In the ongoing demonstration for the freedom of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan in Geneva, activists protested the İmralı isolation and occupation attacks and commemorated the martyrs who fell in May.
A vigil by the Democratic Kurdish Community in Switzerland has been taking place in front of the UN headquarters in Geneva since 25 January 2021. Every Wednesday, activists stage a protest in front of the United Nations building to demand the release of Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan. The action is carried out as part of the 'Dem dema azadiye' [Time for Freedom] campaign and directed against the isolation of the Kurdish leader on the Turkish prison island of Imrali, the Turkish occupation attacks on Kurdistan, the massacres committed in Kurdish territories and the silence of the UN.
This week's demonstration, which is held at a tent set up in Nation Square where the UN Office is located, started with a minute of silence in memory of Haki Karer and the martyrs who fell in the month of May, after which Ramazan Amed, member of the Action Committee, made a speech on behalf of the demonstrators.
This week, activists from the Revolutionary Youth Movement (TCŞ) and the Struggling Young Women's Movement (TEKO-JIN) took part in the sit-in, reminding international states and organisations of their responsibilities.
Reminding the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT), the UN and international organisations and states of their responsibilities against torture experienced by Abdullah Öcalan who is held in total isolation, Amed stated that the occupation attacks in South Kurdistan are carried out in partnership with the Turkish state and the KDP. Remarking that these attacks are aimed at the massacre of the Kurdish people and the total occupation of Kurdistan, Amed said, "As the Kurdish people, especially those of us living in Geneva, we will not leave the streets as long as the occupation attacks do not end and Leader Öcalan is not freed."
After Amed's speech, which called for solidarity with the guerrilla struggle against the ongoing attacks in four parts of Kurdistan, a press text was read by Ramazan Qoser, an activist of TCŞ.
The activists continued the sit-in with slogans embracing the 'Dem dema azadiye yê' campaign.
