We are here publishing a song recently composed by Dirk Campbell entitled ‘Free Ocalan’.
Listen to the song here:
We at Peace in Kurdistan have composed a few lines to accompany the piece, which are as follows:
Chained to the rock of Imrali
He resists.
The incarceration of the will of his people
He persists.
A Manifesto for a Democratic
Civilisation
He insists.
His freedom is a must.
Long live Abdullah Ocalan.
Here is a brief biographical text written by Dirk Campbell, the composer of the piece:
“I was born in Ismailia, Egypt in 1950 and lived in Kenya from 1951 to 1962. Both Egypt and Kenya under British rule at the time and my father was in the army. The Kenyans resisted occupation in the Mau Mau rebellion of 1952-1954 and were brutally crushed by the British. After private education in England and a few years as a progressive rock musician I began to develop more of an interest in the (non-western) musical traditions of the world, which I had been exposed to as a child, also my own Celtic musical roots. This led to an exploration of the music of the near East including the Balkans, Greece and Turkey. Living in London enabled me to make contact with expatriate communities, and I learned zurna from a Kurd named Ersin at the Kurdish community centre in Balls Pond Road. This led to familiarisation with the culture and history of the Kurds and my first encounters with PKK activists. During this time I was developing skills in a number of world instrumental traditions, writing music for film, television and radio, and performing with the RSC. My daughter Anna went to Rojava in 2017 to join the internationalists with the YPJ and was killed during the Turkish invasion of Afrin on March 15th 2018. I am an activist myself primarily on the environmental front, with groups including Extinction Rebellion, Fossil Free London, Just Stop Oil, Divest and the dirty water campaign.”