July 2012 Dear Madam or Sir, The Kurdish question relates to Iraq, Iran, Syria and in particular Turkey

and is one of the major un solved problems of the Middle East. The conflict between the Turkish state and the Kurdish freedom movement continues to the present day. In this conflict, so far more than 40,000 lives have been lost. About 4,500 villages have been evacuated or burnt down, while millions of people have become refugees dispersed over different territories. From the past experience of other conflicts we know that for a peace process to develop there is a need for strong personalities whose leadership can convince their communities to look for peaceful solutions. Nelson Mandela, Gerry Adams, Jos RamosHorta and Aung San Suu Kyi had and have have the re spect and confidence of their communities and so can convince them to work constructively. Without doubt Abdullah calan also falls into this category. It is due to him that in the past few years the focus of the Kurdish freedom movement has shifted decisively away from military to political solu tions. From 1993 onwards successive Turkish governments have from time to time approached calan and thus recognized his key role in the search for a solution. The present Erdoan government maintained negotiations with him for two and a half years, during which time calan proposed a stepbystep plan for achieving peace, from confidencebuilding measures, to the silencing of arms under international surveillance, to a permanent political solution to the Kurdish question. The negotiations broke off in July 2011, but calan's proposals, laid out in his Road Map," remain of the utmost importance. What is more, the vast majority of Kurds rally behind calan. In 20062007, 3.5 million Kurds signed a petition stating that they regarded him as their political representative. As the one leader who possess the confidence of the Kurdish people, and as the progenitor of this peace ful solution, Ocalan is indispensable to resolving the TurkishKurdish conflict. But he cannot fulfill this his role from prison, due to the onerous conditions and the extremely restricted communicationhe is at present entirely cut off from the outside world. The demand for calan's freedom is vital to break the military logic of the conflict and to shift the fo cus towards peaceful negotiations.

Therefore we ask you to sign the new signature campaign that is due to be published in September. By lending your support to this attempt to re-energise the campaign for Ocalans release you will be helping to put the Kurdish issue back on the international agenda and assisting the search for a solution to the Kurdish conflict, which remains one of the biggest problems confronting the Middle East today.

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International Initiative Freedom for Abdullah Ocalan Peace in Kurdistan

