On June 29, 1925, Sheikh Said was hanged in Diyarbakýr for leading a Kurdish rebellion. On June 29, 1999, 74 years later, Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan was also sentenced to death. Today, Sheikh Said’s grandson, Felat Özsoy, spoke about solutions to the Kurdish issue.

“In order for the injustices to be confirmed, a truth and inquiry commission must be founded, bodies of my grandfather and those who were hanged with him must be given to us and apologies must be made to the families,” stated Özsoy.

“Observing our own customs and traditions, we want to plant grave stones for them, carry out their last wishes” said Özsoy during a press conference organized by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), many NGOs, foundations, professional organizations and the families of those who were executed in Diyarbakýr.

By executing Sheikh Said and his friends, the state tried to ignore the Kurdish problem, marked Özsoy and repeated, “a commission must be founded to confirm the injustices and apologize to the families.”

Also in Mersin, a memorial was arranged to remember Sheikh Said. Events will continue into the evening.