The first stage of the three-day march under the slogan "Defend Kurdistan against occupation and genocide" through Switzerland was concluded on Friday evening in Morges with a concert. The protest march of "Defend Kurdistan" had begun in the morning with a press conference in front of the Ouchy Castle in Lausanne. It was here that the Treaty of Lausanne was decided on July 24, 1923. Afterwards, more than 250 people, including representatives of organizations and civil society institutions from Kurdistan, Turkey, Switzerland and Europe, as well as intellectuals, artists and members of revolutionary movements, set out on the march. On the first day, a distance of about 25 kilometers was covered. Today it continues to Nyon.

Treaty of Lausanne

The demonstration from Lausanne to Geneva protests against a new edition of the Treaty of Lausanne. The agreement of July 24, 1923 established not only the current state borders of Turkey, but also the partition of Kurdistan. The parties to the treaty were Turkey, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Greece, Romania and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. With the stroke of a pen, the Kurds were declared Turks, Iranians, Iraqis and Syrians. As it soon turned out, even the civil rights granted to them were only on paper. In fact, the governments of all four states pursued a policy of resettlement and expulsion, violent oppression, Turkification and Arabization against the Kurdish minority. Almost a century later, this state of affairs continues, especially in Turkey and Iran.