The traditional Long March, organized every year, is taking place this year under the slogan “March for Freedom and Democracy.”
The march is staged in Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) state, seeing the participation of around 150 Kurdish and internationalist young people from several European countries, including Germany, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
On Tuesday, activists gathered at the Democratic Kurdish Community Center in Cologne. After filling out their application forms, they proceeded to the event venue, Cologne Eurosall, and issued a joint statement.
Following the statement, TEV-ÇAND artist Rêber Serhat took the stage, and the event continued with songs, accompanied by chants, and slogans.
Early Wednesday morning, young people gathered in Mülheim Wiener Square and began their march with a statement calling for the freedom of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.
The statement noted that Öcalan’s recent messages reminded people of the importance of peace, freedom, and democratic society.
The statement said, “The most concrete example of this is the recent process, initiated with courage and determination by Leader Öcalan, which signals a paradigmatic renewal. This process signifies liberation from the dogmas of the past, the chains of real socialism, and its impositions; it signals a new conceptualization of peace, freedom, and democracy.”
The statement concluded, “We are here to walk together, build the revolution, and embrace concrete internationalism. In the words of Leader Öcalan: ‘March for democracy and freedom.’”
The march will last three days, from Cologne to Düsseldorf and Dortmund. Participants will hold various discussions and cultural events each day. A press statement will then be issued in five languages.
On the final day, the participants will attend the Kurdish Culture Festival in Dortmund and watch together the video message that Öcalan conveyed to the public after 27 years.
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