Kurdish people, parties and organizations march every year to the village of Amara in the Halfeti district of Urfa province, where Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan was born on April 4, 1949.

The march "To Amara for Freedom" started today under the leadership of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK), the Free Women's Movement (TJA), the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the Federation of Law and Solidarity Associations for the Families of Detainees and Convicts (MED TUHAD FED).

Despite the police blockade, people from various cities of Kurdistan and Turkey gathered at the Payamlı crossroad on the Urfa-Antep highway, chanting slogans in favour of Öcalan.

Following the speeches by BP Co-Chair Saliha Aydeniz and DTK Co-Chair Berdan Öztürk who highlighted the importance of Öcalan’s birthday for the Kurdish people, the crowd set out for Amara.

The convoy was stopped by the gendarmerie (military police) at the entrance of Yanaloba village in Suruç district.

In the face of the obstructions by the gendarmerie, the group blocked the Antep-Urfa highway and celebrated Öcalan’s birthday with dancing and slogans.

The people dispersed after keeping the road closed to traffic for a long while as the military blockade continued.