Following the ban on the rally planned to be held in Amed (Diyarbakır) today, people mobilising from many cities were prevented by the police.

While the resistance against police obstacles continues, marches have started from all over the city.

The people gathered at various points in the city, mainly in Ofis neighbourhood, Sur and Bağlar districts, and started marches and protests.  Masses marching from all over the city met in Ofis neighbourhood.

Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Co-Chair Çiğdem Kılıçgün Uçar stated the following in her speech:

“All this time has passed, governments have changed, there have been no courageous governments with a project on the Kurdish question. The 9 October international conspiracy was a war between two systems. One was the democratic Middle East project, which aims for the freedom of the Kurdish people and the free and equal life of all peoples in the Middle East. The other project was the Greater Middle East Project led by hegemonic powers. The 9 October conspiracy was the clash of these two systems. By removing the democratic Middle East system and its pioneer from the Middle East, the system continues to inflict on humanity the wars we are experiencing today. What is this Kurdish question? We always say, there are those who understand and those who don't. There are those who listen and those who do not. The Kurdish question is the disintegration and denial of the Kurdish homeland, the deepest division of the realities of society, and the prevention of the Kurds from being themselves.

The political will of the Kurds must be suppressed and they must be forced to submit to the state's policy of denial and annihilation. The Kurdish issue is the question of Kurds not living free. It is the problem of being prevented from being a nation. This is the determination of Mr Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdish people. The Kurdish question is a problem that is denied by saying ‘we have solved it’. Let everyone hear; the Kurdish question is not a security issue, it is a problem of democracy and freedoms. It is a status problem. Who will solve this problem? Who will assume responsibility? Who will change the course of this centuries-old denial? Do you have an address? I ask our people, who is the interlocutor for the democratic solution of the Kurdish question? Do not be afraid of Mr Öcalan's ideas, do not be afraid of Mr Öcalan's project. Do not be afraid of the paradigm of freedom he offers to oppressed peoples.

You don't have a project, you don't have a political sentence. You have been saying the same thing for years. Today this will gives you a message. Remove all obstacles, take a historical responsibility. First, ensure the freedom of Mr Öcalan, then take part in this solution. For a century you have been deceiving this society with the concept of ‘terror’. What you call ‘terror’ is the values of the Kurdish people. All over Kurdistan, in the west, people are on the streets, standing up and speaking out. Why? So that people don't die, so that the country doesn't drown in crisis. So that we can sit side by side and talk. So that you don't shout at us through microphones from invisible places. So that you pay attention to the will of this people. The mentality of ‘I don't see, I don't hear, I don't know’ has ruined the country. You talk about a new constitution. You talk about internal peace, social peace. What will you build it on? On denial? On isolation? Are you going to build it on non-existence? Doors must open now, ideas must be discussed.

Peace is a virtue, confrontation is a virtue. Explain to this society which law you are applying in İmralı, where you impose isolation. The law applied in İmralı is not a domestic law of Turkey, it is not universal law, it is a pirate law. The state is operating a pirate law in İmralı so that there will be no peace, no solution. Mr Öcalan is a powerful opportunity for this country. We invite you to utilise this opportunity. Our appeal to all journalists living in Turkey, our appeal to intellectuals, our appeal to academics, our appeal to the peoples of Turkey; speak out about peace and democratic solution. We missed yesterday, but we did not lose yesterday. Today is ours and tomorrow is ours. That is why I invite everyone to stand against the isolation of Mr Öcalan and take responsibility for a democratic Turkey and a democratic solution to the Kurdish question. The way for this country to become democratic and for the Kurdish people and the peoples of Turkey to be free is through İmralı and Mr Öcalan. You know this, we have fought for this, and we will continue to do so. The Kurdish people will be free, Turkey will be a democratic country.”