Call for the Long March: Let our voices be heard!

The people of Kurdistan continue to organize various actions and long marches to protest the international conspiracy that led to the abduction of Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan in Kenya on 15 February 1999.

This year, Kurds and their friends are marching to Strasbourg from two directions. One arm of the march will begin in Germany and the other in Switzerland. Internationalists will march from Germany, while the youth movement will march from Switzerland.

Work is underway for the final preparations for the Long March, which will start on 6 February in Basel, Switzerland.

Swiss Democratic Kurdish Community Center (CDK-S) co-chair, Ismail Kardaş, and Democratic Kurdish Community Center co-chair, Zeynep Kayra, called for participation in the march.

Kardaş said that Kurds will never stop until the freedom of Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan is achieved. “Our leader was abducted from Kenya in 1999 as a result of an international conspiracy and was handed over to Turkey. In the words of our Leader, he was ‘crucified on the cross of the modern era.’ In the 23 years since 1999, the Kurds have expressed at every opportunity that they are against this conspiracy in every field. They also said that they do not accept this conspiracy, and will never accept it. We are fighting with the same anger. We will experience this anger to our bones until the physical freedom of our Leader is achieved. We will never hold back in this struggle.”

Kardas added: “Our movement for the physical freedom of our Leader in the last two years continues within the framework of the ‘Dem Dema Azadîyê’ initiative launched by our organization. All our actions are based on exposing all the legs of this conspiracy and reclaiming our Leader’s physical freedom. We invite all our Kurdish people and friends living in Switzerland to join the Long March, which will start in Basel, on Sunday 6 February, and will end with a rally in Strasbourg on 12 February. The march is very important. Let’s shout to the whole world that we do not and will never accept this international conspiracy against our leadership.”

Kayra: Let our voices be heard!

Zeynep Kayra, co-chair of the Democratic Kurdish Community Center in Basel, also called on people to attend the march that will start on Sunday.

Kayra said: “A part of the long walk to be held this year will start here in Switzerland. Our people and friends living in Basel, the Kurds living in Switzerland and their friends must stand up against this conspiracy. Our voices must be so loud that the organizers of this conspiracy should be ashamed. On this basis, we invite everyone to participate in this march promoted by our youth movement.”