Long March activists urge the CPT and UN to act for Öcalan

A four-day long march has been started in Switzerland ahead of the traditional massive rally held by the Kurds and their friends in Europe every year in the French city of Strasbourg.

Over a hundred people including intellectuals, artists, politicians and representatives of institutions from four parts of Kurdistan have started a long march from Geneva, Switzerland to Strasbourg, France under the motto “Freedom for Öcalan, status for Kurdistan”.

“Let’s build national unity and free our Leader” and “Let’s build national unity against the international conspiracy” are the main slogans of the march which kicked off with a press statement at the Place de Neuve Square in Geneva.

The first stage of the march has been concluded with a rally in front of the United Nations (UN) headquarters Monday evening.

Speaking here, academic Gülay Kılıçaslan condemned the international conspiracy and highlighted the theses presented by Öcalan beyond a political leader.

“We need Öcalan’s freedom and philosophy for the peace of the peoples of Turkey and the Middle East,” said Kılıçaslan and called on the international powers involved in the conspiracy to undo their mistake.

Speeches in the name of the institutions partaking in the march pointed out that Öcalan has frustrated the international conspiracy through his resistance and called for further struggle by peoples for the achievement of his freedom.

The activists called on the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) to take action against the isolation imposed on Öcalan. They stressed that the Kurdish people will never feel free unless Öcalan is freed.

The activists of the Geneva-Strasbourg march will get to Lausanne on Tuesday, Bern on Wednesday and Basel on Thursday before moving to Strasbourg city of France in buses on February 14, Friday.

During the course of the march, the activists will be meeting with several political parties and institutions to highlight the goal and importance of their action.