9 October marks the anniversary of the forced departure of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan in 1998 and thus the beginning of the international conspiracy that led to the PKK leader's abduction to Turkey on 15 February 1999. Since then, Öcalan has been held as a political hostage on the prison island of Imrali, most of the time under conditions of total isolation. The aim of the initiative is to send a signal against the Turkish state's war policy, to demand the lifting of Abdullah Öcalan's incommunicado detention and the resumption of peace negotiations and conditions for the PKK founder in which he can live and work freely in order to contribute to the solution of the Kurdish question. 

Kurdish parties and organisations promoted demonstrations in several cities under the motto "We march for freedom" to mark the 24th anniversary of the conspiracy. Turkish police took violent action against people who took to the streets to denounce the 9 October conspiracy.

The Amed (Diyarbakır) Branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD) released a statement concerning the police crackdown on protests and the detention of at least 138 people by use of force.

“During the protest march staged in the Yüksekova district of Hakkari, deputy Habip Eksik was seriously injured by policemen and hospitalized. During the same action, many citizens were subjected to similar ill-treatment. Although the government claims that there is no torture in the country, torture and ill-treatment are rampant, as is often proven by the reports of human rights organizations and the media outlets. Torture and ill-treatment have become permanent as a result of the authorities' remarks that legitimize them and the impunity that sustains them,” the statement said.

The Human Rights Association continued, “The Turkish Constitution states that ‘everyone has the right to hold peaceful meetings and demonstrations without prior permission from the authorities.’ On this basis, arbitrary and illegal obstruction of political parties and activists' right to peaceful demonstrations constitutes a right violation. We demand the immediate release of politicians and citizens who were detained during the demonstrations in Diyarbakır and the other cities in the region.”