Kurds and their friends are increasingly protesting all around the world against the international conspiracy which led to the capture in Kenya of Abdullah Öcalan on 15 February 1999 and the isolation imposed on the Kurdish leader.

A four-day long march has been started in Switzerland ahead of the traditional massive rally held by the Kurds and their friends in Europe every year in the French city of Strasbourg.

Over a hundred people including intellectuals, artists, politicians and representatives of institutions from four parts of Kurdistan have started a long march in Geneva, Switzerland for national unity under the motto “Freedom for Öcalan, status for Kurdistan”.

“Let’s build national unity and free our Leader” and “Let’s build national unity against the international conspiracy” are the main slogans of the march which kicked off with a press statement at the Place de Neuve Square in Geneva.

KOÇ: RECLAIMING THE RESISTANCE MEANS STOPPING THE INVASION

Speaking at the press briefing, KCDK-E (Kurdish Democratic Society Congress in Europe) Co-chair Yüksel Koç condemned the international conspiracy which -he said- was intended to break and the will of the Kurdish people and bring them to heel in the person of Öcalan.

Koç stressed that: “As the isolation continues, reclaiming the resistance and stance of Rêber Apo (Leader Öcalan) will mean saying stop to the invasion of Rojava and Kurdistan. This is the duty of not only a community but of all the people of Kurdistan and the revolutionaries and democrats in Turkey.”

KCDK-E Co-chair continued: “With this sense of mission, we are staging a long march from Geneva to Strasbourg to promote Kurdish national unity and democracy in Turkey and the Middle East and to stand against the international conspiracy and the aggravated isolation. With the representatives of Kurdish parties and institutions, revolutionaries and socialists from Turkey, intellectuals, artists, politicians, academics and our friends from Switzerland, we will turn the conspiracy and isolation into a will for the common struggle of peoples.”

Koç pointed out that the resistance of Öcalan and the struggle of the Kurdish people have dramatically frustrated the international conspiracy.

Koç stressed that the freedom of Öcalan was a must for a lasting, fair and democratic solution to the Kurdish question and development of democracy in Turkey, adding; “The main duty of all those who want to build peace in Turkey and the Middle East, is to advocate the freedom of Öcalan.”

HEVRIN KHALAF’S MOTHER: ÖCALAN STRUGGLES FOR THE ENTIRE HUMANITY

Suad Mustafa, mother of Kurdish politician Hevrin Khalaf who was murdered by Turkey’s mercenaries on October 12, also joined the action and said the following:

“Every single person that fights for human rights in this world should know that Leader Apo struggles not for the Kurdish people alone, but for all humanity. However, the world is still silent on this conspiracy. Our call is to all of humanity, to the United Nations, to all defenders of human rights and most importantly to the CPT. We ask the CPT, which claims to be fighting against torture, why they do nothing for the Kurdish leader who is held in aggravated isolation for 21 years now. How much longer will you shut your eyes to this atrocity? Still, you shouldn’t forget that we will never abstain from fighting for our leader. Without the freedom of Leader Apo, the peoples of Turkey and the Middle East will never be free.”

RIELLE: ÖCALAN IS DENIED BASIC RIGHTS

Switzerland’s Socialist Party (SP) MP Laurence Fehlmann Rielle also spoke and said the following; “I am here to stand in solidarity with the Kurdish people and to demand freedom for Öcalan. The denial of fundamental rights for the Kurdish people in the 21st century is just unacceptable.”

Remarking that the international conspiracy has left 21 years behind, the Swiss MP said that Öcalan and a certain segment in Turkey are denied their basic human rights.

The following speeches in the name of Kurdish Women’s Movement and SYKP (Socialist Refoundation Party) called for increased struggle for the freedom of Öcalan.

After the speeches, the crowd started to march behind a banner that reads “Freedom for Öcalan, status for Kurdistan”.

The first stage of the four-day march will be concluded with a rally in front of the United Nations Geneva headquarters this evening.