A long march from Heilbronn, Germany to Strasbourg, France started on Monday demanding “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, a Political Solution to the Kurdish Question”.

Kurdish and internationalist activists are taking place in the ‘Freedom March’ which will end 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. 

The long march of the Kurdish youth movement was met with police violence in Lahr on Thursday. Four participants taking part in the demonstration suffered multiple lacerations from being handcuffed to the ground and beaten on the head in front of the Kurdish Community Center in the Lahr district of Dinglingen. The police determined the identities of over 60 people, some of whom were held in custody for several hours. At least three people spent the whole night in custody.

The Long March to Strasbourg is a traditional event of the Kurdish youth movement that takes place every February around the anniversary of the abduction of PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan from Kenya to Turkey. The aim of the demonstration is to raise awareness of the demand “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan and a political solution to the Kurdish question”. This year, the march is going from Heilbronn to Freiburg, passing through Stuttgart and Offenburg. Over a hundred activists are taking part in the action.

The fourth stage from Offenburg to Lahr began in the morning with police interference. A Kurdish journalist observed attempts to prevent some of the participants from arriving at the starting point. The march was allowed to start only after a short bus ride from the town of Friesenheim. However, shortly after the start of the stage there, the police surrounded the activists who had to remain in the encirclement for about two hours before they were allowed to continue.

When the activists arrived at the Kurdish association in Dinglingen in the evening, the police intervened in the demonstration on the grounds of "violations" such as banned slogans and songs and face coverings. Some of the activists were intervened in front of the center and subjected to identification procedures for several hours. Another group managed to barricade themselves in the community center.

The march is to continue from Freiburg on Friday. However, following the incident in Lahr, it is still unclear whether the demonstration will be allowed to take place. Tomorrow, the young activists will take part in a Europe-wide demonstration followed by a rally in front of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.