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.

The activists resumed their march in Paris on the 10th day of the action.

The activists walked from the Ahmet Kaya Kurdish Cultural Center to the Kurdistan Information Office where Sakine Cansız, Fidan Doğan and Leyla Şaylemez were murdered on January 9, 2013. After leaving a red carnation at the scene where the triple murder took place, the activists moved on to the historical White Church and distributed leaflets.

The activists then walked to the Paris Commune Cemetery and visited the grave of Mustafa Nazif Aktaş, a PKK member who was murdered by conspirators in Paris on December 23, 1985.

Speaking here, the activists said the following: “Our comrade Mustafa Nazif Aktaş was murdered by dark forces in 1985. We are following in the footsteps of our martyrs. We struggle to be worthy of the legacy they left us. The purpose of our 26-day Long March is to ensure the freedom of Leader Öcalan, the freedom of the Kurdish people and Kurdistan, and to be worthy of the legacy of our martyrs, whom we will always keep alive in our struggle.”

The activists, who also visited the graves of Kurdish artists Ahmet Kaya and Yılmaz Güney, and Dr. Qasimlo, stated: “Dr. Qasimlo is one of the pioneers of the Kurdistan struggle. The Kurdish Freedom Movement emerged in the light of the struggle they had waged. National unity is vital for the Kurdish people. Today's revolution in Rojava was realized thanks to national unity within the framework of Leader Öcalan’s paradigm. In Rojava, in Kobanê, national unity was achieved through the resistance of Kurdish women and Kurdish youth from all four parts of Kurdistan. The will manifested by women and youth is a stance that all Kurdish political parties should take as an example. An honorable national unity in the four parts of Kurdistan will lead the Kurdish people to victory and freedom. We commemorate Dr. Qasimlo and all our pioneers and Kurds who were martyred in the Kurdistan Freedom Struggle.”

The activists also visited the Communards wall, where they made the following statement: “On the way we encountered internationalist friends, some of them had just returned from Rojava. They expressed their support for Leader Öcalan and our struggle. This makes us very happy and honored. The Freedom Movement has had an international aspect from the beginning until today. Leader Öcalan is a leader who has always taken the internationalist struggle as a basis. In his paradigm, he puts forward a solution and struggle not only for the Kurdish people but also for humanity. We have seen this most strikingly in Rojava. Thousands of internationalist revolutionaries went to Rojava and fought and many fell as martyrs. They shed their blood for Rojava, because they believed in Leader Öcalan’s philosophy. We will always keep this spirit alive and fight to grow this spirit. On this occasion, we respectfully commemorate the martyrs of the Paris Commune and our fallen internationalist comrades.”