Kurdish activists’ vigil in front of the UN headquarters enters its ninth month

The sit-in demonstration in front of the United Nations Office in Geneva, which has been ongoing since January 25, demands an end to the isolation of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan.

A sit-in protest against the isolation of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan continues in front of the United Nations (UN) building in Geneva, Switzerland.

Kurdish activists have been protesting every Wednesday since January 15, gathering around the tent of resistance they have set up in front of the UN.

The vigil, which has entered its ninth month, is held in a tent set up in front of the UN headquarters as part of the ‘Stop Isolation, Fascism, Occupation, Time to Realize Freedom' campaign.

This week's action was taken over by the Kurds from the city of Basel. The activists observed a minute’s silence in memory of guerrillas who were martyred during Turkish occupation attacks against Zendura and Mamreş regions in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq).

 

Speaking here, Salih Sağlam, co-chair of the Geneva Kurdish Community Centre, said, “Eight months have passed since we launched the sit-in which demands Öcalan’s physical freedom and an end to the aggravated isolation imposed on him. The Turkish army, defeated by the guerrillas, is continuing its attacks against the Kurdish people and Kurdistan with chemical and poisonous gases.”

“With the actions we will organise both in Switzerland and in European cities, we will report Turkey’s crimes against humanity with poisonous gas to the world public. We will continue to take to the streets to claim the 'Dem Dema Azadîye' [Time for Freedom] campaign and protest the silence of the UN and European states,” Sağlam added.