Kurdish people are demanding clarity about the situation of Abdullah Öcalan, the PKK founder who has been imprisoned on the Turkish prison island of Imrali since 1999. The protests are prompted by the complete silence surrounding the 73-year-old and the demand that the Council of Europe's Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) ensure contact with him and his fellow prisoners.

Since the Asrin Law Office stated at the end of November that the CPT probably had no personal contact with Öcalan during its last visit to Turkey in September, concern for the life and safety of the Kurdish leader has increased. Kurdish society is demanding clarification about the CPT's visit to Imrali and information about the condition of the prisoners.

The Democratic Kurdish Cultural Center in Athens and Revolutionary Youth Movement (TJŞ) organized a march in the Greek capital Athens on Sunday. The march was attended by Kurds as well as revolutionary organizations from Turkey, anarchist, leftist and socialist groups from Greece.

Activists displayed banners denouncing the isolation regime imposed on the Kurdish leader. The march ended in front of the Kurdish Cultural Center in Athens under the slogans "Bê Serok Jiyan Nabe" [No Life Without the Leader] and "Bijî Berxwedana PKK" [Long Live the PKK Resistance].