With an unanimous vote on May 7, the honorary citizenship of Pinerolo was conferred on Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan.

The related statement by the municipality said: “We ideally embrace all the Kurdish people who for decades fought to defend their language, culture and identity. And we embrace the proposal for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question that Öcalan has been carrying out in recent years despite the isolation he is subjected to and the difficulties that the whole Kurdish people are experiencing in Turkey and in the neighboring territories where they are engaged in the war against ISIS. Welcome new fellow citizen, we are waiting for you! "

In a statement to Özgür Politika newspaper, Kurdistan Information Bureau officials said that the document of honorary citizenship for Öcalan would be submitted during an official ceremony in September.

The Municipality of Pinerolo has thus been the seventh municipality to award Öcalan with 'Honorary Citizenship', with the previous ones being the municipalities of Palermo, Napoli, Palagonia, Riace, Reggio Emilia and Martano.

Pinerolo is a town in the Metropolitan City of Piedmont, northwestern Italy, located in a mountainous terrain and with a population of 35 thousand. The Municipality of Pinerolo was also the first to sign a sister/friend protocol with the Municipality of Kobanê.