The Youth Assembly of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) is staging a march from Amed (tr. Diyarbakır) to Amara, the birthplace of Abdullah Öcalan in the district of Halfeti, Urfa province. The action is part of the activities marking the 76th birthday of the Kurdish leader.

The march, organized under the slogan “We march to freedom with a democratic society”, will end in Amara on 4 April, Öcalan’s birthday.

The participants are wearing aprons with the words “We march to freedom” written in Kurdish and Turkish.

Numerous activists gathered at the historic Şêx Seîd Square in the district of Sur. In addition to youth groups, members of parliament from the DEM party, members of the women's movement TJA, representatives of the peace mothers and local NGOs also participated in the action.

The young people are wearing vests with the inscription “We are marching to freedom” - in Kurdish and Turkish. In their statement to the press, they emphasized their determination to remain active “until the physical freedom of Abdullah Öcalan”.

Addressing the crowd, DEM Party Amed Provincial Co-Chair Abbas Şahin said, “The reason for the struggle for 50 years is that the centuries-old Kurdish question has been left unresolved. We set out to embrace the call of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan and to build a democratic society. We set out by saying 'We started young and we will succeed young'. We believe that a democratic society and freedoms will bring democracy to the Kurdish and Turkish people.” 

The press statement, read by Mercan Sarsılmaz in Kurdish and by Alihan Şimşek in Turkish, said the following:

“As the DEM Party Youth Assembly, we will march from Amed, the heart of Kurdistan, which reached the heat of Newroz after Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan's 'Call for Peace and Democratic Society' on February 27, to Amara, the land where the 'leadership birth' of the paradigm aiming for an honorable life for the peoples took place.

On 27 February, Leader Apo's [Abdullah Öcalan’s] voice, which had been wanted to be silenced for 43 months, broke all the barriers and reached the peoples of the world, especially the peoples of Turkey and Kurdistan, and shattered the rocks of the İmralı Dungeon. With this call, all the oppressed have attained great hope for the processes of struggle and achievement and grabbed a piece of themselves. This call, which has been hailed with great determination by all peoples from Baluchistan to the South American communes, from Sicily to the Philippines, from Abya Yala to Palestine, has also settled in the heart of the Middle East as a political intervention. The Kurdish people also showed their support for this call by filling the rallies, streets and neighborhoods on 8 March and 21 March under the leadership of women and youth.

The youth of Turkey and Kurdistan will be at the forefront for the realization of this call, which closes the Middle East to imperial interventions, is a source of ideological hope for all peoples and the oppressed, and creates opportunities for honorable peace and a free life in their country. The patriotic youth will be in the fields until the physical freedom of Leader Apo is ensured with the awareness of their responsibilities in many areas, especially in the fields of organization, socialism and action for the creation of an honorable peace and the democratic society that will guarantee it. 

The revolution in Turkey and Kurdistan is at its closest moment to completing its meaning with democratic Turkey and autonomous Kurdistan. It is high time to walk arm in arm towards the revolution, coming together with minimum revolutionary unity and giving color to history. It is high time for the revolutionary youth of Turkey and Kurdistan to struggle together in the spirit of the peoples' democratic congress in order to remain devoted to their leaders and pioneers in the face of this great revolutionary opportunity. Today we are vitalizing this instance that will set an example for the peoples together with our friends from the revolutionary youth of Turkey at the intersection of Nurhak, Zagros, Amanos and Taurus, where this unity was initiated.

From Şêx Seîd Square, where the Kurdish demand for self-governance was ignored, we, the youth of Turkey and Kurdistan, are starting the march of the call that reverses history. We salute the 'Call for Peace and Democratic Society' that urges all peoples to subjectivize themselves in the crisis period of World War III, when the Middle East is meant to be shaped by imperial interventions. We promise that our march will continue until we achieve the democratic confederalism of the peoples of the Middle East. We call on all patriotic Kurdistan youth to participate in our action in the warmth of spring in all cities where our march will pass through from 1 April to 4 April, to understand, explain, discuss and debate the call for peace and democratic society. Passing through Amed, Siverek, Hilvan and Urfa, our march will reach Amara on 4 April and complete the declaration of a new beginning. We call on everyone to take part in this glorious march and witness the resurrection of the Bakûr (North Kurdistan) youth.”