The 1st General Congress of the BDP Youth Council has come to an end in Diyarbakir following the selection of council members. Among other issues, the congress highlighted the importance of Abdullah Öcalan in the peace process and that his freedom is required if the process is to be brought to a successful conclusion.

The congress opened in the morning to great enthusiasm. Following the speeches and the demand for Öcalan’s freedom, local artists Seyda Perinçek and the Tigris-Euphrates Cultural Center Child Erbane Group took the stage and the conference attendees danced the halay throughout the meeting hall.

After the musical break the BDP Women’s Council member Pelin Yılmaz addressed the crowd in the name of DÖKH. After Yılmaz’s statement a report on the activities and finances of the organization was presented for approval and accepted with a majority of the votes. At the very end a 22 member council was selected and the names of the members read out loud.

As the council came to an end, hundreds of attendees who had traveled long distances to be at the congress once again took to the road. As police began to enter the emptying meeting hall they began to record those youth still present and dancing halay.

* Translation by The Rojava Report