A vigil by the Democratic Kurdish Community in Switzerland has been taking place in front of the UN headquarters in Geneva since 25 January 2021. Every Wednesday, activists stage a protest in front of the United Nations building to demand the release of Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan. The action is carried out as part of the 'Dem dema azadiye' [Time for Freedom] campaign and directed against the isolation of the Kurdish leader on the Turkish prison island of Imrali, the Turkish occupation attacks on Kurdistan, the massacres committed in Kurdish territories and the silence of the UN.

Speaking here, Ramazan Baytar, member of the Foreign Relations Department of the Democratic Kurdish Council in Switzerland (CDK-S), provided information about the situation of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan who has been held in aggravated isolation and has not been heard from for over two years.

Baytar pointed out that the isolation imposed on Öcalan was a continuation of the international conspiracy carried out against him through the western states and the UN in 1999.

Baytar stressed that the paradigm of freedom presented by Öcalan despite 24 years of captivity was considered a threat by these very states.

“The achievement of the freedom of the Kurdish people and other peoples in the region relies on the realization of the freedom paradigm created by Öcalan. The dirty interest-based relations of western states with the Turkish state underlie the aggravated isolation conditions implemented for over two years,” he said.

Speaking after, Mehmet Latif Çelebi, the co-chair of the Kurdish Community Centre in Geneva, pointed out that the Turkish state carried out genocidal operations in guerrilla areas and the lands of the Kurds during the times of intensified isolation imposed on Öcalan since 1999.

“We have not heard from our leader for a long time. The Kurdish people do not accept this and we have no solution but to break the isolation,” Çelebi said.

Referring to the May 14 elections in Turkey and North Kurdistan, Çelebi called on the Kurdish people to go to the polls to fulfil their duty and responsibility.