Party of Democratic Regions (DBP) Co-presidents Emine Ayna and Kamuran Yüksek said that in order for negotiations to be carried on in equal conditions Mr Öcalan needed to be free, adding that the struggle of the Kurdish people would continue until their leader attained his freedom.

DBP Co-presidents Emine Ayna and Kamuran Yüksek have issued a written statement regarding the "Freedom for Öcalan March from Cizre to Amed.”

‘The Kurdish people have accepted Öcalan as leader’

The statement emphasised that the Kurdish people accepted Abdullah Öcalan as leader and that his role was undisputed, adding that the people had campaigned for his release, collected more than ten million signatures and gone on marches.

"The Kurdish people’s most important demand is for the freedom of Öcalan"

The statement stressed that the continuing incarceration of Mr Öcalan was unacceptable, adding that it was essential that he attain his freedom in order to conduct negotiations. "In pursuit of this demand, around a thousand people, including deputies and mayors, are marching from Cizre to Diyarbakır,” the statement continued, saying the determinbed struggle of the Kurdish people would continue until their leader was freed.

‘We salute the marchers’

The Co-presidents said they considered the action initiated by the Botan organisation to be significant and valued, and called on the government to ensure Mr Öcalan could be free to conduct negotiations. "The march will end in Diyarbakır where the most important demand to be raised at the Newroz celebration will be freedom for Mr Öcalan,” the statement concluded, saluting the marchers.