Activists have started the 25-day-long march for the freedom of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan from Paris to Strasbourg, where the European Union institutions are located.

The march is organized by the Democratic Kurdish Council of France (CDK-F) and the Kurdish Women's Movement in France (TJK-F) with the slogan "Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, Justice for Kurds" as part of the international campaign "Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, a Political Solution to the Kurdish Question", which was launched worldwide on 10 October 2023.

In the capital Paris, a press statement was made on La Fayette Street, where the Kurdistan Information Office, the scene of the triple murder in 2013 of Kurdish women revolutionaries Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez, is located.

The protesters, wearing red uniforms with the image of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan and an inscription demanding his freedom, displayed banners demanding freedom for Abdullah Öcalan and a political solution to the Kurdish question.

KCDK-E: A historic action

Speaking at the press statement, Zübeyde Zümrüt, co-chair of KCDK-E (Congress of Democratic Societies of Kurdistan in Europe), called the 25-day march "a historic action".

Zübeyde Zümrüt stated that the march was started by 25 people from where PKK founding member Sakine Cansız, KNK Paris Representative Fidan Doğan and Kurdish youth movement member Leyla Şaylemez were murdered on 9 January 2013.

Zübeyde Zümrüt vowed that they will fight until the end to make sure that light is shed on the massacre and those responsible are prosecuted. Condemning the international silence against the isolation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has not been heard from for about three years, Zümrüt denounced the silence of the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), which she urged not be a partner in the occupation of the Turkish state, which is carrying out genocide against the Kurds.

Murat Ceylan, President of the KCDK-E Council, condemned the conspirators, accomplices and occupiers and drew attention to the international responsibility for the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan.

After the press statement, the activists started the march, chanting slogans demanding a democratic solution to the Kurdish question and the freedom of Abdullah Öcalan, as well as slogans condemning the invasion attacks of the Turkish state. At the front of the march, a banner reading "The time has come" attracted attention. The banner demands the freedom of the Kurdish People's Leader and an end to his isolation.

Following the marches in the Paris region on the first and second day, there will be marches in Lorient, Vannes, Nantes, Rennes, Rouen, Mantes La Jolie, Les Mureaux, Meulen, Grigny, Villeneuve St. Georges, Bobigny, La Courneuve, Drancy, Soisson, Reimes, Sarcelles, Nancy, Creil, Metz and Amiens. Some of these marches will be an act of support, while others will be on the route of the protesters. During the march there will be various activities such as sending cards, visits to political groups and civil society organisations, film screenings, public meetings, theatre and many more.

The march will end in Strasbourg on 15 February, the anniversary of the international conspiracy against Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan. The founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was abducted from Kenya on 15 February 1999 with the cooperation of international secret services. This act of piracy, contrary to international law, had begun with Öcalan's forced departure from Syria on 9 October 1998. The Kurdish community is taking the upcoming anniversary of his abduction as an opportunity to demand the release of the 74-year-old leader and a political solution to the Kurdish question.