The Long March, traditionally carried out by young people every year to demand the physical freedom of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, will be held on February 5-10 this year from Heilbronn to Freiburg in Germany.

The Long March Preparatory Committee released a written statement concerning this year’s march which will be carried out under the motto “Join the struggle for the freedom of Öcalan!”.

'JOIN THE FREEDOM MARCH'

The statement calling on the Kurdish youth to come together around Öcalan, includes the following:

“It's time for the youth to demonstrate what Öcalan has taught us and show that it will be difficult to stop a youth striving for freedom. Youth is the greatest power. Let's not let them stop us! We are a trouble to the colonial and antidemocratic system! We call on all our youth to join the 2023 Long March to liberate Öcalan. We call on all our youth to join the march for the freedom of women, democracy and ecology! The march will kick off from Heilbronn on February 5 and conclude in Freiburg on February 10.

Öcalan has been politically committed to finding a solution to the conflicts in the Middle East since the 1960s. As a Kurd, he has experienced the Turkish state's fascist policies of assimilation and denial towards the Kurdish people. When he started to engage in politics, he realized that there was a particular exploitation of Kurdistan as a whole. This exploitation can still be seen in the fact that Kurdistan is not recognized but mentioned as Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. Hence, Öcalan began to organize among student groups. Over the decades, he organized and educated the Kurdish people and the peoples of the Middle East. This has frustrated not only the plans of the Turkish state, but also the plans of other powers that take advantage of the exploitation of Kurdistan and the chaos in the Middle East. At a time when the whole world was declaring that 'socialism has lost', Öcalan raised its red flag again. As a final blow to socialism, Öcalan was extradited to Turkey in 1999 after an internationally coordinated secret service operation!

Öcalan has been kept in prison on the island of Imrali since. With his articles, he has been trying to understand and solve social crises such as war, religious fanaticism, sexism, environmental destruction and all other issues. Öcalan cannot be regarded as a simple prisoner. What makes a person so dangerous to be completely isolated and cut off from the outside world by violating his/her human rights? After all, the Imrali prison is unique compared to other prisons. In other words, no murderer, rapist, war criminal or financial fraudster is punished like Öcalan! All states that claim to be democratic, especially European states and their institution, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), are aware of the human rights crimes committed in the Imrali prison! Yet silence and inaction prevail! Because no state unconditionally respects human rights! This is our duty, the people's own duty.

Öcalan has devoted his life to fighting for women's freedom, grassroots democracy and ecology, and he has done it unconditionally. He has been resisting alone for a quarter-century on the prison island. The Kurdish leader has been tortured for 25 years in solitary confinement, which is unique in the world, and is constantly isolated through new disciplinary punishments. Denied basic human rights, he is not allowed to see his family or even his lawyers. This injustice and torture against him in the Imrali prison should alarm all humanity, because when a politician who promotes women's freedom, grassroots democracy and ecology is forced into silence, the rights of women, peoples and the environment are also attacked. The absolute isolation on Imrali aims to break the democratizing influence of Öcalan on the politics of Turkey and the entire region.

'WE HAVE TO STEP INTO ACTION'

All this shows that we have to step into action! Can you imagine being locked in a 12-square-meter room for twenty-five years? Öcalan wrote from the prison: “During my time on Imrali, I had the opportunity to rethink all questions from a distance... I hope to use the definitions of state, power, war, nation and nation-state in a more realistic way and thus point out the solutions for a democratic society.

For Öcalan’s freedom, join the freedom struggle!

We will physically liberate Öcalan in 2023!"