In Europe, long marches demanding the freedom of Abdullah Öcalan are held every year in February. This year the internationalist march will kick off in Geneva on 6 February, while the march organized by the Kurdish youth started in Heilbronn today.

On 11 February, there will be a demonstration in Strasbourg. A long march will also be held in Greece. It will start in Lavrio and end in Athens on 15 February, the anniversary of Öcalan's capture, 24 years ago.

Around 150-160 internationalists from Germany, France, Italy, Latin America, England, Eastern Europe, Africa and Australia will be participating in this year’s Long March that will kick off from Geneva tomorrow.

The march will be staged in Switzerland this year to mark the 100th anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne, which caused Kurdistan to be divided into 4 parts. The march will conclude in Strasbourg on 11 January.

Ahead of the march, the internationalists held a conference on Öcalan in Geneva today and discussed Öcalan’s paradigm, his fellowship with women, and the isolation system in the Imrali prison with the participation of his lawyers. Lawyers from the International Delegation Against Isolation, who have visited Turkey recently, also talked about their observations. The participants, who included Kurdish activists, also discussed the position of the Kurdish freedom struggle in the world and the current political developments. The conference titled “Abdullah Öcalan and Paradigmatic Change” was held at Gandi Conference Hall at Maison Internationale (International Cultural House), moderated by Italian internationalist Uxia Birueiro.

The opening speech was given by Yüksel Koç, co-chair of the European Kurdistan Democratic Societies Congress (KCDK-E), who stated the following: “The paradigm of Leader Öcalan has gone beyond borders and begun to lead the oppressed peoples all around the world. 25 years ago, the capitalist system took action to eliminate Öcalan and the Kurdish freedom struggle. The struggle of the Kurdish people and their friends, however, frustrated the conspiracy. Today, our hope grows, seeing over 150 friends of Kurds from Africa to Latin America and European states here, in this hall. We salute your resistance.”

Asmin Engin, an activist of the Kurdish Women’s Movement in Europe (TJK-E), who made a representation in the first session of the conference, spoke about the genocides committed against Kurds throughout history, the conditions under which the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) emerged, and its difference from other uprisings.

The session titled “International Conspiracy and the Imrali System” hosted lawyer Mahmut Şakar and the International Platform Against Isolation members Raphael Roux and Coroline Isabella Aubry as speakers.