Thousands in Strasbourg: We stand with Öcalan

Thousands of people from Switzerland, Germany and France gathered in Strasbourg and denounced the international conspiracy against Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan on 15 February, 1999, when he was kidnapped from Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, and taken to Turkey. Öcalan has been imprisoned in Imrali island prison under strict isolation since then.

Masses called those responsible for the international conspiracy to account. This year’s rally was remarkably dominated by young people loudly expressing that they stand with Abdullah Öcalan and demand his freedom.

Participants of the long march organised by Kurdish youth organizations in Sierentz, France and of the long march organized by internationalists in Frankfurt have joined the central rally in Strasbourg today after completing their actions.

Thousands from Switzerland, Germany and France gathered in front of the train station amid a series of obstructions by the French police that were able to prevent many people coming from Germany from attending the rally.

Participants of the long march and internationalists were in the front ranks of the march, which kicked off from Strasbourg train station at noon and concluded in the “Long Distance” area in the afternoon.

Throughout the route of the march, activists chanted slogans in Turkish and French which condemned the international conspiracy.

GÖKSUNGUR: WE WILL NEVER BOW DOWN

The demonstration at Long Distance began with a minute of silence in memory of revolutionary martyrs, after which co-chairs of the Kurdish Democratic Societies Congress in Europe (KCDK-E), Fatoş Göksungur and Yüksel Koç took the floor.

Fatoş Göksungur congratulated the young activists and internationalists who have been staging long marches for days, saying, “The Kurdish youth stand with Leader Öcalan. We will never bow down in the face of this conspiracy.”

ACTIVISTS: OUR STRUGGLE WILL CONTINUE UNABATED

Internationalist activists Ante Eston (Basque Country), Bornot Casos (Catalonia), Fransizka Svhutz (Germany) ve Andrea Reinoso (Latin America) who took part in the long march from Frankfurt spoke in the name of their groups.

The following statement was made in the name of the Kurdish youth movement in three languages. The statement emphasised that, “We will never bow to this conspiracy. Our struggle will continue unabated until Öcalan is physically freed.”

73-YEAR-OLD ACTIVIST HONOURED

KCDK-E co-chairs then granted a present to 73-year-old Xalê Selman who took part in the long march for six days despite being with a cardiac pacemaker. Xalê Selman, who was presented a poster of Abdullah Öcalan and a vest, has been partaking in the long march for years. Xalê Selman called on everyone to stand with Öcalan.

The demo was concluded with musical performances by Kawa Urmiyê, Bergin Demir, Azad and Hozan Sidar.