We support the demand Freedom for Abdullah calan and the political prisoners in Turkey. calan's freedom will mark a breakthrough for the democratization of Turkey and peace in Kurdistan.
Dr. Allan Boesak, 1. former President of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, South Africa; Prof. Noam Chomsky, MIT, USA; Ralph D. Fertig, President Humanitarian Law Project, USA; Ela Gandhi, Gandhi Devel opment Trust, South Africa; Giuristi Democratici, Association of Democratic Jurists, Italy; Prof. David Grae ber, anthropologist, USA; Malalai Joya, activist, writer and former MP, Afghanistan; Prof. Dr. Ueli Mder, Soci ologist, Switzerland; Liza L. Maza, Chairperson International Women's Alliance, Philipines; Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l'amiti entre les peuples (MRAP), Movement against racism and for friendship between peoples, France; Prof. Antonio Negri, Political scientist, Italy; Abdulla Pashew, Kurdish poet, Finland; Hans Christof von Sponeck, former UN Assistant Secretary General, Germany; Vedat Trkali, Writer, Turkey; Prof. Dr. Achin Vanaik, Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, India; Prof. Immanuel Wallerstein, sociolo gist, USA; Leyla Zana, Member of Parliament and Sakharov Prize Laureate, Turkey; Organisations: Mouvement de la paix (Peace Movement), France; Progetto Diritti (Rights Project), Italy; Solidarit Libert, France; Tanggol Bayi (Defend Women), Philipines; Women's Organization for Political Prisoners (WOFPP), Israel; Other first signatories:
Nimet Abdulla, President of the Parliamentarian Union of Iraqi Kurdistan, Iraq; Dr. Carol P. Araullo, Chairperson of BAYAN New Pa triotic Alliance, Philippines; Prof. Dr. Georg Auernheimer, educational scientist, League for Human Rights, Germany; Etienne Bastelica, President Front de Gauche groupe, Corsican Assembly, Corsica; Sherko Bekas, Kurdish poet, Iraqi Kurdistan; Janet Biehl, Writer, USA; Klaus Bldow, medienforum mnster e.V., Germany; Maggie Bowden, General Secretary Liberation, UK; Dr. Nikolaus Brauns, histo rian and journalist, Germany; Dominique Bucchini, President of the Corsican Assembly, Corsica; Ramon Bultron, International League of Peoples Struggles ILPS, Hong Kong; Barbara Crdenas, Member of Hesse state parliament, Germany; Prof. Dr. Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India; Louise Christian, Human Rights Lawyer, UK; Katy Clark MP, House of Commons, UK; Jeremy Corbyn MP, House of Commons, UK; Lord Dholakia, House of Lords, UK; Marie Hilao Enriquez, Chairperson, Alliance for the Ad vancement of Peoples Rights KARAPATAN, Philippines; Jill Evans, Member of the European Parliament UK; Matt Foot, Lawyer, UK; Prof. Dr. med. Ulrich Gottstein, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), Germany; Nick Hildyard, Policy Analyst, UK; Edith Hofmann, lawyer, Switzerland; Khosrow Jaff, Writer, former Iraqi MP, Iraq; Francine JohnCalame, Member of Par liament, Switzerland; Bruce Kent, VicePresident Pax Christi, UK; Dr. Magdalena Klupp, psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Germany; Pierre Laurent, President Party of the European Left, France; May Kotsakis, ILPS National Coordinating Committee), Australia; Jennifer Langer, Director Exiled Writers Ink, UK; Ueli Leuenberger, former Member of Parliament, Switzerland; Charly Levenard, Union D partementale CGT HauteCorse, Corsica; Les Levidow, Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC), UK; Caroline Lu cas MP, House of Commons, UK; Paul Antoine Luciani, adjoint of Mayor of Ajaccio, Corsica; Alastair Lyon, Lawyer, UK; Houzan Mahmoud, writer and political activist, KurdistanIraq; Saleh Mamon, Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC), UK; Ana Miranda, Member of the European Parliament, UK; Prof. Marie NassifDebs, Lebanese university,Vice Secretary general of Lebanese Communist Party, Lebanon; Sheikh Abdurrahman Naqishbendi, Leader of the Naqishbandi, Iraqi Kurdistan; Prof. Dr. Wolf Dieter Narr, political scientist, Germany; Stan Newens, President Liberation, UK; Margaret Owen OBE, Widows for Peace Through Democracy (WPD), UK; Dr Felix Padel, Author and Social Anthropologist, UK; Cristina Palabay, spokesperson, Alliance for the Ad vancement of Peoples Rights KARAPATAN, Philippines; Peggy Parnass, actress, journalist and writer, Germany; Khatchatur I. Pilikian, Professor of Music & Art / Socialist History Society, UK; Lord Rea, House of Lords, UK; Prof. Wolfgang Richter, town planning, Ger many; Prof. Dr. Werner Ruf, Political scientist, Germany; Joe Ryan, chair of Westminster Justice and Peace, UK; Binayak Sen, Health and Human Rights Activist, India; Ilina Sen, professor, Women's Studies, Mahatma Gandhi University, Wardha, India; Dr. Vicki Sentas, School of Law, University of New South Wales, Australia; Dr. Tove SkutnabbKangas, Researcher, Denmark; Carlo Sommaruga, Mem ber of Parliament, Switzerland; Abdulla Pashew, Kurdish Poet, Finland; Dr. Sharon Shalev, Researcher and Human Rights Activist, UK; Prof. Jose Maria Sison, Chairperson International League of Peoples' Struggle; Mary Southcott, Friends of Cyprus, UK; Dr. Peter Stru tynski, peace researcher, Germany; Prof. Gaspar Miklos Tams, philosopher, Hungary; Prof. Pascal Torre, France; JeanLouis Testud, VicePresident of Cits Unies, Member of Congress of Council of Europe, France; Aysel Tugluk, Member of Parliament and Cochair Democratic Society Congress, Turkey; Nadine Versia, General Councillor Haute Seine, France; Cdric Wermuth, MP Switzerland; Hy wel Williams MP, House of Commons, UK.