Long March for Öcalan kicks off in Hannover

The traditional Long March held by Kurdish youth in Europe every year will be staged from Hannover to Hamburg from the 5th to the 11th of September.

The Long March demanding freedom for Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan, organised under the lead of Kurdish youth in Europe for over 20 years, is held this year under the motto “For the Freedom of Rêber Apo, Together Serhildan”.

The march has kicked off in Hannover today with the participation of some 250 Kurdish and internationalist youth from France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, England and the Netherlands.

The German police imposed a ban on all slogans for Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) yet before the march began. Images of Öcalan, flags of PKK, KCK, YPJ, YPJ and Kurdish students’ associations JXK and YXK were also banned by the police.

Despite the obstructions and provocations of the police, the march started with great enthusiasm following the speeches held by TEKO-JIN, TCŞ, FED-DEM and Antifa activists. Speakers denounced the German state’s cooperation with the Turkish state in the genocide against the Kurdish people.

The activists also salute the Battle of Heftanin campaign of the guerrillas against Turkish occupation attempts as they chant slogans demanding freedom for the Kurdish leader.

The Hannover section of the march is dedicated to Kurdish teenager Halim Dener, who was murdered by a racist German policeman on 30 June 1994 while putting up posters of the ERNK (Kurdistan National Liberation Front). The activists will also march at the scene of his murder.