A ‘Peace, Dialogue and Democracy Conference’ is being held in Berlin this weekend under the motto ‘We are weaving the future together’. The organiser is the European Forum for Freedom and Peace, which was founded by academics, journalists, writers, artists and politicians from Turkey and Kurdistan and defines itself as a movement against the ‘undeclared global war’.

The international conference at the Mercure Hotel deals with global conflicts and aims to promote dialogue, tackle war crimes and support peace efforts. The event will focus on the current wars in Ukraine, Syria, Yemen, Palestine and Kurdistan. Other topics of discussion include militarism, nationalism, racism, femicide and ecocide. One focus is the Kurdish question and the isolation of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan in Turkish custody. The forum emphasises that peace, freedom, democracy and dialogue are needed more urgently than ever in today's divided world.

In her opening speech on Saturday, sociologist Prof Dr Neşe Özgen explained that the aim of the conference was to defend peace and democracy against the increasing conflicts in the world. With regard to Turkey and Kurdistan, the academic said that the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan must be ended so that the war can stop and a democratic process can be implemented: “This isolation must be ended so that the war policy in the Middle East can stop and the philosophy of ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’ (Woman, Life, Freedom), which gives hope to Kurdish women and all women in the world, can be brought to life and conditions for a free and equal life can be created.”

In the first session on Saturday, the experiences of opposition movements in conflicts and negotiation processes in Palestine, the Philippines, Colombia, South Africa and Ireland were discussed. The panel was moderated by former HDP MP Hişyar Özsoy.

Elif Kaya from the Jineoloji Centre Europe, Necmettin Türk from the Mesopotamian Ecology Movement and anthropologist Dr Latife Akyüz, moderated by journalist Ertuğrul Mavi, spoke on the topics of femicide, ecocide and sociocide.

The conference continued with a panel titled “Isolation in İmralı”. The third session moderated by journalist Hayko Bağdat was attended by lawyer Cengiz Yürekli from Asrin Law Office, Eren Keskin, Co-Chair of the Human Rights Association (İHD) and Ögmundur Jonasson, former Minister of Justice of Iceland.

Lawyer Cengiz Yürekli, who made the first presentation, said that the unlawfulness against Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan started from the first day of his imprisonment in İmralı and continues today, deepening even more: “The first State of Emergency on 20 July 2016 was implemented in İmralı on the morning of the same night. Significant changes and restrictions were formalised in İmralı. The prisoners held in İmralı, especially Abdullah Öcalan, are kept under severe isolation conditions.

Under these conditions, Abdullah Öcalan's right to meet with other prisoners, his family and lawyers is being abolished and usurped. Visiting and communication bans have been deepened. The usurpation of rights was also applied to other prisoners. Restrictions on family and lawyer visits are also included in CPT reports. The limitation of physical and psychological conditions is also concretised by CPT reports. It is a fact that Mr Öcalan's physical movement space is restricted, open-air times are shortened and access to direct sunlight is prevented.  The CPT has also reported that this isolation should be lifted and that prisoners should be allowed more social interaction and contact with the outside world. However, the state did not and does not take this into account in any way.”

IHD Co-Chair Eren Keskin connected to the panel via Skype. Keskin said that the isolation policy against Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı is related to the Kurdish question and that the recent practices of the state should be interpreted in line with the achievements in Rojava. Eren Keskin underlined that the state targets not only Abdullah Öcalan but all Kurds with the isolation. Stating that the Kurdish question dates back to before the Republic, Eren Keskin emphasised that the gains in Rojava have turned into oppression policies of the Turkish state and that the oppression has become unpredictable. Keskin emphasised that the state's physical attacks in the 90s are now directed against freedom of expression.

Keskin criticized the opposition for questioning the launch of the peace process and said it should actually question why the peace process was not successful.

The IHD Co-Chair also criticised the difficulties encountered during the visits to İmralı and Turkey's non-compliance with international conventions. She pointed out that international organisations also ignore this situation, noting that the pressures on Kurdish politics are not independent of the isolation in İmralı Island.

Former Minister of Justice of Icelendi, Ögmundur Jonasson, stated that Abdullah Öcalan is a world-renowned leader. He noted that he himself was a member of the İmralı delegation 6 times and that he fought for the freedom of Abdullah Öcalan.

Stating that the Turkish state does not want peace and only demands conditional peace and surrender, Jonasson said that there has been no news from Abdullah Öcalan for the last 3.5 years and that his last message came in 2019. Recalling that there were steps forward and democratic demands were expressed in this message of Abdullah Öcalan, Jonasson argued that Öcalan's message of peace in the 2013 Newroz had a great impact and then the doors of İmralı were closed in 2015 and Ankara created polarisation in this process.

Referring to the state's internal conflict on 15 July 2016, Jonasson said that Kurds were victimised in the attacks of that time and that Kurdish provinces were turned into a war zone. Emphasising that the isolation of İmralı is unacceptable and that steps must be taken quickly, Jonasson said that despite CPT's requests, the Turkish state refuses family and lawyer visits to İmralı and does not even allow phone calls.

The conference continued on the second day with a panel titled ‘Sociocide, Femicide and Ecocide’. During the panel moderated by journalist Ertuğrul Mavi, journalist and feminist activist Elif Kaya, Dr Latife Akyüz and Mesopotamia Ecology Movement member Necmettin Türk addressed important issues.

Elif Kaya took the floor first and drew attention to the issue of femicide: “Femicide is an issue that has been left undefined for a long time and therefore often ignored. Kurdish women in particular are affected by it much more severely than others.”

Elif Kaya explained with historical examples how authoritarian policies in Turkey have increased repression against intellectuals and women, and how women's bodies have been instrumentalised in war: “Dersim in 1938 and the case of guerrilla Ekin Van in 2015 show how the female body is used to create fear and deepen the memory of genocide.”

Necmettin Türk, a member of the Mesopotamia Ecology Movement, stated that the destruction of ecosystems is an attack on the cultural existence of the Kurdish people: “The colonial states' policies of destroying ecosystems in Kurdistan are used as a tool of cultural genocide. The GAP project and dam projects target not only nature but also the life and culture of the people.”

Türk emphasised that ecocide should be considered a crime against humanity and said, “This environmental destruction has turned into a human rights violation that destroys not only nature but also the cultural and social structure of the region.”

Prof. Dr. Latife Akyüz drew attention to the effects of the intellectual exodus on society in Turkey: “Authoritarian policies in Turkey after 2016 have forced many intellectuals, such as peace academics, into exile. This is not only an individual migration, but also the destruction of social memory and cultural transmission.”

Akyüz stated that this process can be characterised as a ‘sociocide’ and said, “The exile of academics and intellectuals aims to destroy the knowledge and history of society.”