A march to Gemlik is to take place in Turkey despite massive repression to demand negotiations with Abdullah Öcalan on a solution to the Kurdish question. Thousands of people are on the streets of Istanbul.
In order to show the public and the political leadership of Turkey that Imrali is the right address for the solution of the problems and peace, Kurdish parties and civil society organisations want to hold a march to Gemlik. From the harbour town in the province of Bursa, ships are sailing to the prison island of Imrali, where Abdullah Öcalan is being held with three other Kurdish prisoners under strict isolation conditions. The slogan of the demonstration is: "For the defence of freedom and against the policy of isolation - March to Gemlik".
The organising parties of the march are the Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK), the Free Women's Movement (TJA), the prisoners' solidarity association MED TUHAD-FED, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which emerged from the HDK, and the Democratic Regions Party (DBP). They demand a "democratic and civilised step" from the Turkish government to solve "the mother of all problems", the Kurdish question, through dialogue and to achieve social peace. For this to happen, the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan must be lifted and he must return to the negotiating table, they state.
One of the big starting points for the star march is Istanbul. Thousands of people have gathered in the Kadiköy district on the Asian side of the Bosphorus metropolis, including HDK co-spokespersons Esengül Demir and Cengiz Çiçek, DTK Co-Chair Bedran Öztürk, DBP Co-Chair Saliha Aydeniz and Keskin Bayindir, HDP Co-Chair Pervin Buldan, Istanbul HDP Co-Chairs Ilknur Birol and Ferhat Encü, HDP MPs, activists of the women's movement TJA and members of the SYKP, DP and ESP parties.
The demonstrators have dispersed throughout the neighbourhood, the police are on site with a large contingent and are setting up blockades. A large group managed to break through the barrier and started chanting slogans such as "Shoulder to shoulder against fascism", "Repression cannot intimidate us" and "Long live prison resistance". Another group chanted "Bijî Serok Apo" (Long Live Leader Öcalan) and "A thousand greetings to Imrali".
The demonstration in Kadiköy continues.
