A vigil by the Democratic Kurdish Community in Switzerland has been taking place in front of the UN headquarters in Geneva since 25 January 2021. Every Wednesday, activists stage a protest in front of the United Nations building to demand the release of Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan. The action is carried out as part of the ‘Dem dema azadiye’ [Time for Freedom] campaign and directed against the isolation of the Kurdish leader on the Turkish prison island of Imrali, the Turkish occupation attacks on Kurdistan, the massacres committed in Kurdish territories and the silence of the UN.
This week’s demonstration, which is held at a tent set up in Nations Square where the UN Office is located, began with a moment of silence in memory of Devrim Medya (Zeynep Baytar), member of the YJA Star Command Council, Devrim Brûsk (Hanım Bozkur), HPG Commander Reşit Serdar (Mehmet Can Gürhan), and Kendal Barman (Yakup Baydağ) who fell in the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle.
Speaking on behalf of the Geneva Action Committee, Ibrahim Yüksel congratulated all on the 252-week-long resistance, saying, “We thank all our friends who have carried on this vigil to this day.”
Yüksel saluted the struggle of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who, he said, has been resisting for 27 years despite severe isolation conditions in Imrali: “For over a year, Leader Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] has been continuing the struggle for peace under the motto of a democratic society.”
Yüksel stated that the paradigm of democratic, ecological, and women’s libertarian society developed by Öcalan offers a model for lasting peace and democratic life to the peoples of Turkey, Kurdistan, and the entire Middle East. “Implementing this paradigm is Leader Apo’s instruction to us, and we reiterate our commitment to fulfill this instruction,” he said.
Commenting on the ongoing peace process in Turkey, Yüksel drew attention to the Turkish state’s approach, stating, “Leader Apo has never left the hand extended for peace hanging in the air; he has responded sincerely to all processes. However, the state is not approaching the process in good faith; it is displaying a fragmented stance and pursuing a delaying policy.”
Yüksel emphasized that the future of Turkey and the Middle East depends on resolving the Kurdish question through an honorable peace, stating, “The paradigm of democratic modernity is a necessity for the peoples of the Middle East, as vital as water and bread.”
Yüksel called on the Turkish state, saying, “Genuine steps of goodwill must be taken, and all obstacles to Leader Apo’s physical freedom must be removed.”