Participants of the Long March cover 140 kilometers

The Long March that launched in Luxembourg with the demand of freedom for Abdullah Öcalan and status for Kurdistan reached the town of Saint Avold yesterday, with great interest from the French public and their representatives and Kurds.

The Long March that launched in Luxembourg with the demand of freedom for Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan and status for Kurdistan reached the town of Saint Avold yesterday, with great interest from the French public and their representatives and Kurds.

The marchers reached the town of Saint Avold in the Moselle province in Grand-Est region of France, having marched a total of 140 kilometers on the fifth day. 70 allies of Kurds and 15 representatives from Kurdish institutions attended the march and people had high morale despite the heavy rain and the cold.

MARCHERS MET BY THE MUNICIPALITY AND HUNDREDS OF KURDS IN SAINT AVOLD

The marchers reached Saint Avold in the evening when they were met with hundreds of Kurdistanis. They gathered in the conference hall reserved by the municipality. A committee from the march met with the Saint Avold Municipality administration there.

In the meeting, they informed the municipality of the Long March launched with the slogan “Freedom for Öcalan Status for Kurdistan”. The committee also presented the file and declarations prepared for the action to the Saint Avold Municipality.

The marchers held a seminar in English on Jineoloji after dinner. In the previous stop of the march in Metz, they had held another seminar in English titled “The Paradigm of the Leader”.

“OUR MARCH CONTINUES AS PLANNED”

Preparation Committee member Sezai Uçar spoke on the phases of the Long March and the meetings held, stating that they marched 140 kilometer in 5 days. Uçar said they had difficulties in the last two days due to the rain, but added that they completed all stages as planned despite all.

Sezai Uçar said some marchers had blisters and swelling in their feet due to marching such a long route and added: “Regardless, all activists have great morale and our march continues as planned.”

“THERE IS MORE INTEREST THAN WE ANTICIPATED”

Uçar said the local people, local administrations and Kurds who live in the regions they passed through in the Long March showed great interest in the demonstration and continued: “Our Long March receives great interest from the French people, local administrations and NGO and party representatives. When we were in Metz, the Socialist Party (PS) administrators told us they would have helped more if they had known of the demonstration earlier. And today [Sunday], in the Saint Avold Municipality, we were greeted very warmly. They underlined that they support the struggle for Öcalan’s freedom and they support our demands.”

Uçar also pointed out the interest from Kurds living in the surrounding regions and said: “Dozens of people from different nationalities getting into such an effort for the freedom of the Kurdish people and the Leader has created a significant sympathy in the Kurds living around here. In every stop, we are greeted with great interest.”

CALL FOR SUPPORT

Uçar stated that they will cover some 27 kilometers in today’s 6th stage of the march from Saint Avold to Loupershouse, and added that they will reach Strasbourg on February 10. Uçar called on Kurds in Strasbourg and nearby cities to come support the march in the portion between Loupershouse and Strasbourg.

Uçar said there will be Europe-wide marches and rallies to condemn the international conspiracy against Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan on February 11 and added that they expected a great turnout for those demonstrations as well.