Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan has been in solitary confinement on the prison island of Imrali since his abduction to Turkey in 1999. The last contact with him was a telephone conversation with his brother in spring 2021, which was interrupted after a few minutes. Öcalan last had contact with his lawyers from the Istanbul-based Asrın Law Office in August 2019. After an eight-year interruption, a hunger strike led by politician Leyla Güven, who has since been imprisoned again, resulted in a total of five visits by lawyers. The last family visit to the island was approved in March 2020. Since then, isolation in the high-security prison has been driven to the level of total incommunicado detention.

As Kurdish people continue their actions worldwide in protest at the unlawful treatment of Öcalan, members of the Revolutionary Youth Movement (Tevgera Ciwanên Şoreşger-TCŞ) and the Movement of Young Women Militants (TekoJIN) staged a march in Amsterdam today denouncing the aggravated absolute isolation of Öcalan and demanding his freedom.

The march started after a minute of silence for all martyrs of the Kurdish freedom struggle.

Ahmet Şahin made a speech on behalf of the Martyr Çekdar Canfeda Youth Assembly in the Netherlands and stated: "The occupying Turkish state should know well that the Kurdish people will remain in action, no matter the cost. 2024 will be the year of physical freedom of Leader Öcalan. We as Kurdish youths have taken to the streets in Amsterdam today and our actions will continue.”

“We will not stop struggling until Leader Öcalan is physically free and the Kurdish question is resolved," said Şahin and concluded his speech by saying "Youth is the devotee of Leader Öcalan."