Almost 200 Kurdish and internationalist activists from Germany, Switzerland, France, England, Spain, Italy, Bolivia and other countries have been marching for the physical freedom of Abdullah Öcalan through North Rhine-Westphalia since the beginning of the week.

The activists will cover 15 km today and meet at the Democratic Kurdish Community Center in Mülheim in the evening, when they will conclude their action with a statement on the importance of the ‘Journey of Freedom’.

Before starting the march today, the activists protested the Turkish use of chemical weapons and tactical nuclear bombs against the guerrillas in northern Iraq. Wearing white suits under a cloud of yellow smoke representing chemical weapons, activists denounced the Turkish employment of inhumane methods.

The activists also protested the Turkish state’s delivery of the remains of Kurdish guerrillas to their families in storage boxes.

A press statement made by the activists today said the following:

“Leader Apo (Abdullah Öcalan) has been putting up mighty resistance against the international conspiracy and aggravated isolation. No news has been received from him for almost 30 months. The isolation imposed on Leader Apo means conniving at the genocide against the Kurdish people. The CPT (Committee for the Prevention of Torture) has not informed the public about their meeting with Leader Apo.

Those responsible for the international conspiracy that resulted in the captivity of Leader Apo on the prison island of Imrali are not turning a blind eye to the Turkish state’s daily attacks against the Kurds. The Turkish state, which has possessed a barbaric and fascist character throughout history, stays away from all the principles of democracy and humanity. Their war against the Kurds surpasses all moral limits.

The Kurds are murdered systematically, suspicious deaths are taking place in prisons every day, prisoners are left to die, and Kurdish children are killed by the armored military vehicles of the Turkish state. The Kurdish society is under an all-out attack with the approval of the sovereign powers. Human rights organizations have long ignored this aggression, turning a blind eye and deaf ear to this reality. This institutional hypocrisy exposes the true face of Europe, which is an accomplice and has full liability. For this very reason, we can only ensure the end of the policy of Kurdish genocide through a revolutionary popular war under the lead of Kurdish youth. On this basis, Leader Apo’s message to the youth and the Kurdish people is clear. As the Kurdish youth, we should respond to the aggression on our people in kind. The Turkish state wants to crush our honor and will, and hands over our remains to our families in boxes and bags. These immoral attacks against the bodies of guerrillas will not go unanswered.

In response to the Turkish state’s atrocities and collaborators, we have a message to the youth of Kurdistan; vengeance. We did not and will not forget. We do not forget Tolhildan Tekman, Egit İpek and Hakan Arslan. We do not forget Martyr Helbest and Martyr Baz. We do not forget Mother Taybet. We do not forget Garibe Gezer. We do not forget the betrayal against Comrade Harun. We will not forget any of them.

As the Apoist youth, we will follow in the footsteps of Leader Apo. The PKK taught us not to surrender, but to resist, until Leader Apo is physically freed, and until Kurdistan is freed.”