Now Is the time: Abdullah Ocalan Freedom March

On Friday 13th  and Saturday 14th February thousands of people gathered in Strasbourg to call for freedom for Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is entering his 17th year in prison on the island of Imrali. The events came after many days of walking as many hundreds of people trekked across Europe to Strasbourg in  a show of solidarity with the PKK leader.  The incredible results of the Free Ocalan Campaign, in which over 10 million people signed a petition calling for Ocalan’s release, were also handed in to officials at the Council of Europe.

Thank you to filmmakers System D for the video!

Sign the petition to free Ocalan!

Sign the petition online HERE!

Dear friends,

The armed conflict between the Turkish and the Kurdish freedom movement that has raged for nearly three decades appears now to have reached an historic turning point. It would be a fair assessment to predict that the achievement of a political solution to this conflict will have a positive impact on the process of change in the entire Middle East.

An important step forward will take place on 8 May when the PKK will start to withdraw its forces from Turkey to Northern Iraq. This is part of an agreement that has been the result of months of painstaking negotiations between representatives of the Turkish state and the imprisoned leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan.

Heritage before Hydropower: Petition to UNESCO on Ilisu Dam launched

A petition to UNESCO has been initiated by an international coalition of environmental and human rights organisations, to fight to protect World Heritage sites in Turkey which are threatened by the construction of the Ilisu Dam. You can view GegenStrömung – CounterCurrent’s  press release below.