The sit-in launched by the European Kurdish Democratic Society Congress (KCDK-E) and European Kurdish Women’s Movement (TJK-E) in front of the Council of Europe (CoE) continued on the third day.

New cities joined the demonstration yesterday on top of the daily participants from KCDK-E and TJK-E constituents and Ciwanen Azad members from Germany, France and Switzerland. On the third day of the demonstration, Kurds from Dortmund, Essen, Bielefeld, Stuttgart and Darmstadt in Germany, Switzerland’s Bern, Basel, St-Gallen and Zurich in Switzerland and Alsace-Lorraine region of France joined in.

SLOGANS OF FREEDOM FOR ÖCALAN

The third day started with a minute’s silence and a short assessment of the activities of the day. Activists turned to face the CoE and continuously chanted slogans for 15 minutes at 10.00. The slogans were mostly about freedom for Öcalan but also included chants like “Down with the fascist Turkish regime”.

TJK-E HELD A MEETING ON THE OCTOBER MARTYRS

Later, TJK-E spokeswoman Dilşa Osman held a meeting on the October martyrs. Osman commemorated all October martyrs in the person of YJA-Star guerrilla Gülnaz who lost her life on September 29 in Amed. Martyrs who set their bodies on fire for Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan from October 1998 onwards, and the revolutionaries who were massacred in the Ankara Train Station bombing in 2015 were also commemorated.

At 12.00, the sit-in participants went on Sterk TV for a program in Kurdish and voiced their opinions. Activists later participated in Medya News’ live broadcast in Turkish.

MEETINGS IN PACE CONTINUE

Meanwhile, a committee from the participants held meetings in the CoE building during the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) sessions.

PYD gave a presentation on Rojava while the committee members met with European MPs.

In the afternoon, Italian NGO representatives visited the sit-in and gave speeches.