17th February 1999
The South African Communist Party is outraged at the kidnapping, from Kenya, of the leader of the Kurdish Workers' Party (the PKK), Abdullah Ocalan. We call on all democratic forces around the world to apply maximum pressure on the Turkish authorities to free Ocalan. Our call has special resonance in the light of the fact that the Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit has stated that Ocalan will be tried by the Turkish "justice system". This amounts to a threat of execution.
It is the Turkish authorities who need to account to the world for their systematic genocide of the Kurdish people.
It is a deep embarrassment to all Africans who have fought for their own national liberation, that it was on African soil that Ocalan was taken by the Turkish authorities. The full circumstances of this outrage must be made public, and those collaborating with the Turks must be exposed. The SACP expresses it full support for the ideals of the PKK. Free Ocalan!
Issued by the SACP Department of Information & Publicity
E-Mail: sacp1@wn.apc.org
South African Communist Party Head Office
COSATU House
No. 1 Leyds Street - 7th Floor
Braamfontein 2001
Republic of South Africa
(Tel: 27 11 339-3621/2)
(Fax: 27 11 339-4244)