A demonstration was held in front of the NSW State Parliament in Sydney to mark the 23rd anniversary of the international conspiracy that led to the abduction of Kurdish leader Öcalan from Kenya to Turkey on February 15, 1999.

Several deputies and senators also joined the demonstration. “The February 15 conspiracy against Öcalan in 1999 targeted not only the Kurdish people, but all the peoples of the Middle East,” the organizing committee said in a statement.

Green Party MPs David Schoebridge and Jamie Parker, Green Party senator Lee Rhiannon, religious official Bill Crews, Green Left Weekly columnist Peter Boyle and Sydney PEN Board member Kurdish writer Mansur Rezaki attended the demonstration and condemned the conspiracy and those responsible.

The participants demanded the freedom of the Kurdish leader for a perpetual peace. They also urged the Australian government to put pressure on the Turkish state to lift the isolation imposed on the Kurdish leader.