The mayor is currently being attacked by the right wing racist government of Italy. Which is the reason why he could not attend the rally in Dusseldorf. He did not want though to miss the opportunity to salute the Kurdish struggle and the political model of the Democratic Autonomy proposed by Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan. 

In his speech mayor Lucano said: “On 20 September 2016 the Municipality of Riace, which I head, unanimously awarded the honorary citizenship to President Öcalan precisely to concretely support the international campaign for his release and above all to recognize that it was thanks to the arrival on 1st July 1998 in the Calabrian coast, at Riace marina, of a sailing ship with hundreds of Kurds, that in fact our experience of hospitality began”. 

Lucano recalled that “Ours was a small town with many empty houses as people had been forced to emigrate and with the arrival of the ship a lot of homeless people began to arrive. 

Thanks to the arrival of the Kurds, Riace has begun to repopulate and to demonstrate to Italy and fortress Europe that the arrival of migrants is not a problem but a valuable resource for the eco-compatible development of small and medium-sized centers”.

The mayor also underlined that “the Democratic Confederalism and the experiences of social self-organization in the liberated areas of Kurdistan are a precious stimulus for those in Europe who want to build a certain opposition to the spread of racist and fascist barbarism”.

Lucano added: “To break this siege it is necessary that all humanity responds with internationalist solidarity to the great contribution that the Kurdish resistance has given in the defeat of ISIS; after the heroic liberation of Kobane the resistance must continue with the liberation of Afrin”.

As to Öcalan's freedom, the mayor said: “It is not just a request for millions of Kurds. Along with the release of other political prisoners, it is a necessary step on the path to peace. Öcalan with his ideas on the democratic autonomy in a democratic republic is the guarantor of such a solution. We want his freedom now! The time has come!”

Lucano ended his message by saying: “I want to add that our little community of Riace will be forever grateful to all the citizens and comrades who have come to Riace in their journey towards liberation and struggle in representation of the Kurdish people.

We have connected the instances of a possible reclaim of the communities of the extreme Italian periphery with their stories of emigration and social marginality with the ideals of international solidarity and brotherhood among peoples”.