Vigil in front of the UN headquarters continues

For over a year now, Kurds and people in solidarity have been demanding the freedom of Abdullah Öcalan and a democratic solution to the Kurdish question in front of the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Geneva. The first rally in the framework of the “Time for Freedom” campaign took place on 25 January 2021. Since then, activists have staged a sit-in in front of the UN building every Wednesday to protest against the international silence on the Turkish campaign of destruction in Kurdistan. In addition to the central demand for freedom for the Kurdish leader and PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan, various current issues have been brought up at the vigil over the course of the year. The UN is urged to act against the war crimes of the Turkish army and to investigate the use of chemical weapons.

Today’s rally was opened with a minute’s silence for those martyred in the Kurdish liberation struggle. The activists remembered 7 YBŞ (Shengal Resistance Units) fighters, 2 HPG (People’s Defense Forces) guerrillas, TAJÊ (Free Yazidi Women’s Movement) member Nazê Naif and journalist Nûjiyan Erhan who fell as martyrs in the KDP attack on the Khanasor town of Shengal on 3 March 2017.

Kongra Star Aleppo representative Dayîka Şoreş spoke via phone and saluted the activists and their action. Dayîka Şoreş said they attached importance to the action where the freedom of Abdullah Öcalan, one of the most legitimate and righteous demands of the Kurdish people, is expressed loudly in the international arena.

Speaking after, Salih Sağlam, the co-chair of the Democratic Kurdish Community Center (CDK) in Geneva, paid tribute to Khanasor martyrs and said, “We have been staging a sit-in action for over a year to urge the UN and other international institutions to answer the Kurdish people’s demands. The concerned states and institutions should know that we will continue our action with determination and have our demands heard by the whole world until the freedom of our leader and the Kurdish people is achieved.”