ANKARA - Tony Burke, Assistant General Secretary at Unite the Union, one of the leaders of the freedom campaign for PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan, said that they will speed up the campaign and added, "Öcalan will not be left alone on that island."

 

The "Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan" campaign is led by Unite the Union, one of the largest unions in the UK, which has 1.5 million members and the GMB union which has 700 thousand members. Numerous other trade unions and cultural movements have participated in the campaign. Millions of workers and laborers in different categories are represented by the organizations involved in the campaign.

 

Tony Burke, General Secretary of Unite the Union, is also a member of the International Peace Delegation which visited Turkey in 2019 during a 200-day hunger strike against the isolation of Öcalan.

 

"EU SILENT, EP COULD ADOPT A CLEARER POSITION"

 

Speaking to Mezopotamya Agency (MA), Tony Burke defined the silence of Europe with regard to the isolation on PKK Leader Abdullah Öcalan as "embarrassing", saying, "Erdoğan is making more and more extreme decisions."

 

Remarking that the EU has not adopted a clear stance and the European Parliament has the authority to do some things, Burke continued, "It could have manifested a clearer stand. There is a dictatorship in Turkey, and we see that the Turkish government can do anything without hesitation. The reason for this is the silence of the European Union (EU). It is very difficult for us to say anything about this issue since the UK is leaving the EU, but this does not mean that we will not put pressure on this issue", he said.

 

"MANDELA OF THE MIDDLE EAST"

 

"We have said this over and over on every platform. Öcalan is the Mandela of the Middle East and thus needs to be released."

 

Burke added: "Currently there is a conservative government in Britain. We are contacting the government on this issue, but we cannot get any results. "

 

“THE ISSUE SHALL BE PRESENTED TO THE ATTENTION OF BIDEN AND HARRIS”

 

Burke continued, “What we need to deal with in the UK and other European countries is how we will convince the governments to finally say that “Öcalan must be released”. This must be imposed on the governments of all countries and it is not an easy task. I am of the opinion that some European countries could be persuaded more easily. For instance, it would be naivety to expect the US to take such a step while Trump was in office. This was simply impossible. Trump believed Erdogan was a great man. Now I don't know how Joe Biden will be. But I know that Biden is more open to listening to people. And we have friends in the US with whom we can work in unions. We believe these friends will bring this issue to the attention of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”

 

“ÖCALAN WILL NOT BE LEFT ALONE”

 

Burke continued; “We have to be in solidarity with Öcalan. We have to stand with him. This is a necessity of democracy and humanity.”

 

The British trade unionist noted that they have motions to be submitted to the British Parliament following the gradual lifting of the coronavirus restrictions. “We will organize public seminars where we can explain Öcalan and Kurdistan. In addition, we are in contact with the Global Union Federation and the trade unions in Turkey.”

 

Burke said they also plan to visit Turkey again "as soon as the pandemic is over" adding, "Öcalan will not be left alone on that island."