ANKARA - Emphasizing that global support is decisive in the implementation of the “right to hope,” Professor Gianni Piazza stated, “Without the possibility for Abdullah Öcalan to communicate, negotiate, and contribute politically, any peace process remains incomplete.”

 

The Peace and Democratic Society Process, initiated by the call of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan on February 27, has continued through the steps taken by the Kurdish Freedom Movement, while legal regulations and Abdullah Öcalan’s conditions remain the most debated topics in the public sphere. Despite the joint report of the Parliamentary Commission established within the framework of the process, the lack of progress is being closely monitored by the international community.

 

Professor Gianni Piazza, who teaches courses on democratic confederalism at the University of Catania and is one of the signatories of the appeal to the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), calling for a delegation to İmralı and for Abdullah Öcalan’s physical freedom, shared his views on the ongoing process.

 

‘AN ATTEMPT TO DEPOLITICIZE’

 

Piazza stated that the lack of legal steps by the Turkish state demonstrates the absence of a real political will to address the Kurdish issue in democratic terms. He noted that the peace process initiated by Abdullah Öcalan has progressed unilaterally only through the efforts of the Kurdish Freedom Movement. He also referred to the final report of the Parliamentary Commission. Piazza pointed out that a report without legal provisions indicates that the process was managed as a tactical phase rather than as a structural transformation. “Without legal steps, recognized rights, procedural guarantees, constitutional reforms, there is no authentic process. There exists a conditional and always revocable dialogue. As a political sociologist, I interpret this dynamic as an attempt to contain and depoliticize the Kurdish issue, denying it the dimension of self-determination that the movement claims” he said. 

 

‘RIGHT TO HOPE IS A POLITICAL CONDITION’

 

Piazza emphasized that failure to comply with the "right to hope" is also an extremely serious matter and added: “The right to hope is not a technical clause, it is a principle stating that no peace process can exist when the central figure, who developed the paradigm of democratic confederalism and has repeatedly shown the ability to open pathways for ceasefires, is sentenced to total isolation. In Turkey, the right to hope has a double significance; it is a fundamental human right and it is a political condition for any democratic solution. Without the possibility for Abdullah Öcalan to communicate, negotiate, and contribute politically, any peace process remains incomplete.”

 

‘WHAT THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE AND CPT MUST DO IS CLEAR’

 

Piazza stated that Turkey’s refusal to uphold the right to hope is seen by the international community as a clear violation of European standards. However, he also pointed to self-interested policies, saying: “Within European institutions, a geopolitical logic often prevails; this leads to the tolerance of even unacceptable behavior in order to maintain Turkey as a partner in security management, migration flows, and NATO relations. The Council of Europe, and particularly the CPT, should take a very simple and clear step. They must immediately demand access to İmralı and make public the real situation of Abdullah Öcalan with a view to his release. This is an essential measure to restore at least a minimal level of credibility to European institutions in the field of human rights.”

 

Piazza pointed out that with the opening of Abdullah Öcalan’s communication channels and his physical freedom, profound changes would occur in Turkey and the Middle East. He outlined these changes as follows: “In Turkey, the political space for a democratic solution would expand, and polarization and repression would decrease. The Kurdish issue could then be addressed not only from a security perspective but as a constitutional matter. In the Middle East, democratic confederalism today represents the only pluralistic, anti-authoritarian, participatory-democratic, ecological, and feminist political model in the region. For this reason, it is necessary to defend the revolutionary experience of Rojava, which implements democratic confederalism. Therefore, reactivating Öcalan’s role (with his physical freedom) would contribute to regional stability by promoting bottom-up forms of self-governance and cooperation, overcoming the nation-state framework. In the context of wars, fragmentation, and regional rivalries, a peace perspective based on democratic autonomy would have a major impact in the Middle East. Öcalan is a figure who has proven that he can take courageous steps toward dialogue even when there are no guarantees; it is the Turkish state that so far has been unable or unwilling to seize this opportunity.”

 

‘ABDULLAH ÖCALAN’S RELEASE IS STRUCTURAL ELEMENT’

 

Highlighting the importance of global support in the implementation of the “right to hope,” Piazza stated that it is the responsibility of the international community not only to explicitly call for Abdullah Öcalan’s release, but also to monitor the judicial process and exert clear political and diplomatic pressure on Turkey. Addressing the potential outcomes of such internationally coordinated support, Piazza continued: “In this way, the media isolation surrounding the Kurdish issue would be broken. Moreover, it would compel European institutions to assume responsibilities they have so far avoided, while also strengthening democratic movements in Turkey and the Middle East, particularly the Rojava experience, which is under attack by the Syrian government and the Turkish state. Abdullah Öcalan’s release is not merely a symbolic goal; it is a structural element for building a just and lasting peace.”

 

MA / Deniz Karabudak