The Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEM) in North-East Syria released a statement on the occasion of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan’s 73rd birthday on April 4.

TEV-DEM celebrated Öcalan’s birthday for the people of Kurdistan and North-East Syria, stating that Öcalan fought to ensure the rebirth of the spirit of democratic society culture in the region, based on the fraternity of peoples and the principle of co-existence.

Pointing to the “unlawful isolation” imposed on Öcalan in Imrali Prison, TEV-DEM criticized international organizations for failing to take action with regard to human rights and political prisoners.

“In order to establish the philosophy of free and social life, Leader Öcalan turned Imrali into a field of struggle, resistance and creation,” the statement released on Saturday said and continued, “April 4 is the birth of a new history for the peoples of the Middle East and all other peoples. It represents the birth of free human beings for democratic, moral, political and gender equality, as well as for social hope and justice. April 4 is the birth of the philosophy that emancipated society from the fragments of centuries-old feudal mentality. The influence of the North-East Syrian peoples’ revolution on societies is a result of the democratic nation paradigm presented by Öcalan,” TEV-DEM stated.

TEV-DEM called on all national movements, political powers, legal institutions, non-governmental organizations to act quickly for the freedom of Abdullah Öcalan and all political prisoners, noting that the Turkish state executed all forms of political and psychological torture, rejecting the applications of families and lawyers to visit Imrali.

“We have not been able to receive information on the conditions and health status of Leader Öcalan for nearly a year, which causes concerns for us. We reiterate, once again, that Leader Öcalan is the will of peoples and fights for the freedom of peoples and democracy,” TEV-DEM concluded.