The birthday of the Kurdish Leader Abdullah Öcalan has been celebrated in many centres in South Kurdistan.

While massive celebrations on the occasion of the birthday of the Kurdish leader are being held in North Kurdistan and Turkey despite the attempts of the Turkish state to prevent them, celebrations have also taken place in recent years in South Kurdistan, despite the efforts of the KDP to stop them.

The birthday of the Kurdish Leader was celebrated in Hewler (Erbil) with mass participation, with the crowd frequently chanting slogans for the freedom of Öcalan.

There was also a celebration in the Qeredagh district of Suleymaniyah, attended by hundreds of people coming from all 4 parts of Kurdistan. The celebrations were organised by the Kurdistan Free Women’s Movement (RJAK) and took place in the Cemi Sinor village of Qeredagh. Following the reading out of the messages here, the crowd planted trees in the village, chanting slogans for the freedom of the Kurdish Leader and the unity of the Kurdish people.

The speeches during the celebrations both in Hewler and Suleymaniyah stressed that the birthday of the Kurdish Leader Öcalan symbolises the rebirth of the Kurdish people and that the freedom of the Kurdish Leader is a means of bringing peace to the Middle East.

Speaking on behalf of RJAK, Ciwana Kurdistani stressed that the freedom of Öcalan means at the same the freedom of Kurdish women, adding that Öcalan’s views and ideology played a leading role in the struggle for liberation.