The acquittal of Pinar Selek, a necessary step on the path to peace in Turkey

On Octo­ber 21, 2025, a large inter­na­tio­nal dele­ga­tion will once again be present at the Tri­bu­nal in Istan­bul to sup­port the Fran­co-Tur­kish wri­ter and socio­lo­gist. They hold hope that this new hea­ring in the 5th trial against Pinar Selek will be the last, that the court will at last defi­ni­ti­ve­ly acquit this femi­nist and human rights acti­vist who has been haras­sed by the Tur­kish autho­ri­ties for 27 years. A defi­ni­tive acquit­tal for Pinar Selek, arres­ted in 1998 for her aca­de­mic research on the Kurds, would be a strong signal of demo­cra­cy.

The upco­ming hea­ring will take place in the context of a peace pro­cess ini­tia­ted by the PKK with Anka­ra, which could put an end to for­ty years of war. In a land­mark ges­ture, PKK mili­tants have laid down and bur­ned their wea­pons. The pos­si­bi­li­ty of peace looms.

For over 30 years, Pinar Selek has conti­nued her research, explo­ring social mecha­nisms that may contri­bute to crea­ting paths towards peace. Her work on the Kur­dish social move­ment, which ser­ved as a trig­ger for the poli­ti­co-judi­cial per­se­cu­tion she has endu­red, falls in line with this approach. Her trial is one of the his­to­ric land­marks of the cri­mi­na­li­za­tion of peace move­ments in Tur­key. The ver­dict at her trial on Octo­ber 21 will be an indi­ca­tion of the real willin­gness of the Tur­kish autho­ri­ties to move for­ward on the road to jus­tice, peace and recon­ci­lia­tion. His defi­ni­tive acquit­tal would be a signi­fi­cant step in this direc­tion.

Aware of the fra­gi­li­ty of the peace pro­cess taking shape in Tur­key, we call on all those willing and able to take action and tra­vel to Istan­bul on Octo­ber 21 to demand that jus­tice for Pinar Selek.

The inter­na­tio­nal coor­di­na­tion of net­works in soli­da­ri­ty with Pinar Selek