The Hope and Freedom Rally will take place on Sunday, 4 January, at 13:00 in Amed Station Square. At the rally, which is being organized for the freedom of Abdullah Öcalan, speeches will be delivered by DBP Co-Chair Çiğdem Kılıçgün Uçar, DEM Party Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan, and Tevgera Jinen Azad (TJA) activist and politician Leyla Zana. DEM Party Amed Provincial Co-Chair Abbas Şahin said that preparations for the rally are being carried out intensively across the city, that the freedom of Öcalan has been placed at the center of the work, and that this call has received a strong response within society.
Coordination established in 17 districts
Abbas Şahin stated that preparations for the rally are being carried out through intensive fieldwork across the city, and that both face-to-face outreach and mass activities are being conducted through commissions established in 17 districts.
Emphasizing that the call for the Hope and Freedom Rally on 4 January has been met with a strong response, that the people’s fundamental demand is freedom, and that this demand guides the work on the ground, Şahin said: “At the moment, commissions have been established in 17 districts and work is underway. Door-to-door, street-by-street face-to-face outreach is being carried out. At the same time, mass activities are continuing simultaneously. Coordination structures have been formed in all 17 districts. These coordinations are working within the scope of the call for the Hope and Freedom Rally to be held on 4 January. Unlike other rallies, this time there is a much stronger sensitivity, and we are truly receiving serious responses. Because today the people’s most fundamental demand is the freedom of Mr. Abdullah Öcalan.
From the very beginning, we have said this: without the freedom of the leadership, our people cannot be free, and neither can we. With this slogan, we took to the streets. Our people are extremely clear and sensitive on this issue. At present, there are more than thousands of comrades working in the field on rally preparations. We continue our efforts through social media, leaflets, and door-to-door visits.”
Preparations continue despite bad weather conditions
Şahin said that preparations for the rally are not limited to the city center, but extend into the field through visits to shopkeepers and public meetings. He stated that despite unfavorable weather conditions, the work continues uninterrupted, that technical preparations for the rally to be held at Station Square next Sunday have been completed, and that contact with the public will continue until the final day: “Visits to shopkeepers are being carried out. Likewise, public meetings are being organized. As of yesterday, two large public meetings were held. One of these meetings was attended by Çetin Arkaş. The public was addressed with the message ‘The freedom of Mr. Öcalan is our freedom.’
Despite very bad weather conditions, heavy snowfall and blizzards, even now there are comrades working in the streets and homes. As we enter the new year, the work continues in the same way. Preparations have been completed. Taking weather conditions into account, the work continues and will do so until the last day. The agenda has been entirely shaped around this. No matter how bad the weather gets, this work will not stop; this is the decision we have taken. Even now, despite blizzards and rain, our comrades are in the field, working in raincoats. At the same time, they are going from districts to villages as well. Even in villages where roads are closed, our commissions continue their work with their own means.”
‘We invite all our people to attend the rally’
Şahin stated that the political structure shaped by the nation-state mentality over the last century has not only victimized Kurds, but also different peoples, cultures, and belief groups. He added that the perspective of a democratic society and a democratic republic offers a strong alternative to overcoming this historical burden, and that this approach today points to the search for a new life not only for Turkey, but also for the region and the world.
He concluded by calling on the public to attend the rally: “At the root of the injustices our people have experienced over the past century lies the establishment of the First Republic based on a nation-state logic. This process affected not only Kurds, but many peoples, cultures, ethnic structures, and belief groups. To move beyond this century, there is a paradigm put forward by Mr. Öcalan: the perspective of building a democratic society and establishing a democratic republic.
We see that this paradigm today stands as a model and an alternative for both the Middle East and the world. We want this idea to be voiced strongly in order to open the doors to a new life, and for everyone to raise their voice in this direction. And we invite all our people to our rally within the scope of this struggle.”