On 14 September 2021 a fringe event was held at the Trade Union Congress on the Kurdish freedom movement. The event was organised by Doug Nicholls of the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU), and featured Havin Guneser, a spokesperson of the International Initiative “Freedom for Abdullah Ocalan—Peace in Kurdistan”, and Hisyar Ozsoy MP, co-spokesperson for HDP’s foreign affairs commission.

We are here publishing the transcript of the speech delivered by Havin Guneser at this event, which is available to download as a pdf below. In addition, please find a collection of resources featuring publications by Ocalan and about the Kurdish freedom movement for further reading.

Havin Guneser is an engineer, journalist, and a women’s rights activist who writes and speaks extensively on the Kurdish freedom movement. She is one of the spokespersons of the International Initiative “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan – Peace in Kurdistan” and translator of several of Öcalan’s books.

The International Initiative “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan – Peace in Kurdistan” regards itself as a multi-national peace initiative working for a peaceful and democratic solution of the Kurdish question with Kurds, Turks and all people of Mesopotamia living peacefully together. Even after his imprisonment, Abdullah Öcalan is still regarded as the undisputed leader by a majority of the Kurdish people. Find out more on their website: https://freeocalan.org/main

Download the text of Havin’s speech here: Havin Guneser speech – 14 Sep 2021 TUC

Download the list of resources here: List of Ocalan resources

For further information, please contact:

Doug Nicholls, General Secretary of the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU)

Email: Doug@gftu.org.uk