Greens call on the NSW Government to stand in solidarity with Öcalan

Today in Parliament, Abigail urged the NSW Government to support the Kurdish community and called for the restoration of Abdullah Öcalan's fundamental human rights.

Abigail tried passing the following motion on formal business:

(1) That this House notes that:

Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurdish People’s Leader, has been imprisoned on Imrali Island since February 1999 by the Turkish government in breach of universal human rights. This is an attack on not only Öcalan himself but on the Kurdish people,
since 2019, Öcalan has been denied the human right of meeting with his lawyers, and since 2021 he has been denied the right to speak with his family. This treatment is in clear violation of Turkish law and international law, and Australia has a responsibility to stand with Öcalan and the Kurdish people in condemning the oppressive and undemocratic treatment by Turkish officials,
according to the Executive Council of the Kurdistan Communities Union, the Turkish government is trying to blackmail the Kurdish freedom movement into making concessions in return for allowing a conversation between Öcalan and his lawyers,
Öcalan and the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) have been key players in fighting for justice for Kurdish people through decades of political and violent conflict inflicted by the Turkish government, and are a symbol of 100 years of Kurdish resistance against an oppressive Turkish state, and
the Australian Federation of Democratic Kurdish Society have increased their efforts in campaigning for freedom for Öcalan, with the key message that there is to be no bartering for Öcalan’s human rights. Öcalan’s human rights and freedom should under no circumstances be used as a bargaining chip.

(2) That this House calls on the NSW Government to stand in solidarity with the Kurdish community and support the calls for freedom of Abdullah Öcalan, and calls on the Australian Government to appeal to the Turkish government to immediately restore Öcalan’s fundamental human right to meet with his lawyers and family, and ultimately be freed under conditions that allow him to play a role in finding a just and democratic solution to the Turkish-Kurdish conflict.

The motion was objected to.

8 August 2024

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Greens call on the NSW Government to stand in solidarity with Öcalan

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