Demo for Öcalan in Strasbourg

The Kurdish Democratic Society Congress (KCDK-E) is holding a march and rally in front of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg today to demand the freedom of Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan and to end isolation. Thousands of people gathered in the French city of Strasbourg on Saturday for the massive rally in protest at the silence of international institutions on the aggravated isolation imposed on Öcalan.

The Kurdish leader has been jailed in the island prison of Imralı since his forced departure to Turkey as a result of an international plot in 1999. Since the last visit of the team of lawyers on August 7, 2019, the Turkish authorities have not responded to any of the continuous requests for a visit to him.

The demonstration is joined by activists from all around Europe. After gathering at the Place de la République Square, the crowd started marching behind a banner reading “Freedom will prevail”.

Chanting slogans demanding an end to the isolation of Öcalan, the activists called on the European Council’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) to take action to this end.