Out of concern for the safety of Abdullah Öcalan on the Turkish prison island of Imrali, numerous people took to the streets in the canton of Kobanê on Sunday, despite attacks by the Turkish state on the autonomous region of northern and eastern Syria. The Euphrates section of the Young Women's Association called for the demonstration under the slogan "With the spirit of the revolutionary people's war, we will succeed in liberating Öcalan".

The protest march started in front of the People's Commune in the eastern district of Şêran. Mothers of young activists carrying a huge banner with the portrait of Öcalan on a yellow background walked in the front. The image of the Kurdish leader also looked out at the crowd from numerous flags. The chant "Bê Serok Jiyan nabe" [No life without the leader] - could be heard loudly again and again.

The demonstration culminated in a rally at the headquarters of the Council of Families of Martys. Politician Fatme Osman, co-chair of the PYD for the Euphrates region, spoke about the inhumane prison conditions of Öcalan as well as on the political significance of the isolation torture.

"The isolation regime on Imrali clearly violates national and international law and violates international agreements and treaties. This is well known. That the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and other institutions established to uphold human rights nevertheless fail to act to finally end the injustice on Imrali is therefore more than condemnable. We despise this double standard in dealing with Öcalan and the Kurdish people. The isolation of Rêber Apo prevents a sustainable social peace in Turkey and beyond. For Öcalan, in particular, has proven time and again in the past, despite his inhumane imprisonment, that he is an important player in building such peace. We demand that relevant international organisations act in accordance with their duties and enforce contact with him. Only an Ocalan with contact with the outside world could pave the way for peace and create an atmosphere in which the Kurdistan question would be resolved in a democratic way. This would not only end the war in Rojava.

Osman recalled that Öcalan used his submissions to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to outline a new grassroots democratic, gender-free and ecological paradigm. "His ideas do not only represent hope for a democratic life; they are currently being implemented in Northern and Eastern Syria. This is the main reason why our regions are under attack. But Ocalan is more than a social theorist. He is and remains the most important political representative of the Kurds. His support among the Kurdish population as well as within other societies is unbroken. The continuing isolation on Imrali must therefore also be assessed as an expression of the Turkish state's anti- Kurdish war policy."

"Centuries ago, the Kurdish people had to defend themselves against those who considered them enemies. This mentality of the aggressors has remained the same until today. Their aim is to destroy Kurdish existence. But we have changed. We are no longer the Kurds of yesterday. We have a democratic project that we are ready to fight to preserve."

Osman was also critical of the "West's" ignorance in the face of Turkey's political campaigns of destruction in its own country, directed against Kurdish politicians, and the use of chemical weapons against guerrillas in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. "All these instruments are being used to completely isolate our people. Therefore, we call on our people to raise the resistance against the oppression of the fascist Turkish regime to a new level. The freedom of Öcalan also means our freedom. The isolation on Imrali must be broken."