Under the leadership of the Initiative for the Freedom of Abdullah Öcalan, a ‘Freedom Vigil’ has been held in Strasbourg, France since 25 June 2012 in order to ensure the physical freedom of Abdulllah Öcalan and to end the isolation regime imposed on him in the İmralı Island Prison in Turkey where he has been held since his handover to Turkey as a result of an international conspiracy in 1999.

In its 645th week, five patriots from the Zurich region took over the vigil action, which is undertaken by a group from different countries of Europe every week.

The group consists of Tanju Eren, Ali Kara, Mehmet Şener, Zeki Güner and Cüneyt Alıcı.

On behalf of the group, Ali Kara said, “As the Kurdish people, we will continue our struggle uninterruptedly until the physical freedom of our leader is achieved.”

Kara appealed to the international organisations and said, “We expect them to take the necessary steps to ensure the physical freedom of our leader as soon as possible.”

Tanju Eren emphasised that ‘this vigil will continue until Leader Öcalan is freed.’

Emphasising that the İmralı isolation continues although a meeting with Öcalan has been held recently, Tanju Eren stated that there can be no talk of a possible process of negotiations until the isolation is lifted.