands as a beacon of hope for the peoples of the region. As European and international entities charged with promoting and protecting human rights and preventing torture, Mr. Öcalan’s decades of imprisonment are not new to you. The Nobel Laureates also have written to you on several occasions about Mr. Öcalan’s imprisonment and that of other political prisoners in Turkey.

 

We write again due to significant developments in the Turkish-Kurdish peace process and the case of Mr. Öcalan. On the 27th of February 2025, Mr. Öcalan put forward a call for “peace and a democratic society”, calling for a ceasefire, the laying down of arms, the convening of a congress to discuss the dissolution of the PKK, and democratic political solution to the Kurdish question. In his call, he stresses the importance of strengthening fraternity between the peoples of Turkey, and his commitment to facilitating the peace process. Mr. Öcalan’s call follows in spirit of fraternity and peace as Alfred Nobel emphasized so strongly. As Nobel Laureates, we recognize and support this initiative. In the context of resumed peace negotiations, and as the legitimate political representative and leader of the Kurdish people, Mr. Öcalan must be free and allowed to participate fully in the peace process he initiated, and thus to communicate freely with his lawyers, his party, and all actors in this process.

 

The concern of the Nobel Laureates who have signed this open letter arises from the apparent lack of meaningful efforts made by the European entities addressed here as well as the UN Human Rights Committee on his behalf. While Mr. Öcalan rights are guaranteed under the Turkish constitution and domestic legislation, under statutes and regulations of the European Union, and through international law, none of that seems to matter.

 

We call upon all these bodies to fulfill their obligations regarding protecting the rights of Abdullah Öcalan. We call on the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers to ensure the implementation of the ECHR 2014 decision against aggravated life sentences, and on the “right to hope.” Mr. Öcalan’s call for peace has received widespread international support, from the UN Secretary General, to nearly a dozen national governments, to members of the European Parliament, and çivil society organizations around the world. President Erdogan has himself recognized that the only way forward to peace between the Turkish and the Kurdish people is through dialogue and negotiation with Abdullah Öcalan, as was demonstrated with during the Oslo talks (2009-2011) and the Imrali process (2013-2015). We call for Mr. Öcalan's release and for him to be given full and unrestricted opportunity to participate in the peace process”