Press statements in North-East Syria demand “Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan”

Actions in seven centers in North and East Syria demanded freedom for Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan.

Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan has been in solitary confinement on the prison island of Imrali since his abduction to Turkey in 1999. The last contact with him was a telephone conversation with his brother in spring 2021, which was interrupted after a few minutes. Öcalan last had contact with his lawyers from the Istanbul-based Asrın Law Office in August 2019. After an eight-year interruption, a hunger strike led by politician Leyla Güven, who has since been imprisoned again, resulted in a total of five visits by lawyers. The last family visit to the island was approved in March 2020. Since then, isolation in the high-security prison has been driven to the level of total incommunicado detention.

The Assembly of Martyrs' Families organized simultaneous press statements in Qamişlo and Derik cities, Çilaxa, Tirbespiyê, Til Hemis and Amûdê districts and Şehba.

The press statements were made at the Martyr Delil Saroxan Martyrdom in Qamişlo, in front of the Assemblies of Martyrs’ Families' in Dêrik, Çilaxa, Tirbesipiyê, Amûdê and Til Hemis, and in Serdem Camp in Shehba.

During the press statements, slogans such as "Bê Serok jiyan nabe" (No life without the leader) and "Bijî berxwedana Îmrali" (Long live the Imrali resistance) were frequently chanted.

The protests drew attention to the isolation of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan and demanded immediate talks with him.

The statements emphasized that the struggle will continue until Abdullah Öcalan's physical freedom is ensured.