While the annual conference of the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) in Scotland continues, hundreds of people visited the stand opened within the scope of the ‘Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan' campaign and expressed their support.

Leading figures of the SNP who visited the ‘Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan’ stand, where representatives of the Kurdish People's Assembly and Kongra-Star were present, gave important messages to the Kurdish people.

SNP MPs, youth organisations and executives stated that they are closely following the Kurdish people's historic struggle for freedom and that the ‘absolute isolation’ of the leader of the Kurdish people, Abdullah Öcalan, worries them as much as the Kurdish people.

Bob Doris, a prominent member of the SNP and Glasgow MP, spoke to ANF during the visit.

Bob Doris said that he was proud to meet with Kurdish representatives and added: "I closely follow Kurdish history and the Kurdish people who are fighting for peace and democracy in the region. As an individual who has visited Iraqi Kurdistan in the past, I know that Kurds are facing serious problems in Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran.”

Doris saluted the struggle of the Kurdish people and self-defence forces against ISIS in Rojava and said that Rojava represents a stable society in the Middle East by rebuilding Rojava politically, socially, economically and militarily within the framework of the Democratic Confederalism Paradigm developed by Abdullah Öcalan.

Doris pointed out that Abdullah Öcalan's 25-year imprisonment is an ‘obstacle’ to the political and peaceful solution of the Kurdish question and stated that a new dialogue and negotiation process with Abdullah Öcalan will start this peaceful process. Doris underlined that a dialogue and negotiation process will play a key role for the Kurdish people and the four parts of Kurdistan to live in freedom, peace and democracy.

SNP Europe Spokesperson Alyn Smith, who visited the stand, said that he closely followed the ‘Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, a Political Solution to the Kurdish Question’ campaign and that they would continue to develop their close relations with the Kurdish people.

Jenny Gilruth, Scotland's Education Minister, and Stuart McMillian, SNP Greenock MP, also visited the stand to obtain Abdullah Öcalan's defence book ‘Sociology of Freedom’ and expressed their support. 

One of the visitors, Alexander Swanson, representative of the Independence Scotland Youth Organisation, said: “On behalf of our organisation, which represents the youth who support full independence for Scotland, we are honoured to see representatives of the Kurdish people living in Britain at the Conference. We support and follow the history of the Kurdish struggle and the role of Kurds in the quest for democracy in the Middle East.”

Women representatives of the SNP's Socialist Group stated that they closely followed and supported the campaign and that they were impressed by Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan's ‘women's libertarian’ paradigm.

The ‘Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan’ stand set up at the annual conference of the SNP, also attended by Prime Minister John Swinney, attracted great interest.

Kurdish representatives briefed the visitors on the absolute isolation of Abdullah Öcalan and the political situation of the Kurdish people. The Scots closely followed Abdullah Öcalan's ideas and discussed the issues of ‘women's freedom’, ‘ecology’, ‘radical democracy’ and ‘democratic confederalism’ with interest.

The conference will conclude with presentations by Scottish First Minister John Swinney and Foreign Secretary Angus Roberston.