26 people launched a 26-day “Long March” in France on 21 January as part of the international campaign launched in October 2023, demanding “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan and a political solution to the Kurdish question”. The march draws public attention to Öcalan’s 26 years of captivity in the İmralı Island Prison in Turkey.

The activists will conclude the action with a rally in Strasbourg on February 15, the anniversary of the international conspiracy that resulted in the capture of the Kurdish leader in Kenya and his handover to Turkey in 1999.

On the 20th day of the action, the Long March activists reached Reims, where they were welcomed by Kurdish residents and friends, including members of the Communist Party of France at the Place De Royal Square.

During today’s stage of the march, which ended at Place Arno, the activists read and distributed leaflets in French to passersby explaining the purpose of the 26-day Long March from Lorient to Strasbourg.

Mehmet Dağ made a statement on behalf of the activists, stating the following: “We thank our people in Reim and our comrades from the Communist Party who participated in our action. We are all closely following the recent developments. Leader Öcalan has been held captive in Imrali for 26 years under a system of isolation, torture and genocide since he was captured as a result of an international conspiracy which sought to bring our movement to its knees and liquidate it by taking Leader Öcalan prisoner. Yet, he resisted and did not allow this to happen. He did not only frustrate the conspiracy but also challenged the capitalist modernist conspiratorial forces with the Democratic Modernity Paradigm and defeated them. Today's war under the conditions of World War 3 is taking place on this basis. The system that is choked in Kurdistan and the Middle East cannot find an exit. The Turkish state ended up in such a deadlock that it had to talk with Leader Öcalan. He put forward a historic solution and will make a call on February 15th. The rally in Strasbourg is of historic importance to us. We will turn February 15th into a day of freedom under the leadership of Öcalan. The Kurdish people and their friends should stand with Leader Öcalan in Strasbourg on February 15th with all their strength.”