A demonstration marking the 23rd anniversary of the abduction of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan on 15 February 1999 was held in the province of Van on Tuesday. Representatives of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) gathered together with activists from civil society organisations to protest in the city centre. Under the slogan "Tecrîdê rakin, deriyê Îmraliyê vekin, aşitiyê ava bikin" (Lift the isolation, open the doors of Imrali and build peace), the crowd demanded freedom for Abdullah Öcalan.

"Isolation to stifle demands for freedom"

Ömer Işik from the provincial executive of the HDP said at the rally: "As a result of the struggle of the peoples and the attitude of Mr. Öcalan on Imrali, the international plot has missed its target. While the struggle of the peoples in Kurdistan, Turkey and the Middle East for democracy has increased and become visible worldwide, the AKP/MHP government has further intensified its policy of isolation, war, injustice and denial. In this context, the isolation of Mr. Öcalan no Imrali to stifle the Kurdish people's demand for peace was intensified on 5 April 2015. The isolation policy was an attempt to politically and socially liquidate the demands of the peoples in Turkey for equal and free citizenship and a democratic republic."

Işık stressed that the struggle against isolation is the struggle to establish democratic politics and for a dignified peace and called on all democratic and human rights-oriented forces in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan to join this struggle. At the end of the action, a sit-in took place with the crowd chanting the slogans "Bijî Serok Apo" (Long Live Leader Öcalan) and "Bijî Berxwedana Zindanan" (Long Live Prison Resistance).