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Freedom for Ocalan
Rosa Gilbert explains why our solidarity matters to the jailed Kurdish leader

This weekend at the Durham Miners’ Gala, the international theme will be the campaign to release Abdullah Ocalan, the Kurdish political prisoner and founding leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

As we approach 20 years of Ocalan’s incarceration in solitary confinement on the island prison of Imrali, it is of huge significance that one of the biggest festivals of trade union and workers’ movements in Europe continues its tradition of international solidarity by putting front and centre the revolutionary who transformed the Kurdish liberation movement.

Emblazoned on countless flags carried on any Kurdish demonstration in the world, the name Abdullah Ocalan may not be familiar to many visitors at this year’s Gala.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
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