The permanent Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan Vigil has reached its 457th week. The action has been going on since 25 June 2012 and this week it is the turn of the Kurdish youth movement to take it over. Every week new groups of activists from all over Europe carry out the action in front of the building of the Council of Europe and the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture in Strasbourg.

Berîtan Dersim, Yusuf Uzun and Mehmet Açet are from the Revolutionary Youth Movement (TCŞ) and the Movement of Young Women in Struggle (TekoJIN) which have taken over the vigil. Berîtan Dersim emphasized that the youth movement will take over the vigil for the third time in 2021 and added: “The importance of the vigil for the freedom of President Öcalan is very big, especially for young people. With their support, the youth show their determination to expand the struggle on the path of our leader’s thought."

Dersim saluted the people who celebrated Newroz and stressed that 2021 must be turned into the year of freedom. She greeted the hunger strike resistance in Turkish prisons and sharply criticized the European institutions for their silence in relation to Öcalan's isolation.

In addition to protesting against Öcalan's isolation and the silence of the European institutions, the aim of the vigil is to inform people about the situation and Öcalan's prospects for a solution. Hundreds of thousands of people have been informed through the leaflets and booklets handed out during the vigil.