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.

During this week's demonstration, which is held at a tent set up in Nation Square where the UN Office is located, activists commemorated Beritan Hêvî (Gülnaz Karataş), a guerrilla commander in the ranks of the ARGK (People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan, the predecessor of the HPG), and pioneer of the Women's Army. She threw herself into an abyss in Southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) on 25 October 1992 to avoid falling into the hands of the KDP, which collaborated with Turkey. Because of her exceptional courage and her passionate character, Beritan became a historical figure for the Kurds. Songs were written and innumerable newborns were named after her. Her life was portrayed in the movie “Beritan” by Kurdish director Halil Dağ in 2006.

After a minute of silence in memory of the martyrs of the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle in the person of Bêrîtan Hêvî, a press statement was made by Veysel Kuşkanadı on behalf of the action committee, which drew attention to the isolation and torture system applied against Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı.

Kuşkanadı said, “Ensuring the freedom of our leader is the only condition for us to realise the discourses that have emerged today. If there is to be a lasting peace in the region, our leader is the interlocutor of the AKP-MHP government.”

Kuşkanadı aluted the guerrilla resistance and underlined that, “After Bêrîtan's martyrdom, her successors avenged her by building a women's army.”