MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

 Amed (Diyarbakır)- Preparation for the celebration of the "the 76th birthday of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who was born on April 4, 1949 in the Amara neighborhood of the Xelfetî (Halfeti) district of Riha (Urfa), continues. The people joining the march started in Amed by the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) Youth Council reached Suruç on Wednesday. Today, the Free Women’s Movement (Kurdish: Tevgera Jinên Azad-TJA) will organize a march in the district of Halfeti. Following the march, a two-day festival will be held at the April 4 Park in the district and at the house, where Abdullah Öcalan was born. Tens of thousands are expected to attend the festival to be held between April 3-4.

“We are excited to join the celebrations,” said women, who have joined the march started in Amed (Diyarbakır), calling on everyone to attend the celebration to be held in Amara on April 4.

‘The celebration will be a more crowded and enthusiastic this year’

“We will celebrate Mr. Öcalan's birthday with enthusiasm and voice our demands,” said Hacer Kurt, Council member of the Eğil Municipality. “Our primary demand is the lift of the isolation imposed on Mr. Öcalan and the release of all political prisoners. We will be in Amara on April 4 for our language and identity. As women, we have never lost our hope for peace, and we will continue to struggle for it. At this point, the state must take an immediate step for peace. The realization of peace is essential for all of us. As women, we will always demand peace everywhere.”

‘We will expand the struggle for peace’

Gülşen Demir, lawyer and member of the Lawyers Association for Freedom (ÖHD) in Amed, is another woman joining the march. “Mr. Abdullah Öcalan's call for peace is most important for us, women and children,” she said. “We will be in Amara to demand peace by singing our songs, dancing halay and chanting slogans. We demand the ongoing isolation imposed on Mr.Abdullah Öcalan to be lifted and regular family and lawyer visits. As women, we will be in Amara on April 4 with our voice and color. We will embrace the call for peace.”

Emine Kaya told us that women would be in Amara on April 4 to voice their demands. “We will be in Amara to strengthen the philosophy of women’s freedom and share that enthusiasm with everyone,” said Emine Kaya. “Today, women are subjected to all forms of violence, threats and massacres in this country. On April 4, we will raise our voice against femicide and gender-based violence and re-emphasize the importance and the women's struggle for freedom.”