Historian, publisher, and philanthropist Roger van Zwanenberg expressed his support for Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan’s latest initiative for peace and democratic society.
Roger van Zwanenberg, a lecturer in African history who has pioneered many important studies, has issued a message of support for Abdullah Öcalan’s ‘Call for Peace and Democratic Society’.
In his message, Dr. Roger van Zwanenberg emphasized that Abdullah Öcalan has been working to find a peaceful solution between Kurds and Turks since he was taken into captivity.
The message by Zwanenberg reads as follows: “The desire for peace demonstrated by the latest Kurdish uprising is encouraging. Pluto Books, which I took over in 1987, published a series of books by Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan in the first decade of the 21st century. Öcalan is writing books on Imrali Island and has been working to find a peaceful solution between Kurds and Turks since his arrival there. I hope the peace process will withstand the test of time. Both peoples should now be able to live together in a spirit of friendship.”
Dr. Roger van Zwanenberg is a historian, publisher, and philanthropist. From 1969 to 1975, he lectured on African history at Sussex University and the University of Nairobi and Dar es Salaam and published various books and articles. In 1976, he founded Zed Press, followed by Pluto Books in 1986, expanding independent publishing focused on radical, left-wing thought.
After retiring in 2012, he founded the academic journal platform Pluto Journals and the Pluto Educational Trust Charity. He also launched Ollema Ltd, which supports small farmers in Uganda. Today, he works on global history and has published his book “Wealth and Power: Transformation and Destruction, 1492–2020” as a blog series
