Kurdish activists have been staging a sit-in protest in front of the UN Geneva Office since January 25 to demand freedom oforf Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan and to draw attention to the massive hunger strikes by political prisoners in protest at violations of rights in Turkish prisons.

The Kurdish activists observed a minute's silence to commemorate the People's Defense Forces (HPG) guerrillas Savaş Maraş, Munzur Zerya, Savaş Tekoşin and Tirêj Nujin, who were martyred as a result of a Turkish bombardment in the Heftanin region while on a mission on 20 March 2019.

Geneva Kurdish Community Center Co-Chair Salih Sağlam stated that the struggle will bring victory by embracing the freedom campaign.

“The resilient spirit presented on 2021 Newroz has been the hope of peoples against fascism in Turkey and the Kurdistan region. We will continue our struggle by embracing the resistance spirit of Newroz and we will liberate our Leader,” he said.

Sağlam continued, “The UN maintains its silence on the demands of the Kurds for the sake of their interests based on cooperation with Erdoğan and the AKP-MHP government. These states attack the values of the Kurdish people. As in the case of France, attacks and pressure on Kurdish institutions are based on the interests of these countries.

“The attacks of the UN, NATO and the European Union countries against the fair demands of the Kurdish people are unacceptable to us. Just like we resisted the fascism of the Turkish state in the past, we will continue our resistance against the aggressive attitude of these countries."

The sit-in continued after the speeches.