A 26-day “Long March” was launched in France on 21 January to demand the freedom of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and a solution to the Kurdish question. The march draws public attention to Öcalan’s 26 years of captivity in the İmralı Island Prison in the Sea of Marmara in Turkey. 26 people will march through 26 different cities in France and conclude the action with a march and rally 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.

On the seventh day of the march, activists visited shopkeepers and distributed leaflets, informing people about the purpose of their march and calling for participation in the central rally to be held in Strasbourg.

Kurdish politician Faysal Sarıyıldız, who has been taking part in the march for 3 days, stated that the protests there are linked to the developments taking place all over Kurdistan. Referring to the dirty policies of the Turkish state, Sarıyıldız underlined that it is the resistance and will of the Kurdish people that will determine the course of the process.