Despite the martial law practices around Urfa’s Halfeti district, people are still flocking to Amara for Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s 67th birthday.

Among those who have managed to get to Urfa's Amara village for the celebrations are people from neighboring communities and DTK co-chairs Leyla Güven and Hatip Dicle, TUHAD-FED administrators, HDP MPs Alican Önlü, Osman Baydemir, Gülser Yıldırım, Mahmut Toğrul, Feleknas Uca, Behçet Yıldırım, Müslüm Doğan and Dilek Öcalan, and provincial and district administrations of HDP and DBP.

The house the Kurdish People’s Leader was born in was adorned with giant posters of him and flags of PKK and KCK. As the birthday celebrations continue, people are dancing the traditional Kurdish dance halay in the yard and chant slogans “Thousand salutes to İmralı”, “If there’s no Leader, there is no life”, "Bijî Serok Apo" [“Long Live Leader Apo”], “The ambassador for peace lives in İmralı” and "Rojbûna te pîroz be ey Serok Apo" [“Happy birthday Leader Apo”].

A press statement about Öcalan’s 67th birthday is expected in the coming hours.