After the Freedom Ship activists arrived in Naples on 12 November and were greeted by a large crowd, a panel was held. A meeting was also held with the Mayor of Naples and a concert was offert on Friday night.

Abdullah Öcalan and its project explained

The panel took place on Friday evening at the Modernissimo Cinema in the historic city centre.

The panel started with a presentation and video projection on Abdullah Öcalan and democratic confederalism.

HDP Honorary co-chair, Ertuğrul Kürkçü, said that Turkey has a common and conflicting history with the Kurds, and pointed out that it is an "authoritarian and racist" regime, for this it ignores the Kurds. Expressing that Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan played a very important role in creating this awareness among people, he added: "We salute Öcalan as a historical figure."

While describing the role Abdullah Öcalan has played since the 1960s, Kürkçü noted that he addressed the whole of Turkey by putting the freedom of the Kurds in the center and added that he changed the whole notion of revolution in Turkey.

Kürkçü continued: "Öcalan is an extremely important thinker, not only for the Kurds, but also for us, not only for the old generations, but also for the new generations."

Kürkçü added: “The freedom of Abdullah Öcalan is extremely important not only for the Kurds but also for Turkish politics. Everyone should know that. The idea of ​​HDP belongs to Abdullah Öcalan from beginning to end.”

HDP Former Deputy Besime Konca, in her speech in Kurdish focused on the current situation in Turkey and Syria and the women's movement.

Konca recalled that Abdullah Öcalan came to Greece and Italy 23 years ago and added that when Öcalan was tried to be expelled from Syria 23 years ago by a conspiracy, he "preferred Europe for the deepening of the war and the democratic peaceful solution to the Kurdish question."

Saying that most European countries took part in the conspiracy, but the solidarity with the peoples increased, Konca recalled the Italian people's struggle against fascism and saluted this struggle. “You have the experience and you understand us.”

Cizre Municipality former co-mayor Leyla İmret spoke about self-government and municipalism. She first recalled the denial and massacre policies of the Turkish state since its establishment, then she noted that in 2014, the AKP government also introduced the concept of war and destroyed Kurdish cities.

Stating that nearly 600 people lost their lives and around 400 thousand people were forced to migrate during the curfews, İmret reminded that the July 15 [2016] coup attempt was considered by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a "grace of God". İmret talked about the work of HDP municipalities and the pressures they are subjected to.

Meeting with mayor of Naples

Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan Initiative member and KCDK-E co-chair Yüksel Koç, HDP Former Deputy and Initiative member Nursel Aydoğan, Kurdish politician Eyyüp Doru, Italian Kurdistan Information Center Coordinator Yılmaz Orkan and HDP honorary president Ertuğrul Kürkçü had a meeting with the mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredo, who had recently taken office.

During the meeting, the delegation talked about the situation in Turkey and Kurdistan and the struggle and efforts for the freedom of Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan. While Kürkçü and Koç conveyed their satisfaction to the mayor for the meeting, they asked for the continuation of solidarity with the Kurdish freedom struggle.

Koç emphasized that 21 municipalities in Italy granted honorary citizenship to Öcalan, and this contributed to the efforts to solve the Kurdish problem.

The Mayor presented a plaque to the delegation.

Concert

Following the meeting with the mayor, a concert featuring Kurdish and Italian artists was given.

Kurdish artists Yelda Abbasi, Fatemeh Esmaelian Zare and Farqîn Azad, as well as Ciccio Merolla, Carmine d'Aniello, 'E Zezi, Davide della Monica and Suono d'Ajere performed at the concert.