As the “Freedom Vigil” that was launched in Koşuyolu Park to protest the continued isolation imposed upon Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan continues, the people of Amed voiced their protest and talked to our reporters about their demand for the isolation imposed upon Öcalan to be lifted immediately.

“WE WILL BE ON THE STREETS UNTIL WE HEAR FROM OUR LEADER”

Cahit Pektaş: Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan has been in isolation for years. The deepening of the isolation causes Turkey and Kurdistan to return to a conflict process. AKP government uses this situation politically and tries to increase tensions over our Leader in order to build the presidential system. These problems will increase as long as the isolation continues. The Kurdish people, and the people of Amed foremost, will not accept this isolation.

Nermin Günaydın: They have exploited and oppressed the Kurdish people for years. We have fought against this constantly, like we are here now, resisting for the freedom of our Leader. The world needs to stand against the injustice imposed upon the Kurdish people. We need to protect our own Kurdish identity. We are concerned for the health of our Leader, and we demand this isolation imposed upon him be lifted immediately.

Fırat Şahin: We have demanded this unlawful isolation on Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan be lifted for years. As the Amed youth, we do not accept this isolation. The state needs to return to the peace and negotiation table.

Aydın Bingöl: The isolation imposed upon Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan must be lifted immediately. His family and his lawyers can’t get any information and we as the Kurdish people are concerned for his health. With the lifting of the isolation, we can also move past this conflict period.

Emine Kaya: Until we see our Leader, we will continue to be on the streets day and night. We are prepared to die for our Leader if necessary. We want this isolation to be lifted, actually we want him freed. We will be gone without our Leader, and the world will be gone aws well. We are waiting to hear from him.

Kıymet Dargın: We are very concerned because we can’t hear from our Leader and we don’t know what to do when we don’t hear from him. Not hearing from our Leader is equal to suicide, it feels like dying when we don’t hear from him. If he’s not here, we don’t want to be here. We want freedom for our Leader and we want peace. We want to hear from our Leader at once. We are all on the path of our Leader and it kills us to remain in the dark about him. Enough with this cruelty. We want our Leader, who is the representative for peace.

Murat Ekin: We received no information on our Leader after the coup attempt. We are very concerned. The Turkish state and government officials say the Leader is well, but we have no faith in them. We want direct communication. We want to hear from him. We will be on the streets until we hear from him and we will resist until the end.

Sipan Demir: There has been a coup in Kurdistan for a long time. We wake up to the sound of tanks and we go to sleep to the sound of tanks. With this current situation, we need to hear from our Leader. Because we are worried for his life. This isolation has been going on for years, if we or his family can’t go, at least they should form a committee to visit him so we can hear from him.