Shengal people are preparing to celebrate the birthday of Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan tomorrow, 4 April, with various events. 

Among the preparations are those for a garden to be named after Öcalan.

Works on what will be Leader Öcalan Garden (Baxçê Serok Apo) began on 4 April 2015 in Kersê. A year later, on 4 April 2016 it was officially opened only to be bombed by Turkish warplanes in 2017.

YBŞ members who have taken care of the work in the garden will celebrate 4 April among themselves in the garden due to the coronavirus emergency.

Indeed, people in Shengal will celebrate Öcalan's birthday in their own houses and gardens.

YBŞ Helses Koço pointed out that the people in Shengal have been celebrating Öcalan's birthday since 2015, i.e. after the genocidal attacks carried out by ISIS mercenaries on 3 August 2014.

"In 2015, we started to make a garden to celebrate the birthday of Leader Apo in Derîye Kersê. I realized how much 4 April meant to us as a people, after working here and getting to know his philosophy," said Koço.

He added: "4 April is a sacred day, especially for the people and fighters of Shengal, as well as for the Yazidi people. We want April 4 to be instrumental in achieving freedom from Leader Öcalan. Because, thanks to 4 April we were able to learn to defend and protect ourselves against the attacks."

Koço reminded that the people of Shengal were exposed to migration after the genocide and that the citizens who returned to Shengal have been celebrating Öcalan's birthday since. "The celebrations in Shengal are made with and within nature, this is how we celebrate holidays and the birth of a people. We YBŞ fighters plant flowers and trees wherever we are."

Koço ended his remarks by saying he was sorry that this year, because of the coronavirus emergency, it would not be possible to celebrate 4 April all together.