At a people's meeting in Berlin, the co-chair of the Kurdish European umbrella organisation KCDK-E, Zübeyde Zümrüt, called for broad participation in the demonstration to take place in the German capital against the PKK ban on 18 November.
As part of the campaign "Freedom for Öcalan, political solution to the Kurdish question", a people's assembly took place in Berlin, in which the co-chair of the Democratic Kurdistan Society Congress in Europe (KCDK-E), Zübeyde Zümrüt, and Öcalan’s lawyer Ömer Güneş took part.
At the very well-attended event, which was organised by the Dest-Dan Women's Council and Nav-Berlin, Zübeyde Zümrüt first spoke about the international campaign for Abdullah Öcalan's freedom and recalled that demonstrations for this cause had taken place in well over 100 cities around the world. She continued: "We must mobilise for the physical freedom of Leader Öcalan. The European system handed over the Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan to the enemy. There has been no sign of life from Mr Öcalan for almost three years. He cannot receive visits from his family or his lawyers. We must unite as a people around Leader Öcalan against this system of torture. We have struggled to overcome the torture system of Imrali, but not enough. At the point we have reached now, we must self-critically scrutinise our shortcomings in practice and take the initiative to enforce the freedom of Leader Öcalan. We must take the initiative and take a leading role in this process."
Zübeyde Zümrüt also reminded the audience of the upcoming demonstration against the PKK ban in Berlin on 18 November, when there will be a broad mobilization. Zümrüt made a connection between Öcalan's isolation and the PKK ban and called for participation in the demonstration "Lift the PKK ban - strengthen democracy!".
Öcalan's lawyer, Ömer Güneş, placed the action against Öcalan in the context of the Kurdish uprisings and the murders and exile of their leaders. He stated that Öcalan had initiated a new phase of the struggle with his remark that Kurdistan is a colony. He emphasised that the Kurdish people continue to exist despite the 25 years of isolation of Öcalan, whose paradigm has become their foundation. He concluded by saying: "In order to break the isolation and guarantee his physical freedom, we must unite around Leader Öcalan."
