The Long March, traditionally carried out by young people every year to demand the physical freedom of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, is held on February 5-10 this year from Heilbronn to Freiburg in Germany.

The six-day march is carried out under the motto “For Öcalan’s freedom, come to the freedom struggle! We will physically liberate Öcalan in 2023!”

The march kicked off this morning with the participation of a number of young people from Austria, England, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany.

Gathering at Theresienwiese Square, the activists observed a minute’s silence for the martyrs of the Kurdistan revolution.

In a statement on behalf of the Kurdish Revolutionary Youth Movement (TCŞ), Zekiye Doğan said: “We will achieve the physical freedom of Leader Öcalan and lead this struggle to victory. We have received no news from Öcalan for over 20 months and we will continue to fight against the fascist Turkish state. We will achieve Öcalan’s freedom and become a part of the guerrilla resistance in Kurdistan.”

The activists, wearing vests with the inscription “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan”, continue their march to the accompaniment of Kurdish militant songs. After covering 16 km, the activists will conclude today’s stage in Heilbronn and gather at an evening program at the Kurdish Community Center.

The first long march was staged from Hanau to Hanover in 1983 and lasted 17 days. The demonstration took place under the impression of the prison resistance in Amed, triggered by Mazlum Doğan's action. Those who took part in the march at that time were Hozan Sefkan, Kasim Engin and Hozan Mizgîn. The tradition of the long marches is continued today together with internationalist youth.