News Center- A march called, “Freedom March” will be held from Kurdish cities to Bursa’s Gemlik district on November 18 and from Istanbul to Gemlik on November 19 to demand the lift of the aggravated isolation imposed on Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and his physical freedom. No news has been received from Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan for 32 months. 

A press conference regarding the march from Istanbul to Gemlik was held at the building of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (HEDEP) in Istanbul. The conference was attended by the members of Federation of Associations in Solidarity with Prisoners' Families (MED TUHAD-FED), the Anatolian Association for Assistance and Solidarity with the Families Who Have Lost Their Relatives (ANYAKAY-DER), the Marmara Assistance and Solidarity Association with the Families of Detainees and Convicts (MA-TUHAYDER), the People's Democratic Congress (HDK), the HEDEP, the Democratic Regions Party (DBP), the Free Women's Movement (TJA), the Asrın Law Office and the Mesopotamia Cultural Center (MKM).

 The press statement was read by Dilek Sönmez Demir, Co-chair of the MA-TUHAYDER. “The policy of denial, particularly against the Kurdish people, targets the fundamental rights, culture, mother language and living spaces of the Kurds. As the Republic of Turkey has entered its second century, no democratic step has been taken for the resolution of the Kurdish question.”

Dilek Sönmez Demir pointed out that the policies of oppression and war against the Kurdish people have intensified during the AKP-MHP government. “The judgments from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Constitutional Court of Turkey have been ignored and the regime usurps the will of the Kurdish people by appointing trustees to municipalities. It launches political operations against the Kurdish people. A hostile law is being implemented against the Kurds.”

‘The isolation imposed on Mr. Abdullah Öcalan is an isolation imposed on the Kurdish people’

The statement also pointed to the aggravated isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan. “The 25-year aggravated isolation imposed on Mr. Abdullah Öcalan is an isolation imposed on the Kurdish people, who struggle for freedom. This isolation is not only the problem of the Kurdish people, but also all people demanding democracy and freedom. We call on all people to participate in the march to be held from Istanbul to Gemlik on November 19. We defend the freedom of Mr.Öcalan for the democratic solution of the Kurdish question.”